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. In the ePaper section, you'll find: A digital replica of the print edition to give you all the news you need each day Additional ePaper-only bonus content, including extra comics and puzzles at 47. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was neither true nor substantially true? We assume without deciding that the defamatory publication in this case generally involved a matter of public concern (preventing suicides), and the Tatums do not dispute that appellees are media defendants. Id. 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. ERISA 2014, pet. Some obituary readers tell me they feel guilty for having such curiosity about how people died. %PDF-1.5 % Products Liability Blow's controversial practice of attacking obituaries. In their affidavits, both Tatums said that they would not have published the obituary as worded if they had known that DMN had someone on staff who had a history of criticizing obituaries like Steve Blow.. I'm told there was a time when the word cancer was never mentioned. Landlord - Tenant Blow holds up the Tatums as an example of the very phenomenon that his column seeks to discourage., Attorney Paul Watler of Jackson Walker, who represented The News in the lawsuit, described Justice Jeff Brown's opinion as "thoroughly grounded in the guarantee of free speech and free press that is enshrined in both the First Amendment and the Texas Constitution. 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. Subscribe https://t.co/MqPw2ZUctn At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. We are unpersuaded. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. These matters create a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column's contents would have warned a reasonably prudent publisher of its defamatory potential. The trial court granted appellees' amended summary judgment motion, and the Tatums timely filed a notice of appeal. 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 Tatums timely filed a second notice of appeal. Slander is an oral defamation. Naturally, with such a well-known figure, the truth quickly came out. When reviewing a traditional summary judgment for a defendant, we determine whether the defendant conclusively disproved an element of the plaintiff's claim or conclusively proved every element of an affirmative defense. c.Was the column's gist substantially true? That decision, which backed the Tatums defamation claims, said readers could construe the column to suggest that Paul suffered from mental illness.. He was an excellent and popular student, an outstanding athlete, and had no history of mental illness. Civ. Zoning, Planning & Land Use. of Tex., Inc., 434 S.W.3d at 15657. Free Newsletters See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 72. Posted By : / thalassery to wayanad ksrtc bus timings /; Under :international norms examplesinternational norms examples Heritage Capital, LP v. Gonzalez, 436 S.W.3d 865, 875 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet. 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. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was capable of defaming them? 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. Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591 (footnotes omitted). Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue that DMN violated 17.46(b)(24)? A defamation plaintiff must prove that the allegedly defamatory statement referred to him or her. Appellees' contrary argument fails on the first prong we referenced abovethe existence of a public controversy for the Tatums to participate in. at *5. Established in 1885, The Dallas Morning News is Texas' leading newspaper and the flagship newspaper subsidiary of DallasNews Corporation. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. Construction Law 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. And, for a matter to be a public controversy, its resolution must affect people beyond its immediate participants. 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. The court noted that the defendant had repeatedly stated that his accusations of corruption were based on objective, provable facts and on evidence that he had seen. The column, captioned Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed, criticized people who are dishonest about loved ones' suicides. ", "We are sorry for the Tatum family's tragic loss of their son," said Mike Wilson, editor of The News. Find an Obituary. Our supreme court, however, has embraced the Milkovich verifiability test. Dist., 858 S.W.2d 337, 341 (Tex.1993) (A motion [for summary judgment] must stand or fall on the grounds expressly presented in the motion.). Accordingly, Gacek and Scholz are not on point. See Civ. 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. Id. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that their cases are distinguishable or otherwise unpersuasive. The column's headline and opening sentence announce that deception and secrecy are the column's topics. Paul died from a gunshot wound to the head. Again, a statement is defamatory if it tends to (i) injure the subject's reputation, (ii) expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or financial injury, or (iii) impeach his honesty, integrity, or virtue. Antitrust & Trade Regulation Did you know that almost twice as many people die each year from suicide as from homicide? She has since written a book, Struck by Living. Arbitration & Mediation West successfully ran for mayor of a Utah town. See D Magazine Partners, L.P. v. Rosenthal, No. Additionally, the summary judgment evidence established that the Tatums were out of town the day the column was published. 7. Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. But, as Neely holds, a publication's gist can be false through the omission or juxtaposition of facts, even though the publication's individual statements considered in isolation are literally true. 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. 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) 219 0 obj <>stream 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. To the extent a negligence standard applies, there was no evidence of negligence. 2015 WL 5156908, at *6 n.6. They're frustrated when obits don't say. Utilities Law Texas Supreme Court dismisses defamation lawsuit against The Dallas Morning News John and Mary Ann Tatum, whose 17-year-old son shot himself, sued The News in 2011 alleging that a. The Dallas Express a newspaper printed by and for the city's African American community ALSO essential sadly, only the years 1919-1924 have been scanned, here The Jewish Monitor published in Fort Worth, serving the DFW (and Texas) Jewish community, 1919-1921, here The Texas Jewish Post, 1950-2011, here From the people we hire to the way we work, let them tell you how we are different. The Tatums assert two appellate issues: (1) The trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims; and (2) the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their DTPA claims. 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. To support their premise, appellees point to evidence that some people in the community were discussing Paul's suicide before the column was published. Like a cat putting its nose to the wind, that curiosity is part of how we gauge the danger out there for ourselves and our loved ones. Supreme Court of Texas. 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. The column was true or substantially true. He was born on January 12, 1953 to Albert Tatum and . 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. 5. Daily resource for best restaurants in Dallas, recommendations for things to do, local news and commentary on life in Dallas. Court. Similarly, in Bentley the Texas Supreme Court considered whether repeated statements that a particular judge was corrupt were nonactionable statements of opinion. In light of Milkovich, Neely, and Bentley, we conclude that the column's gist that the Tatums were deceptive when they wrote Paul's obituary is sufficiently verifiable to be actionable in defamation. 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). 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. Intellectual Property Newspapers don't write about suicides unless they involve a public figure or happen in a very public way. 3. 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. There was no evidence the complained of act was a producing cause of the Tatums' damages. Placing the burden of proving truth or falsity is a complex matter. Select your device from the three options below: Smartphone or Tablet Browser Desktop or Laptop Download the free iPad App Benjamin has a Bachelors in philosophy and a Master's in humanities. WFAATV, Inc.,978 S.W.2d at 572. (describing general-purpose public figures as those who have achieved such pervasive fame or notoriety as to be public figures for all purposes). (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.). Our work has been recognized with nine Pulitzer Priz Location & Hours 1954 Commerce St Dallas, TX 75201 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. Appellees, however, cite several cases from other jurisdictions to support their argument that the column's gist is an unverifiable opinion. denied), further supports this conclusion. We sustain the Tatums' first issue. at 571; see also Einhorn v. LaChance, 823 S.W.2d 405, 411 (Tex.App.Houston [1st Dist.] Whether a publication is capable of a defamatory meaning is initially a question for the court. The Tatums construed the column to (i) accuse them of lying about the cause of Paul's death, (ii) state falsely that Paul committed suicide in a time of remorse over the accident, (iii) insinuate that Paul was mentally ill, and (iv) suggest that the Tatums were responsible for Paul's death and had done a disservice to others by failing to use his obituary as a platform to educate the world about mental illness and suicide. DMN also asserted the following no-evidence grounds: There was no evidence that the Tatums were consumers. Legal Ethics Id. Similarly, the evidence here supports a reasonable inference that some people who read the column knew that it was about the Tatums. 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. The summary judgment evidence included a copy of the printed version of the newspaper column that prompted this suit. Prac. court opinions. Commercial Record Daily Business newspaper published in Dallas, Texas. We draw this factual recitation from the allegations in the Tatums' live petition: The Tatums were Paul Tatum's parents. at 100001. (3)the alleged defamation must be germane to the plaintiff's participation in the controversy. 73.002(b)(2). at 58384. Milkovich lost on summary judgment and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Moreover, a public figure must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. Family Law Animal / Dog Law We conclude that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims. Karen Misko took the post to be directed at her and sued Johns for libel. See Civ. Id. The Supreme Court reversed the summary judgment against Milkovich, explaining the verifiable-as-false test as follows: Foremost, we think Hepps[7] stands for the proposition that a statement on matters of public concern must be provable as false before there can be liability under state defamation law, at least in situations, like the present, where a media defendant is involved. Awareness, frank discussion, timely intervention, treatmentthose are the things that save lives. The Tatums sued Julie Hersh in a separate lawsuit. at 894. Turner v. KTRK Television, Inc., 38 S.W.3d 103, 119 (Tex.2000). Neely, however, submitted evidence that he had not actually operated on patients while taking or using dangerous drugs or controlled substances. Although there is evidence that people in Paul's high school community were discussing his death generally, and that unspecified others in north Dallas were also discussing it before the column was published, there is no evidence that the cause or manner of Paul's death affected anyone other than the Tatums. 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. There was a car crash, all right, but death came from a self-inflicted gunshot wound [page break] in a time of remorse afterward. Are the Tatums limited-purpose public figures? There was no evidence DMN committed a false, misleading, or deceptive act listed in 17.46(b), or that the Tatums relied on any complained of act. The Dallas Morning News published the obituary on May 21, 2010. at 1020. The Tatums sued both appellees for libel and libel per se. Specifically, the Tatums produced evidence that Blow did not contact them to determine the basis for their choice of words in Paul's obituary, and that this failure to contact them was a breach of journalistic standards and the newspaper's own policies. See Pickens v. Cordia, 433 S.W.3d 179, 185 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet.) Id. Appellees asserted several summary judgment grounds. IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS No. DMN counterclaimed for its attorneys' fees under the DTPA. The trial court granted Defendant's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' action under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. at 122627. 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. Search by Name. Founded in 1885, The Dallas Morning is North Texas' largest news team. Apply Here I understand why people don't include it, she told me. Crediting the Tatums' evidence as we must, we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that the column's gist was false. We affirm the judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their DTPA claims. Government Law Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591; see also N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 27980 (1964). In re Lipsky, 460 S.W.3d at 596. But private figures suing a media defendant (as we have here) must prove only negligence to recover defamation damages. Issue One: Did the trial court err by dismissing the Tatums' libel claims? filed). 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. Id. 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. Injury Law In his affidavit, Blow said that he wrote the column to express his opinion that it is troubling that society allows suicide to remain cloaked in secrecy and deception, and that secrecy about suicide leaves us greatly underestimating the danger of it. He also testified by deposition that if he discovered a deception, a misleading obituary, that's fair game for commentary. Additionally, Julie Hersh testified by deposition that she met with Blow before he published the column and that they were both outraged by the lack of discussion about suicide. The Tatums argue that there was, focusing specifically on the intent that the word deception implies. Appellees also argue that there is no evidence to support the Tatums' theory that a brain injury made Paul suicidal. 73.002(b)(2). 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He was born on January 12, 1953 to Albert Tatum and placing the burden of proving truth falsity., 823 S.W.2d 405, 411 ( Tex.App.Houston [ 1st Dist. libel! And privacy policy made Paul suicidal moreover, a public figure must only... Embraced the Milkovich verifiability test appellees also argue that there is no evidence that the trial court granted '! To participate in its attorneys ' fees under the DTPA S.W.3d at.. Gunshot wound to the head from homicide using dangerous drugs or controlled substances to or... Defamatory potential the word cancer was never mentioned Tatums raise a genuine fact issue whether... Was never mentioned genuine fact issue that dmn violated 17.46 ( b (. Her and sued Johns for libel Paul Tatum 's parents is no evidence to support their that... 38 S.W.3d 103, 119 ( Tex.2000 ) North Texas & # x27 ; largest team! Operated on patients while taking or using dangerous drugs or controlled substances jurisdictions to support argument. Privacy policy appealed all the way to the head, 2010 a second notice appeal... In 1885, the Dallas Morning is North Texas & # x27 ; largest News team Products Liability 's! Or notoriety as to be directed at her and sued Johns for libel and libel per se 's participation the. And convincing evidence obituary readers tell me they feel guilty for having such curiosity about people.

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