No new information about the night JonBenet Ramsey was murdered turned up Wednesday during a three-hour deposition in Atlanta involving her father, attorneys said.

"We heard a lot of 'I can't recall,' " said Evan Altman, an Atlanta lawyer working with attorney Darnay Hoffman of New York. Hoffman is pursuing a libel lawsuit against John and Patsy Ramsey.

"There were certain things he did recall, certain things he could not recall, and we took it for what it was, as far as his testimony," Altman said.

Altman said John Ramsey was questioned about the ransom note his wife found the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, before John discovered JonBenet in the basement, beaten and strangled. He was also shown photographs of handwriting from personal items belonging to JonBenet and the family, Altman said.

Like Patsy's deposition a day earlier, John Ramsey's deposition ended Wednesday before the federally allowed time limit of seven hours expired. Altman said Hoffman is staking out his playing field for the trial, and being careful not to betray any strategy to the Ramseys' lawyer.

"You have a theory of the case, and your goal is to obtain evidence you need to prove that case," Altman said.

Hoffman is representing Chris Wolf, a former Boulder-area journalist whom the Ramseys called a murder suspect in their book, Death of Innocence.

In a libel case, proof of actual malice is required. Hoffman wants to prove the Ramseys knew their allegation against Wolf was false because, he says, they knew they were responsible for JonBenet's death.

So while other works have discussed police suspicion of Wolf, suing the Ramseys presents an opportunity for Hoffman to try them, in civil court, for their daughter's murder.

Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood said Hoffman's two days of questioning were a flop compared with the billing he had given it.

"For years (Hoffman) has been claiming this would be the big day, (when) they were finally under oath and would have to answer every question," Wood said. "He really didn't ask Patsy anything about the 25th or the 26th, and with John, it was a straightforward, narrative questioning. Not probing at all."

Altman conceded that the depositions were unlikely to produce a smoking gun.

"There wasn't anything that was earth-shattering or a major revelation out of Patsy's deposition," he said. "With respect to expecting her to break down and admit everything, we knew that would not happen."

Altman said both sides will take depositions from handwriting experts. Motions to throw out the case or extend the discovery phase should be made in early February, he said.

Contact Owen S. Good at (303) 442-8729 or goodo@RockyMountainNews.com.