Are the column's statements about the Tatums nonactionable opinions? Prac. We conclude that there was more than a scintilla of evidence showing more than a mere failure to conduct a reasonable investigation. Prac. Injury Law In short, there must first be a controversy before it can be a public one. Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591 (footnotes omitted). Rather, the Tatums contend that DMN should have disclosed that its columnist, Blow, had previously written columns critical of obituaries that had appeared in the newspaper. at 58384. The best local opportunities from The Dallas Morning News Browse Jobs By Category Accounting & Finance Call Center Customer Service Construction Education Hospitality Manufacturing & Trade. There was also evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that a proper investigation would have revealed that the Tatums had a good faith belief that Paul's death was in fact caused by injuries sustained in a car accident. Submit an Obituary. Contact us. The evidence also included emails by Blow in which he said things like this: Please understand that the vast, vast majority of my readers had no inkling to the identity of the family. A publication is substantially true if, in the average reader's mind, the allegedly defamatory statement is not more damaging to the plaintiff's reputation than a truthful statement would have been. Our ePaper and live News feed are now together in one app. Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 16, 1920 & n.6 (1990); Phila. The hypothetical person of ordinary intelligence is one who exercises care and prudence, but not omniscience, when evaluating an allegedly defamatory communication. We disagree. 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. Two, they did not mention suicide in the obituary because (i) they believed it would give a false impression that Paul committed suicide as a result of depression or other mental illness and (ii) they did not feel it would honor Paul's memory to include morbid details about his death or to include overly scientific information. Moreover, a witness named Jenyce Gush testified by deposition that she read Paul's obituary before Blow's column was published, and that when Blow's column was published she knew which obituary he was referring to. We remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Consumer Law When one of my colleagues began to inquire, thinking the death deserved news coverage, it turned out to have been a suicide. at 47. Heritage Capital, 436 S.W.3d at 875; Main v. Royall, 348 S.W.3d 381, 389 (Tex.App.Dallas 2011, no pet.). The case of Laird v. Tatum raised questions about the use of surveillance by the military and how it might affect the First. Because the evidence raises a genuine fact issue that the column's gist was neither true nor substantially true, appellees' traditional and no-evidence summary judgment grounds addressing truth and substantial truth cannot support the trial court's judgment. 05-14-01017-CV, 2015 WL 9582903, at *5 (Tex. About three months later, they filed an amended traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. Here, because we have concluded that the evidence in this case raises a genuine fact issue as to whether the column is substantially true, the summary judgment cannot be upheld based on the fair comment privilege. Appellees won a take-nothing summary judgment. Similarly, in Bentley the Texas Supreme Court considered whether repeated statements that a particular judge was corrupt were nonactionable statements of opinion. That lawsuit was dismissed, and the Tatums appealed. 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). Blow testified that he did not review any documents regarding Paul's death or the car accident earlier that night, did not interview anyone with the Dallas Police Department or the medical examiner's office, and did not attempt to contact the Tatums before drafting the column. b. We next ask whether there was evidence that the column's gist was false. Id. But in late 2015, the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit could go forward. Appellees also argue that the column cannot reasonably be read to suggest that Paul had a mental illness. 73.002(b)(2). The Tatums' attorney, Joe Sibley, said he could not comment since The News was a party to the lawsuit. 2014, pet. at 72. Moreover, a public figure must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. To the extent West is similar to the instant case, we disagree with it. 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 at 187. at 1020. News: 1 day ago Tatum recorded 14 points (6-18 FG, 1-9 3Pt, 1-1 FT), nine assists, seven rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes before he was ejected from Monday's 109-94 loss to the Knicks. Redirecting to https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/dallas-cowboys-cut-move-dallas-cowboys-reveal-tyron-smith-contract-plan-change Thus, the column does not qualify for the official proceeding privilege. V. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW, Appellees . Legal Ethics There was no evidence that appellees published a statement that was defamatory or that any defamatory statement was of and concerning the Tatums. We agree with the Tatums. 16-0098 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW, PETITIONERS v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM, RESPONDENTS ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS Argued January 10, 2018 JUSTICE BROWN delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, A. 73.001 (West 2011). 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. %%EOF Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue that DMN violated 17.46(b)(24)? A no-evidence summary judgment should be reversed if the evidence is sufficient for reasonable and fair-minded jurors to differ in their conclusions. In D Magazine Partners we said that the supreme court's 2000 Turner opinion suggests that lack of privilege might be an element of a defamation plaintiff's case, while its 2013 Neely opinion indicates that privilege is a defense. 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. The elements of the Tatums' claims were thus (i) they were consumers, (ii) DMN used or employed the act or practice defined in 17.46(b)(24), (iii) the Tatums relied on DMN's act or practice to their detriment, and (iv) DMN's act or practice was a producing cause of economic or mental-anguish damages. 73.002(b)(1)(B). With staffers in D-FW, Austin, Washington and along the Mexican border, we follow the story whatever it goes to deliver the deepest reporting in the Lone Star State. Appellees asserted several summary judgment grounds. More specifically, the column's first four paragraphs state Blow's opinion that people generally consider a death by suicide worthy of deception and mention honesty and being open about other causes of death. Did appellees establish as a matter of law that the column is privileged as a fair account of official proceedings or as a fair comment on a matter of public concern? The actual column, however, can be read to allow and encourage the reader to conclude that the Tatums had no basis for attributing Paul's death to injuries sustained in the earlier car crash and that they wanted to deceive the obituary's readers about the cause of Paul's death, perhaps to conceal their own failure to save his life through an intervention. Id. Banking Viewed in the light most favorable to the Tatums, the evidence raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the actual malice element. Appellees filed a traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. Real Estate Law Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. See Tex.R. He was born on January 12, 1953 to Albert Tatum and . (quoting Bell Publ'g Co. v. Garrett Eng'g Co., 170 S.W.2d 197, 204 (Tex.1943)). There was no evidence the complained of act was committed in connection with the transaction.. Although the column does not expressly make these assertions, roughly the last third of the column discusses the prevalence of suicide (specifically among young people), laments public silence about suicide's frequent cause (mental illness), and concludes, Awareness, frank discussion, timely intervention, treatmentthose are the things that save lives. Placing the burden of proving truth or falsity is a complex matter. Contracts pending). Immigration Law walkers gluten free shortbread / April 12, 2022 . My column told them nothing they didn't already know. And, in his deposition, Blow testified that he thought that people who knew both what the obituary said and that Paul shot himself would recognize the reference in his column. Criminal Law 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. The column's headline was Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed. (Emphasis added). Austin v. Inet Techs., Inc., 118 S.W.3d 491, 496 (Tex.App.Dallas 2003, no pet.). Bankruptcy The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the columns accusation of deception was reasonably capable of injuring the Tatums standing in the community but that Blows implicit statement that the Tatum acted deceptively was an opinion and thus not actionable. D Magazine Partners, 2015 WL 5156908, at *7. a. The medical examiner ruled the teens death a suicide. Public Benefits Even if the statements in a publication are not defamatory when taken individually, a publication can be defamatory if it creates a defamatory impression by omitting material facts or juxtaposing facts in a misleading way. We are not persuaded by appellees' characterization of the column as nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole. In response to Johns's dismissal motion under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, Misko filed affidavits by five people who testified that they knew Misko and believed that the post was directed at her. Id. Thus, unlike the statement, In my opinion Mayor Jones is a liar, the statement, In my opinion Mayor Jones shows his abysmal ignorance by accepting the teachings of Marx and Lenin, would not be actionable. In Tatum v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., No. And those who did know were already aware of the confusion caused by the obituary. 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