THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM; from Dallas County; 5th Court of Appeals District (05-14-01017-CV, 493 SW3d 646, 12-30-15) Products Liability We agree with the Tatums. Defamation has two forms: slander and libel. Environmental Law If a defamatory statement about a private figure involves a matter of public concern, however, and the defendant is a media defendant, the private figure plaintiff must prove actual malice to recover punitive damages. John and Mary Ann Tatum, whose 17-year-old son shot himself, sued The News and now-retired Metro columnist Steve Blow in 2011 over allegations that the column accused the couple of lying about their son's death. But the standards governing the law of defamation are not among them. The email address cannot be subscribed. They already face a grief more intense than most of us will ever know. The Tatums' friend Lee Simpson testified by affidavit that he was contacted by Tomaso about Paul's death and that Tomaso did not ask him whether the Tatum family wanted to be contacted. We resolve this question in the Tatums' favor. walkers gluten free shortbread / April 12, 2022 . Landfill, Inc., 434 S.W.3d 142, 15657 (Tex.2014) (citing Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 349 (1974)). Paul died from a gunshot wound to the head. Admiralty & Maritime Law 73.001. And, for a matter to be a public controversy, its resolution must affect people beyond its immediate participants. Rather, this case turns on the verifiability of the column's accusation of deception against the Tatums. Nevertheless, the Milkovich Court concluded that calling someone a liar and accusing someone of perjury are both sufficiently verifiable to support a defamation claim. Id. We disagree. In that case, Dr. Neely was disciplined for self-prescribing medications, but a news broadcast about him could reasonably have been understood to report that he was actually disciplined for operating on patients while using dangerous drugs or controlled substances. In short, there must first be a controversy before it can be a public one. 6. 73.005(a) (truth is a defense to a libel action); see also Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 62 (mentioning the defense of truth and citing 73.005); Randall's Food Mkts., Inc. v. Johnson, 891 S.W.2d 640, 646 (Tex.1995) (In suits brought by private individuals, truth is an affirmative defense to slander.) (footnote omitted). Business Law Waste Mgmt. Applicable Law and Summary Judgment Grounds. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue that appellees acted with the necessary degree of culpability? See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 64 (We determine a broadcast's gist or meaning by examining how a person of ordinary intelligence would view it.) (footnote omitted). They're frustrated when obits don't say. The column purported to support this gist with the factual assertion that Paul committed suicide out of remorse, implicitly calling the obituary's statement that Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident a lie. Moreover, a public figure must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. filed), we noted that "[p]lacing the burden of proving truth or falsity is a complex . Banking Accordingly, because there is no evidence of a public controversy that could make the Tatums limited-purpose public figures, we conclude that the Tatums are private figures for purposes of this summary judgment appeal. In re Lipsky, 460 S.W.3d 579, 593 (Tex.2015) (orig.proceeding). In Tatum v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., No. As to the Tatums' first point, we agree that the column is capable of a defamatory meaning about them because a person of ordinary intelligence could read the column to accuse the Tatums of deception about the cause of Paul's death and a statement is defamatory if it impeaches a person's honesty or integrity. Appellees negated actual malice, defeating the Tatums' libel claims entirely if they are limited-purpose public figures and defeating their exemplary damage claims if they are private figures. The gist also implies that the explanation the Tatums gave for the cause of Paul's death was false and that Paul committed suicide because of remorse rather than because of injuries suffered in the auto accident. Civil Rights Employment Law Generally speaking, the column's italicized words quoted above reflect a theme of alleged dishonesty by people, including those who wrote Paul's obituary, who refuse to acknowledge that someone committed suicide. We're open these days with just about every form of death except onesuicide. We also conclude that the evidence raises a genuine fact issue as to actual malice. Tobacco Co. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.1997). WFAATV, Inc. v. McLemore, 978 S.W.2d 568, 571 (Tex.1998). Based on the above, we conclude that the expert affidavits are not speculative and the trial court did not err by overruling appellees' objections. They state that several paragraphs separate the column's description of Paul's suicide from its discussion of mental illness. at 10. Id. 2015 WL 5156908, at *6 n.6. Id. b. The Tatums argue that [t]he false gist of the Column is that [they] dishonestly characterized their son's death in the Obituary as a means to shroud his suicide in secrecy. The first question is whether an ordinarily intelligent person could construe the column as conveying that gist. Listen, the last thing I want to do is put guilt on the family of suicide victims. Moved Permanently. (A publication is of and concerning the plaintiff if persons who knew and were acquainted with him understood from viewing the publication that the defamatory matter referred to him.). at 58384. We are not necessarily convinced that Knopf's first statement about Haynes was an unverifiable opinion. at 1019. On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the column was reasonably capable of defamatory meaning and that the column was not a non-actionable opinion. Thus, Blow had a motive not to learn if there was any explanation for the way the Tatums chose to write the obituary other than the supposed desire to deceive the obituary's readers. The court then vacated its judgment and stayed the case pending the resolution of a defamation case then pending in the Texas Supreme Court. at *4. The court can see if the press was covering the debate, reporting what people were saying and uncovering facts and theories to help the public formulate some judgment. We therefore decline to follow West. 3 On June 20, 2010Father's Day, and about one month after Paul's suicidethe paper published a column by Blow entitled "Shrouding Suicide Leaves its Danger Unaddressed." 4 But in late 2015, the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit could go forward. In two of their cases, the court held that statements accusing someone of causing someone else to commit suicide were nonactionable opinions because the cause of a suicide is not objectively verifiable. Paul's friend went in the house and found Paul dazed, confused, irrational, incoherent, and apparently in physical anguish and holding one of the family's firearms. Paul's friend left him alone to tell her mother the situation, and as she left she heard a gunshot. We next ask whether there was evidence that the column's gist was false. May 11, 2018. But because the accusation was an opinion, the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Petitioners. Prac. That appeal is also being decided today, John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. Julie Hersh, No. 2. "With its unanimous ruling, the court affirmed that Steve Blow's piece was clearly an opinion column protected by law.". The court of appeals reversed, holding that the column was reasonably capable of defamatory meaning and that the column was not a non-actionable opinion. Accordingly, the Tatums submitted enough evidence to raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether they believed what they said in the obituary was true, did not intend to mislead or deceive anyone, and did not believe Paul suffered from mental illness. Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767, 77576 (1986); see also Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 116; Klentzman v. Brady, 456 S.W.3d 239, 26364 (Tex.App.Houston [1st Dist.] Blow, who did not contact the Tatums before writing his column, called for the public to more openly discuss mental illness, which is often a factor in suicides. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was capable of defaming them? If the plaintiff is a public official or a public figure, the required culpability is elevated from negligence to actual malice; that is, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant published the defamatory statement with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard as to whether it was true or false. Finally, appellees cite West v. Thomson Newspapers, 872 P.2d 999 (Utah 1994). There was no evidence of actual malice. Appellants John and Mary Ann Tatum sued appellees Steve Blow and The Dallas Morning News (DMN) for libel regarding a column that Blow wrote and DMN published one month after the Tatums' son Paul committed suicide. By using the statement In my opinion Mayor Jones is a liar as an example of an actionable statement of fact, the Court took the position that such a statement can be proven false. Morbid curiosity, they call it apologetically. In that regard, the statement must point to the plaintiff and to no one else. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among young people (ages 15 to 24) in this country. Id. Energy, Oil & Gas Law The trial court granted summary judgment for Petitioners. We also agree with the Tatums' second and third points that a person of ordinary intelligence could construe the column to suggest that Paul suffered from mental illness, and that the Tatums turned a blind eye to it and may have missed an opportunity to intervene and save his life. The distance between the column's discussion of Paul's case and its discussion of mental illness is not so great that a reader of ordinary intelligence could not connect the two, and the closing exhortation for frank discussion, timely intervention, and honesty tends to tie the end of the column back to the two specific illustrations of deception. Saying someone is popular is not inconsistent with the premise that he is mentally ill, nor is asserting that someone committed suicide out of remorse over a car crash inconsistent with the premise that he was mentally ill. Because we conclude that the column is capable of a defamatory meaning, there is at least a fact issue regarding this element, and appellees' traditional and no-evidence grounds attacking that element cannot support the trial court's judgment.4. But the Tatums adduced evidence of more than a mere negligent investigation. Subscribe to Justia's But what was apparent to every witness on the scene that day was that Pillsbury had walked a few paces from his car and shot himself. The Tatums argue that the service at issue is publishing the obituary. But Tomaso and Sherrington were also deposed, and they both testified that they did not remember having a conversation with Blow about Paul's death. Appellees, however, counter that no ordinary reader would think the column defames the Tatums. We may consult dictionaries to determine the generally accepted or commonly understood meaning of words. Our decision in Backes v. Misko, No. 1. By pleading Libel and Libel per se separately, they used Libel as a shorthand for libel per quodmuch as the Hancock court used defamation as a shorthand for defamation per quod. See id. Are the Tatums limited-purpose public figures? 4. In two appellate issues, the Tatums urge that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment dismissing their libel and DTPA claims. But recent Texas defamation cases may suggest that the plaintiff always has the burden of proving falsity. When reviewing a no-evidence summary judgment, we determine whether the nonmovant adduced sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of fact on the challenged elements. Whether a statement is a statement of fact or opinion is a question of law. Although the West court acknowledged and purported to apply the Milkovich analysis, it disregarded Milkovich's conclusions that accusing a person of being a liar or committing perjury can be sufficiently verifiable to constitute an actionable statement of fact rather than a nonactionable opinion. Thus, there is evidence that Blow did not investigate this column with the same thoroughness that he did for a previous column and that his explanation for the difference was not true. Appellees argue that the column is a fair comment on a matter of public concern, specifically society's tendency to avoid open discussion of suicide and how that leaves its dangers underestimated. This privilege, however, applies only if the comments are based on substantially true facts. Zoning, Planning & Land Use. We must take evidence favorable to the nonmovant as true, and we must indulge every reasonable inference and resolve every doubt in the nonmovant's favor. The Tatums also filed copies of a number of emails bearing on the subject. IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS No. 2. We employ a three-part test to assess whether a plaintiff is a limited-purpose public figure: (1)the controversy at issue must be public both in the sense that people are discussing it and people other than the immediate participants in the controversy are likely to feel the impact of its resolution; (2)the plaintiff must have more than a trivial or tangential role in the controversy; and. Securities Law But I don't think we should feel embarrassment at all. 29, 2013), aff'd, 41 N.E.3d 38 (Mass.2015). The court was also critical of The News, concluding that the column "may have run afoul of certain journalistic, ethical, and other standards. For the above reasons, we conclude that the summary judgment cannot be sustained on the grounds that the column stated only nonactionable opinions about the Tatums or that there was no evidence that appellees published any actionable statements of fact. Our ePaper and live News feed are now together in one app. Believing that Paul's suicide was caused by a brain injury he sustained in the earlier automobile accident, the Tatums stated in the obituary that Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. The obituary was published on May 21, 2010. Appellees make a threshold argument that the Tatums must satisfy the standard for libel per se because they did not plead or prove libel per quod or special damages. In adopting the verifiable as false test in Bentley and Neely, the Texas Supreme Court relied on the United States Supreme Court's decision in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1 (1990). Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. Limited-purpose public figures are generally people who have thrust themselves to the forefront of a particular public controversy to influence its resolution, or who have voluntarily injected themselves or been drawn into a public controversy. Newspapers don't write about suicides unless they involve a public figure or happen in a very public way. Daily resource for best restaurants in Dallas, recommendations for things to do, local news and commentary on life in Dallas. We affirm the judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their DTPA claims. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was neither true nor substantially true? To be actionable defamation, a statement must be a statement of verifiable fact rather than opinion. App.Dallas Dec. 30, 2015, pet. In this libel-by-implication case, a column written by Steve Blow and published by The Dallas Morning News (collectively, Petitioners) was reasonably capable of meaning that John and Mary Ann Tatum acted deceptively and that the accusation of deception was reasonably capable of defaming the Tatums. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM Oral argument was held on January 10, 2018. As the Tatums urge, the service they bought was Paul's obituary. We disagree and affirm the judgment as to those claims. Stayed the case pending the resolution of a number of emails bearing on the verifiability of the column gist. Suggest that the service at issue is publishing the obituary was published on may 21,.! Of the column was capable of defaming them turns on the verifiability of column... 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