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. Nonetheless, a journalist may not omit and juxtapose facts in such a way as to make the facts reported convey a false gist or meaning. 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. Similarly, in Bentley the Texas Supreme Court considered whether repeated statements that a particular judge was corrupt were nonactionable statements of opinion. Crediting the Tatums' evidence as we must, we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that the column's gist was false. court opinions. Laird v. Tatum | Oyez Laird v. Tatum Media Oral Argument - March 27, 1972 Opinions Syllabus View Case Petitioner Laird Respondent Tatum Docket no. 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. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 62; Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 57985. For example, the internal sources that Blow said he contacted before publishing the column denied having discussed the matter with him. And, for a matter to be a public controversy, its resolution must affect people beyond its immediate participants. 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, To the contrary, the column's tone is generally sober, and it purports to be grounded in factual details such as the circumstances of Pillsbury's and Paul's deaths, data about the prevalence of suicide among young people, and Julie Hersh's public efforts to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding mental illness. 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. We resolved that case, however, without deciding the issue because the placement of the burden there would not have affected the outcome.Although Turner contains a passing remark in dicta that a defamation plaintiff must prove that the publication is not privileged, 38 S.W.3d at 115, it does not cite Denton Publishing Co. or hint that it overrules that case's holding that privilege is an affirmative defense, 460 S.W.2d at 885. 1. We agree with the Tatums' second argument and thus do not address their first. The column was true or substantially true. One expert explained the severity of Paul's auto accident, and the other opined that Paul committed suicide because of a brain injury sustained in that accident. Government Contracts Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. walkers gluten free shortbread / April 12, 2022 . This opinion should not be construed to hold that the column necessarily defamed the Tatums. In two appellate issues, the Tatums urge that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment dismissing their libel and DTPA claims. 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. Had he investigated further and learned facts suggesting that the Tatums had no intent to deceive, this would have undercut the whole thrust of the column, which began with a reference to deception and ended with a call for honesty. 5. "With its unanimous ruling, the court affirmed that Steve Blow's piece was clearly an opinion column protected by law.". The trial court later lifted the stay and again rendered a take-nothing summary judgment against the Tatums. Utilities Law Environmental Law Appellees, however, counter that no ordinary reader would think the column defames the Tatums. That night, Paul was involved in a one-car automobile accident. New York Times v. Sullivan-Alabama city commissioner sued NY Times -said an ad they published describing mistreatment of African American students had defamed him by implication-some of the statements in the ad were false or exaggerated, but those were small details 219 0 obj <>stream Based on his investigation and experience, Kass concluded that Paul sustained a brain injury in the auto accident and that Paul would not have committed suicide but for the car accident and brain injury. Landlord - Tenant Sysco Food Servs., Inc. v. Trapnell, 890 S.W.2d 796, 800 (Tex.1994) A matter is conclusively established if ordinary minds could not differ as to the conclusion to be drawn from the evidence. In re Estate of Hendler, 316 S.W.3d 703, 707 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, no pet.). In re Lipsky, 460 S.W.3d 579, 593 (Tex.2015) (orig.proceeding). Real Estate & Property Law Am. Dallas Morning News Leading daily newspaper serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area. of Tex., Inc. v. Tex. 71-288 Decided by Burger Court Lower court United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Citation 408 US 1 (1972) Argued Mar 27, 1972 Decided Jun 26, 1972 Advocates Thus, the column does not qualify for the official proceeding privilege. See Waste Mgmt. See Gilbert Tex. Grief Support. 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. Similarly, the evidence here supports a reasonable inference that some people who read the column knew that it was about the Tatums. Based on his investigation, he concluded that the primary impact involved in the accident was moderate to severe, and that the accident was severe enough that it would have subjected a human occupant of the vehicle to, at a very minimum, the risk of a mild TBI [traumatic brain injury], such as a concussion.. As the Tatums urge, the service they bought was Paul's obituary. Backes, 2015 WL 1138258, at *14. 6. Supreme Court of Texas. The other affidavit is by Dr. Joseph Kass, a medical doctor and neurologist who possesses expertise in neurocognitive disorders such as traumatic brain injuries. Plaintiffs sued Defendant for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), claiming that Defendant exploited the tragedy of their son's death by encouraging the criticism of their son's obituary. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. After West's election, Thomson ran columns asserting that before the election West had opposed a proposal that the town should purchase a municipal power system, but that he changed his position after he was elected. Phila. at 6667. Based on the above, we conclude that the expert affidavits are not speculative and the trial court did not err by overruling appellees' objections. We draw this factual recitation from the allegations in the Tatums' live petition: The Tatums were Paul Tatum's parents. 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). Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 115. 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. Civ. To support their premise, appellees point to evidence that some people in the community were discussing Paul's suicide before the column was published. The Tatums' attorney, Joe Sibley, said he could not comment since The News was a party to the lawsuit. The Dallas Morning News is an independent paper positioned for growth. On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Tatums were out of town at another son's graduation, and Paul was home alone. A statement does not have to refer to the plaintiff by name, however, if people who know and are acquainted with the plaintiff reasonably understand from reading the statement that it referred to the plaintiff. Main, 348 S.W.3d at 395; see also Houseman v. Publicaciones Paso del Norte, S.A., 242 S.W.3d 518, 525 (Tex.App.El Paso 2007, no pet.) Appellees filed a traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 61. 418 S.W.3d at 64. Neely's substantial truth analysis is instructive. This is some evidence of actual malice. He testified that he knew that Bruce Tomaso and Kevin Sherrington looked into Paul's death, and that he could not remember specifically which of them provided him with the information he used in the column. Rhetorical hyperbole is extravagant exaggeration employed for rhetorical effect. 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. It took a while for honesty to come to the AIDS epidemic. Submit an Obituary. In short, there must first be a controversy before it can be a public one. In that case, Knopf published a book containing statements that (i) Haynes's drinking was responsible for his son's birth defects, and (ii) Haynes left one woman for another because the second woman was not as poor as the first. 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. But the Tatums must prove actual malice to recover exemplary damages if the defamatory statement involved a matter of public concern (as opposed to a public controversy) and appellees are media defendants. (to cause to believe the false); Deceive, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage (3d ed.2011) (to induce someone to believe in a falsehood); Deceive, The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) (cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage).3 Thus, a person of ordinary intelligence could, under the circumstances, at this point alone read the column to have a defamatory meaning by impeaching the Tatums' honesty and integrity. Our ePaper and live News feed are now together in one app. There is thus some evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could find negligence's first prongthat appellees should have known of the defamatory statement's falsity, but failed to use reasonable care to ascertain the truth of the column's gist. Next, specifically as to Paul's death, Blow wrote that the paid obituary said Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident, but Paul's death turned out to have been a suicide. Blow continued, There was a car crash, all right, but death came from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a time of remorse afterward. In the third paragraph after that statement, Blow wrote, I'm troubled that we, as a society, allow suicide to remain cloaked in such secrecy, if not outright deception.. at 62; McIlvain v. Jacobs, 794 S.W.2d 14, 15 (Tex.1990). 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. A statement is defamatory if it tends to (i) injure a person's reputation, (ii) expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or financial injury, or (iii) impeach his honesty, integrity, or virtue. Election Law [1] The Dallas woman first went public with her story of depression and suicide attempts in my column three years ago. The trial court granted summary judgment for Petitioners. Neely, however, submitted evidence that he had not actually operated on patients while taking or using dangerous drugs or controlled substances. Read Tatum v. Dall. Civil Rights ); see also Civ. The court then vacated its judgment and stayed the case pending the resolution of a defamation case then pending in the Texas Supreme Court. 7. Additionally, the summary judgment evidence established that the Tatums were out of town the day the column was published. Id. That appeal is also being decided today, John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. Julie Hersh, No. 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. The column's headline was Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed. (Emphasis added). Professional Malpractice & Ethics Select your device from the three options below: Smartphone or Tablet Browser Desktop or Laptop Download the free iPad App We are unpersuaded by appellees' contrary arguments. The evidence shows that DMN published Paul's obituary, and the Tatums do not allege that the obituary itself did not conform to their order. One month later, on Father's Day, June 20, 2010, DMN published a column written by Blow. 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. Sympathy Ideas. May 11, 2018. Civ. The Dallas Morning News published the obituary on May 21, 2010. We recently cited Lipsky and placed the burden of proving falsity on the plaintiff in a libel case involving the Texas Citizens Participation Act, Civ. 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. 05-14-01017-CV JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM, Appellants . dallas morning news v tatum oyezcalculate the number of electrons passing per second dallas morning news v tatum oyez. b. 051401318CV. Moreover, a public figure must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. We disagree and affirm the judgment as to those claims. Class Action Health Care Law 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. It does not mention those proceedings, nor does it report any statements or findings made in the course of those proceedings. In that regard, the statement must point to the plaintiff and to no one else. denied) (objection that opinions are speculative can be raised for the first time on appeal). Legal Ethics Before Justices Lang, Fillmore, and Whitehill Opinion by Justice Whitehill 4. The court also dismissed DMN's counterclaim with prejudice. Applicable Law and Summary Judgment Grounds. 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. The medical examiner ruled the teens death a suicide. Bankruptcy See id. You're all set! Mack Trucks, Inc. v. Tamez, 206 S.W.3d 572, 582 (Tex.2006). 2. WFAATV, Inc.,978 S.W.2d at 572. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Tatums, we conclude that a reasonable person could find that people who knew the Tatums would reasonably understand that the column referred to the Tatums. They also sued DMN for DTPA violations. 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. The court was also critical of The News, concluding that the column "may have run afoul of certain journalistic, ethical, and other standards. See Civ. hb```f``ra`a``b`@ r`@([E,X42+r3gpxp~bgecfag^l|%Y>6ZQSkGX{3`e.eVdXVPx\f;nx2_WaL) CpUR L@E QF 8+PH\~9 SY/01.dep|CG}jn@ Lkc |F | c.Was the column's gist substantially true? Whether a publication is capable of a defamatory meaning is initially a question for the court. 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. 4. Heritage Capital, LP v. Gonzalez, 436 S.W.3d 865, 875 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet. Three, they did not intend to cover up Paul's suicide, and they knew that some of Paul's friends already knew he had committed suicide. As stated in their brief, their DTPA claims stem from DMN's alleged practices and deception surrounding its sale of obituary services to the Tatums. They argue that the information DMN failed to disclose was Mr. To the extent West is similar to the instant case, we disagree with it. No. Newspapers, Inc. v. Matthews, 339 S.W.2d 890, 893 (Tex.1960). On appeal, appellees argue only that the affidavits are too speculative. We remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See id. Appellees asserted several summary judgment grounds. Government & Administrative Law at 1020. They're frustrated when obits don't say. We may consult dictionaries to determine the generally accepted or commonly understood meaning of words. 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. We reject the Tatums' second appellate issue. Insurance Law Id. Although appellees contend that the column's gist does not include any comment on the Tatums' character or their actions, we disagree. The Tatums wrote an obituary for Paul and paid DMN to publish the obituary in the Dallas Morning News newspaper. We are not persuaded by appellees' characterization of the column as nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole. But in late 2015, the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit could go forward. 05-14-01017-CV, 2015 WL 9582903, at *5 (Tex. These cases are distinguishable because the case before us does not turn on the verifiability of the column's statement about the cause of Paul's suicide. We long ago stated that it is the settled law of Texas, that a false statement of fact concerning a public officer, even if made in a discussion of matters of public concern, is not privileged as fair comment.. Id. All rights reserved. Id. I think it's part of our survival mechanism. 17.46(b)(24) (West 2011). Antitrust & Trade Regulation Mar. We thus conclude that the Tatums pled claims for both libel per quod and libel per se. Cf. 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. A Dallas County trial court initially dismissed the lawsuit against The News. Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591. There was a page break in the middle of the column, and a slightly different headline appeared over the remainder of the column when it resumed on another page: Shrouding suicide in secrecy leaves its danger unaddressed. The column, with emphasis added, stated as follows: So I guess we're down to just one form of death still considered worthy of deception. Appellees also argue that the column cannot reasonably be read to suggest that Paul had a mental illness. The evidence also showed that their friends, recognizing that the column was about the Tatums, contacted them and told them about the column. Trusts & Estates He was born on January 12, 1953 to Albert Tatum and . As the Court notes, the obituary stated that their son died "as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident." Their son had shot himself after he had been involved in a car accident. At issue is. That decision, which backed the Tatums defamation claims, said readers could construe the column to suggest that Paul suffered from mental illness.. But it's such a missed opportunity to educate.. 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. Appellees argue that a public controversy existed over the official cause of Paul's death. He then called a friend, and their conversation prompted her and her mother to drive to the Tatums' house during the early morning hours of May 18. We agree with the Tatums. Appellees made objections to the affidavits in the trial court, which the trial court overruled. 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 column's headline and opening sentence announce that deception and secrecy are the column's topics. More recently, a paid obituary in this newspaper reported that a popular local high school student died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.. 2. Waste Mgmt. Kass reviewed Cargill's report about the accident, interviewed the Tatums, reviewed Paul's conduct before and after the accident as reported by his friends, and reviewed other documents such as Paul's medical history and death certificate. ERISA See Hancock v. Variyam, 400 S.W.3d 59, 64 (Tex.2013) (Defamation per quod is defamation that is not actionable per se.). Daily resource for best restaurants in Dallas, recommendations for things to do, local news and commentary on life in Dallas. I think the need to know is wired deeply in us. Posted By : / chsaa basketball rule book /; Under :international cultureinternational culture At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Karen Misko took the post to be directed at her and sued Johns for libel. Finally, the Tatums point to their minister's testimony that he called Blow to express his concerns about the column and that Blow's first response was, Did I get my facts right?. Appellees' contrary argument fails on the first prong we referenced abovethe existence of a public controversy for the Tatums to participate in. We agree that the column's gist associates the obituary with deception, which denotes an intention to deceive, often for personal advantage. 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. Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) The Newspaper distributed in Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex counties of Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise. ", "We are sorry for the Tatum family's tragic loss of their son," said Mike Wilson, editor of The News. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. I understand why people don't include it, she told me. DMN also asserted the following no-evidence grounds: There was no evidence that the Tatums were consumers. There was also evidence that Blow did not adhere to his usual practice of investigation when he wrote the column. 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. See DuncanHubert v. Mitchell, 310 S.W.3d 92, 103 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, pet. WFAATV, Inc. v. McLemore, 978 S.W.2d 568, 571 (Tex.1998). When art expert Ted Pillsbury died in March, his company said he suffered an apparent heart attack on a country road in Kaufman County. Rather, we conclude only that it is capable of having that meaning. Add . denied) (mem.op.) A defamation plaintiff must prove that the allegedly defamatory statement referred to him or her. DMN asserted the following traditional summary judgment grounds against the Tatums' DTPA claims: DMN did not commit a false, misleading, or deceptive act that the Tatums relied on. The Dallas Morning News Access ePaper Optimized for your device. 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 Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. 16-0098 Supreme Court of Texas May 11, 2018. The 2010 column, Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed, urged the public to talk more openly about suicide. Because we conclude that the evidence raised a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was true or substantially true regarding the Tatums, we need not decide which side had the burden of proof. 186 0 obj <> endobj In addition to their libel claims, the Tatums also asserted DTPA claims against DMN. 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. See id. The Tatums argue that the service at issue is publishing the obituary. 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. Neely v. Wilson, 418 S.W.3d 52, 59 (Tex.2013). The court agreed with West that the columns reasonably carried the defamatory implication that West had misrepresented his position on municipal power in order to win the election, but it held that this implication was not subject to objective verification. Sign up for our free summaries and get the latest delivered directly to you. 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. at 62 ([S]tatements that are not verifiable as false cannot form the basis of a defamation claim.); see also Bentley v. Bunton, 94 S.W.3d 561, 57985 (Tex.2002) (accusations that a judge was corrupt were sufficiently verifiable to constitute actionable statements of fact). Prac. We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, crediting evidence favorable to that party if reasonable jurors could and disregarding contrary evidence unless reasonable jurors could not. I'm told there was a time when the word cancer was never mentioned. Posted By : / thalassery to wayanad ksrtc bus timings /; Under :international norms examplesinternational norms examples Two, John Tatum also testified that his minister called him about the column as well. He made his way home from the accident scene and began drinking champagne. at 47. 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