Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday in Beef Products Inc.’s multi-billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against ABC News

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday in Beef Products Inc.’s multi-billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against ABC News in South Dakota state court.The highly anticipated trial, which has prompted the construction of an additional courtroom in Elk Point, S.D., is expected to run through the end of July.BPI filed suit in September 2012 charging that ABC “knowingly and intentionally” published “false and disparaging statements” about the company’s lean finely textured beef (LFTB) product, including use of what had become the negative moniker “pink slime.” The suit claims ABC ignored countervailing facts in the course of its reporting.BPI said in 2012 that LFTB sales declined from about 5 million pounds to less than 2 million pounds per week, forcing the company to close three of its four plants and lay off more than 700 workers “as a result of the disinformation campaign.” Multiple attempts by ABC to have the case dismissed since 2012 have failed. Most recently, the South Dakota Supreme Court denied the network’s petition to appeal a lower court ruling in February that allowed BPI to take its case to a jury.The lower court ruling in February dismissed ABC anchorwoman Diane Sawyer from the case but held that the trial against the network and reporter Jim Avila would continue.BPI’s legal burden under South Dakota law is to prove that ABC and Avila made defamatory statements that they knew to be false and stated or implied that LFTB was not safe for public consumption, and that the reporting caused the company harm.ABC is arguing it has First Amendment protection over its reporting in this case. The network contends there is no evidence that it intentionally conveyed LFTB as unsafe to eat. Rather, the network has said that in each of its broadcasts it reported that USDA deems LFTB as safe to eat. BPI is seeking as much as $1.9 billion, and the South Dakota law that specifically prohibits food libel awards the plaintiff triple the damages claimed in a lawsuit.