LONDON: Courtney Love has hit back at a defamation lawsuit filed by a fashion designer - by battling to get the case thrown out of court.

Earlier this year (Mar09) designer Dawn Simorangkir filed suit against the rocker claiming Love had embarked in "an obsessive and delusional crusade to terrorize and destroy" her.

The designer stated Love used Twitter.com blog and her own website to spread lies about her, including that she sold cocaine, was a drug addict, a prostitute, a thief, and a "horrible lying bitch".

In a new motion filed at Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week (begs17Aug09), Love claims Simorangkir stole two bags of clothes from her while they stayed at Los Angeles' Chateau Marmont.

In court documents, she adds Simorangkir "repeatedly" asked her to "partake in and procure cocaine" as well as confessing she once worked as a prostitute, according to New York gossip column PageSix.

And Love's lawyer Keith Fink insists the star has every right to write about such issues on social networking sites.

He says, "Alternative mediums such as Twitter and personal web blogs enjoy the same First Amendment protection as do newspapers, television and radio.

"It is important that this cherished right not be marginalized when speech is communicated via the Internet. Ms. Cobain (Love) enjoys using Twitter and expressing her views... to her fans and those who are interested in following what she has to say."