In the present case, the column's implicit assertion that the Tatums committed deception is similaran accusation that the Tatums willfully wrote a misleading obituary for the purpose of deceiving readers, possibly to protect themselves from suspicion of being negligent or inattentive parents. Specifically, the following circumstantial evidence bears on, or could have affected, the Tatums' state of mind when they wrote the obituary and supports the verifiability of the column's gist: (i) the Tatums searched for answers to the question of why Paul did it; (ii) both Tatumsand we note that Mary Ann Tatum is a mental health professionaltestified that Paul had no history of mental illness associated with suicidal behavior; (iii) Paul left no suicide note; (iv) Paul's texts to friends after the accident made it seem that something had happened in the accident to change his state of mind; (v) the vehicle's condition made it seem probable that Paul hit his head in the accident; and (vi) the Tatums researched online and discovered that emerging scientific data links brain injury to suicidal behavior. 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. The Supreme Court has held that a defamation plaintiff must prove falsity if (i) the plaintiff is a public figure, or (ii) the defendant is a media defendant and the statement involves a matter of public concern. 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. 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) Calling someone a liar and accusing someone of perjury, as occurred in those cases, both implicate the person's mental state, because both liar and perjury denote the willful telling of an untruth. Election Law The Court issued an opinion resolving the case on May 11, 2018. We construe an allegedly defamatory publication as a whole in light of the surrounding circumstances and based on how a person of ordinary intelligence would perceive it. 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.] Civ. 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. Heritage Capital, 436 S.W.3d at 875; Main v. Royall, 348 S.W.3d 381, 389 (Tex.App.Dallas 2011, no pet.). 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. Yet we're nearly blind to the greater threat of self-inflicted violence. The Tatums' first appellate issue argues that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims. The gist is that they stated a false cause of death, shrouded Paul's suicide in secrecy, intended to mislead and deceive the readers, and may have wanted to conceal Paul's mental illness and their own failure to intervene. On appeal, appellees argue only that the affidavits are too speculative. If a defamatory statement is true or substantially true, it is not actionable. 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 ac. endstream endobj 187 0 obj <> endobj 188 0 obj <> endobj 189 0 obj <>stream Because these privileges are affirmative defenses, see Denton Publ'g Co. v. Boyd, 460 S.W.2d 881, 882, 885 (Tex.1970) (interpreting predecessor statute to 73.002), appellees' summary judgment motion had to conclusively prove their elements to prevail.6. Naturally, with such a well-known figure, the truth quickly came out. See McConnell v. Southside Indep. Milkovich lost on summary judgment and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. at 122627. See id. We are not necessarily convinced that Knopf's first statement about Haynes was an unverifiable opinion. Prac. 203 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<5137B43803F1ED67129ECA0B47F79974>]/Index[186 34]/Info 185 0 R/Length 86/Prev 175724/Root 187 0 R/Size 220/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream Placing the burden of proving truth or falsity is a complex matter. In our analysis of this question, we focus on DMN's second no-evidence ground and particularly the first requirement of 17.46(b)(24)that the defendant fail[ed] to disclose information concerning goods or services. Id. We thus conclude that the Tatums pled claims for both libel per quod and libel per se. More than 1,000 people attended Paul's funeral. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. On that occasion, he said, he attempted to contact the author of one of the obituaries. 6. 186 0 obj <> endobj Transportation Law We determine substantial truth by assessing the publication's gist. See id. 2014, pet. Daily resource for best restaurants in Dallas, recommendations for things to do, local news and commentary on life in Dallas. Add . Appellees, however, counter that no ordinary reader would think the column defames the Tatums. Agriculture Law Id. 27.001.011. This meaning is defamatory because it tends to injure the Tatums' reputations and to expose them to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. D Magazine Partners, 2015 WL 5156908, at *7. a. Nonetheless, the Tatums filed affidavits by two experts. 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. 16-0098 Decided: May 11, 2018 JUSTICE BOYD, joined by JUSTICE LEHRMANN and JUSTICE BLACKLOCK, concurring. A reasonable juror could conclude that a hypothetically true column would have been less damaging to the Tatums' reputation because it would have mentioned that the Tatums claimed to have written the obituary in a good faith belief in its truth and without an intent to deceive. But private figures suing a media defendant (as we have here) must prove only negligence to recover defamation damages. West sued for defamation, he lost the case on summary judgment, and the case came before the Utah Supreme Court. These affidavits create a reasonable inference that persons who knew the Tatums also knew that the column referred to them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Constitutional Law Family Law Do you think that might be important for parents to understand? Appellees' summary judgment motion argued that (i) they proved the column was true or substantially true and (ii) the Tatums had no evidence of any false statement of fact in the column. 73.002(b)(1)(B), and (ii) a reasonable and fair comment on or criticism of a matter of public concern published for general information, id. Redirecting to https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/dallas-cowboys-cut-move-dallas-cowboys-reveal-tyron-smith-contract-plan-change at *1314. Copyright Whether a publication is capable of a defamatory meaning is initially a question for the court. The medical examiner ruled the teens death a suicide. 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 because the accusation was an opinion, the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Petitioners.The Tatum filed suit alleging libel and libel per se against Petitioners alleging that the column at issue defamed them. Applicable Law and Summary Judgment Grounds. Blow explained that he acted differently in investigating this column because he had been told that Paul's family did not want to discuss the matter. 6. The column was privileged as a fair, true, and impartial account of official proceedings. This opinion should not be construed to hold that the column necessarily defamed the Tatums. They argue that the column's gist includes an assertion that they falsely ascribed Paul's death to injuries sustained in an automobile accident with the intent to mislead and deceive readers and to cover up his suicide. Here, the column did not mention Paul or the Tatums by name. Government Law And, for a matter to be a public controversy, its resolution must affect people beyond its immediate participants. The Tatums' live pleading asserted Libel as count 1 and Libel per se as count 2. Select your device from the three options below: Smartphone or Tablet Browser Desktop or Laptop Download the free iPad App View "Dallas Morning News, Inc. v. Tatum" on Justia Law. Speech deals with matters of public concern when it can be fairly considered as relating to any matter of political, social, or other concern to the community or when it is a subject of legitimate news interest; that is, a subject of general interest and of value and concern to the public Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 453 (2011) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Based on their view of the column's gist, appellees next argue that the cause of Paul's suicide and the Tatums' belief about that cause are irrelevant to the issue of truth. But a statement couched as an opinion may be actionable if it expressly or implicitly asserts facts that can be objectively verified. I think it's part of our survival mechanism. Health Law Appellees made objections to the affidavits in the trial court, which the trial court overruled. We conclude that summary judgment was proper as to the Tatums' DTPA claims but not as to their libel claims. Austin v. Inet Techs., Inc., 118 S.W.3d 491, 496 (Tex.App.Dallas 2003, no pet.). We disagree. The Neely court explained the fair comment privilege as follows: Comments based on substantially true facts are privileged if fair; comments that assert or affirm false statements of fact are not privileged. You already receive all suggested Justia Opinion Summary Newsletters. There was no evidence the complained of act was a producing cause of the Tatums' damages. We construe an allegedly defamatory publication as a whole, in light of the surrounding circumstances, based on how a person of ordinary intelligence would perceive it. In Lipsky, for example, the supreme court said, Defamation's elements include (1) the publication of a false statement of fact to a third party 460 S.W.3d at 593 (emphasis added). The Tatums purchased a space in the Dallas Morning News to publish an obituary for their son. B. But the Tatums adduced evidence of more than a mere negligent investigation. Founded in 1885, The Dallas Morning is North Texas' largest news team. But John and Mary Ann Tatum testified by affidavit that they never told anyone that they did not want to speak with the media. As explained above, a false gist is substantially true and nonactionable if it is no more damaging to the plaintiff's reputation than a truthful publication would have been. Because the evidence in Neely raised a genuine fact issue as to whether a news broadcast was substantially true, the court held that the defendants were not entitled to summary judgment based on the fair comment privilege. Moved Permanently. We reverse the trial court's summary judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their libel and libel per se claims. We have already concluded that a reasonable reader could conclude that the column presents a false gist about the Tatums. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 63. That question remains to be decided by the factfinder. Bankruptcy The above parts alone could cause a person of ordinary intelligence to read the column as accusing the Tatums of deceit by writing an obituary that stated a false cause of Paul's death and concealed the true cause of his death (for their own self-benefit and to the detriment of society as a whole). We reject the Tatums' second appellate issue. We're nearly obsessed with crime. The Tatums wrote an obituary for Paul and paid DMN to publish the obituary in the Dallas Morning News newspaper. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Tatums, the evidence raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the actual malice element. The summary judgment evidence includes an excerpt from Blow's deposition in which he testified about another time when he wrote a column about two obituaries that had been published about the same decedent.

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