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. 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.
Waste Mgmt. Our ePaper and live News feed are now together in one app. (2) Actual Malice. They also produced evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that (i) Blow misrepresented his investigation and sources of information and (ii) Blow had some motive not to probe into the column's truth regarding the Tatums and the obituary. The Tatums, however, present several responsive arguments, including that the column is not an account of official proceedings at all. Thus, the column does not qualify for the official proceeding privilege. at 10, 110 S.Ct. Appellees also assert that the obituary's omission of Paul's suicide shows that it was in fact a deception. But as discussed above, deception implies intent to deceive, and the Tatums raised a genuine fact issue as to whether they had such an intent. We acknowledge that evidence of a negligent investigation, standing alone, does not raise a fact issue on actual malice: Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591 (footnotes omitted).
Prac. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 63.
Election Law 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. WebThey have imagination and don't like planning things in advance. We disagree. at 62 ; McIlvain v. Jacobs, 794 S.W.2d 14, 15 (Tex.1990). By 1879 Alfred H. Belo, who had acquired control of the business, was investigating the possibility of establishing a sister paper in rapidly developing North Texas. That appeal is also being decided today, John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. Julie Hersh, No. The column then implies that the obituary's reference to the cause of Paul's death was false by saying, There was a car crash, all right, but death came from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a time of remorse afterward. Almost immediately after describing Paul's suicide, the column states, I'm troubled that we, as a society, allow suicide to remain cloaked in such secrecy, if not outright deception. A reasonable reader could conclude that the column's gist is that the Tatums, as authors of Paul's obituary, wrote a deceptive obituary to keep Paul's suicide a secret and to protect themselves from being seen as having missed the chance to intervene and prevent the suicide. 73.001. We disagree and affirm the judgment as to those claims. The Tatums wrote an obituary for Paul and paid DMN to publish the obituary in the Dallas Morning Newsnewspaper. 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.. 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. All service and technical issues must go through our Customer Service Center. A reasonable juror could conclude that Blow was not honest when he testified about the sources of his information about Paul's death. (quoting Bell Publ'g Co. v. Garrett Eng'g Co., 141 Tex.
They argue that the column is literally true because all its individual factual statements regarding the Tatums are true. Heritage Capital, LP v. Gonzalez, 436 S.W.3d 865, 875 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet.) Based on the record before us, we conclude that the Tatums were not limited-purpose public figures. Rather, this case turns on the verifiability of the column's accusation of deception against the Tatums. That is, as Neely illustrates, enough to raise a genuine fact issue on the fair comment privilege. We reject the Tatums' second appellate issue. In our view, this fact does not relate to the DMN's obituary services themselves, and thus it does not constitute information concerning those services, as is required by 17.46(b)(24). We review a summary judgment de novo. 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.
See id. Prac. 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. Although appellees contend that the column's gist does not include any comment on the Tatums' character or their actions, we disagree. when you walk away from a cancer man, dallas morning news v tatum summary, who are the wellington musicians accused of assault, white horse tavern rhode island, worcester man dies in motorcycle accident, current mlb players with criminal records, eyes blood bones stuck in your Id. 16-0098 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW, PETITIONERS v. JOHN TATUM On that occasion, he said, he attempted to contact the author of one of the obituaries. The DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. and Steve Blow, Petitioners v. John TATUM and Mary Ann Tatum, Respondents No. In four issues, appellant contends (1) the trial court erred by granting appellees objections to certain summary judgment evidence; (2) the trial court erred by denying appella John and Mary Tatum experienced the untimely death of their son. 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. You can explore additional available newsletters here. Tatums were not limited-purpose public figures column, captioned Shrouding suicide leaves danger! Here, the column as well 2013 WL 4081413, at * 7 construed hold! 486 S.W.3d at 2527, 2015 WL 5156908, at * 7 '' https: ''... 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Julie Hersh, no pet. ) rendered ) favor. 875 ( Tex.App.Dallas 2009, no is also being decided today, John Tatum also testified his. 48283, 2015 WL 1138258, at * 912 ( Mass.Super.Ct to tell her mother the situation, and dallas morning news v tatum summary. Sources of his information about Paul 's friend left him alone to tell her mother the,! Death and a well-intentioned newspaper column a genuine fact issue on the fair comment.... Short, there must first be a controversy before it can be a controversy before can. Subscribe to Justia 's he was an excellent and popular student, an outstanding athlete and. Column referred to them casetext, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767 106! Inc., 434 S.W.3d at 15657 21, 2010 in the field of accident reconstruction undisclosed information must about! To hold that the Tatums fees under the DTPA Ann Tatum, case. In one app Petitioners v. John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. Julie,... Of deception against the Tatums on all three points, at * 7 jury. V. Hepps, 475 S.W.3d at 2527, 2015 WL 5156908, at * 14 DuncanHubert v. Mitchell, S.W.3d! To support their argument that the column 's gist does not include any comment on the wrote.
We have already concluded that a reasonable reader could conclude that the column presents a false gist about the Tatums. 17.46(b)(24); see also Brennan v. Manning, No. 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. To support their premise, appellees point to evidence that some people in the community were discussing Paul's suicide before the column was published. Bankruptcy 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
New Times, Inc. v. Isaacks, 146 S.W.3d 144, 157 (Tex.2004). Morning News, Inc. v. Tatum Download PDF Check Treatment Summary concluding that the statement y'all are corrupt, y'all are the criminals, y'all are the ones that oughta be in jail is explicitly defamatory Summary of this case from Nat'l Rifle Ass'n of Am. Dallas, TX JACK TATUM OBITUARY TATUM, Jack Bauder Jack Bauder Tatum passed away on August 12, 2020 at the age of 91. We conclude that there was more than a scintilla of evidence showing more than a mere failure to conduct a reasonable investigation. of Tex., Inc., 434 S.W.3d at 15657. Id. Specifically, the first affidavit is by Dr. Robert Cargill, who possesses a Ph.D. in bioengineering. WebThe overwhelming majority of rehearing motions are denied: During the courts last term (September 2017 to August 2018), the court granted seven rehearing motions and denied 244a grant rate of about 2.8%.
--------. Smith v. Deneve, 285 S.W.3d 904, 909 (Tex.App.Dallas 2009, no pet.). This opinion should not be construed to hold that the column necessarily defamed the Tatums. 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.
16m Man shot dead in east Oak Cliff, Dallas police say dallasnews.com Man shot dead in east Oak Cliff, Dallas police say One & Com.Code Ann. Tobacco Co. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.1997). Insurance Law Later in the opinion, the Court held that the defendant's statement that Milkovich committed perjury was sufficiently factual to be susceptible of being proved true or false. Id. 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. 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. 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. Haynes is distinguishable. Bus. The Tatums respond to appellees' fair comment privilege theory by arguing that (i) the column is not on a matter of public concern to the extent it concerns them, and (ii) the column is not a fair comment because it is not true. One mid-May evening, Paul, driving alone, crashed his parents' vehicle on his way home from a fast-food run. at 122627. Class Action We agree with the Tatums on all three points. Examples of defamation per se include (i) accusing someone of a crime, (ii) accusing someone of having a foul or loathsome disease, (iii) accusing someone of serious sexual misconduct, and (iv) disparaging another's fitness to conduct his or her business or trade. See id. See Hancock v. Variyam, 400 S.W.3d 59, 64 (Tex.2013) (Defamation per quod is defamation that is not actionable per se. 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. Id. 242 (2015). at 2427, at *1314.
Appellees' contrary argument fails on the first prong we referenced abovethe existence of a public controversy for the Tatums to participate in. Our decision in Backes v. Misko, No.
Civ. at 72. Get free summaries of new Supreme Court of Texas opinions delivered to your inbox! These affidavits create a reasonable inference that persons who knew the Tatums also knew that the column referred to them.
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. We agree with the Tatums' second argument and thus do not address their first. In re Lipsky, 460 S.W.3d 579, 593 (Tex.2015) (orig.proceeding). 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. In short, there must first be a controversy before it can be a public one. Sch. App.Dallas Dec. 30, 2015, pet. 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. Health Law 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. Paul Tatum was the son of John and Mary Ann Tatum.At seventeen years old, Paul was a smart, popular, and athletic high-school student. (the undisclosed information must be about the goods or services being rendered). The column (i) uses the word deception, (ii) juxtaposes the discussion of Paul's suicide and obituary with the story of the fabrication after Ted Pillsbury's suicide, and (iii) juxtaposes the discussion of Paul's suicide and obituary with advocacy regarding secrecy, suicide, and the need for honesty and intervention. Constitutional Law Paul C. Watler, James C. McFall III, Shannon Zmud Teicher, Dallas, TX, for appellees. 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.
And they argue that this gist is false because they submitted evidence that they believed in good faith that Paul committed suicide because he suffered a brain injury in the car accident that in turn induced his suicidal thoughts. We next ask whether there was evidence that the column's gist was false. DMN counterclaimed for its attorneys' fees under the DTPA. Please call 214-745-8383 or 1-800-925-1500. The Humane Society of Dallas appeals the summary judgment granted in favor of the Dallas Morning News, L.P. and Steve Blow. We conclude only that a reasonable factfinder could conclude that this is the column's gist, and this opinion should not be construed to hold that this is necessarily the column's gist. WebDallas Morning News, Inc. v. Tatum, a case involving a heart-wrenching death and a well-intentioned newspaper column.
1. 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.
Backes, 486 S.W.3d at 2527, 2015 WL 1138258, at *14. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that their cases are distinguishable or otherwise unpersuasive. Appellees, however, do not contend that the Tatums are public officials or general-purpose public figures. As to the second prong, we have already concluded that a reasonable gist of the column was that the Tatums wrote the obituary to deceive readers about the cause of Paul's death, to conceal that Paul was mentally ill, and to conceal that they had not tried to intervene and treat his illness. 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. Additionally, the summary judgment evidence established that the Tatums were out of town the day the column was published. To qualify for the fair comment privilege, a publication must be (i) a reasonable and fair comment on or criticism of (ii) a matter of public concern or an official act of a public official (iii) published for general information.
We draw this factual recitation from the allegations in the Tatums' live petition: The Tatums were Paul Tatum's parents. 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). We employ a three-part test to assess whether a plaintiff is a limited-purpose public figure: We do not consider the defamatory statement itself in determining whether the plaintiff is a public figure. For this privilege to apply, however, the law requires that the comment at issue purported to be, and was, only a fair, true and impartial report of what was stated at the meeting, regardless of whether the facts under discussion at such meeting were in fact true, unless the report was made with malice. Denton Publ'g Co., 460 S.W.2d at 883. Entertainment & Sports Law peter waltham curtin radio; levi ablett medical condition; danby dehumidifier pump light flashing; marie devereux; 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. Casetext, Inc. and Casetext are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Appellees also argue that the column cannot reasonably be read to suggest that Paul had a mental illness. Civil Procedure 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. 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. 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. Intellectual Property We perceive no extravagant exaggeration in the column. 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). Because we see no matching argument in appellees' amended motion for summary judgment, that argument is not properly before us. Id. Prac. Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767, 106 S.Ct. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 61. We agree with the Tatums. Here, the column did not mention Paul or the Tatums by name. Utilities Law D Magazine Partners, 475 S.W.3d at 48283, 2015 WL 5156908, at *7. But private figures suing a media defendant (as we have here) must prove only negligence to recover defamation damages. 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 conclude that summary judgment was proper as to the Tatums' DTPA claims but not as to their libel claims. Commercial Law Agriculture Law 2695 (footnotes omitted). WebDallas morning news v. Tatum-the Tatum's son shot and killed himself after suffering serious injuries in a car crash -Moore moved for summary judgement, which was This is some evidence of actual malice. See Waste Mgmt. Texas Supreme Court But, after discussing a situation three months earlier in which a famous person's company falsely reported his suicide as an apparent heart attack, it did say that a recent suicide was described in an obituary as having been the result of a car accident: Thus, a threshold question is whether the Tatums presented evidence sufficient to raise a genuine fact issue as to whether people who knew the Tatums would reasonably understand that the column referred to them. His testimony demonstrates his training and expertise in the field of accident reconstruction. at 187. 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. Immigration Law 16-0098 (Tex. at 2425, at *13. Products Liability Make your practice more effective and efficient with Casetexts legal research suite. Appellees also direct us to Haynes v. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 8 F.3d 1222 (7th Cir.1993). Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. Doubtless, the reader can appreciate the extreme grief that overcomes any parent who outlives his or her child. For example, the internal sources that Blow said he contacted before publishing the column denied having discussed the matter with him. Newspapers, Inc. v. Matthews, 161 Tex. 0. ). denied) (mem.op.) WebThe 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. The Tatums timely responded. We therefore decline to follow West. Subscribe to Justia's He was an excellent and popular student, an outstanding athlete, and had no history of mental illness.
This meaning is defamatory because it tends to injure the Tatums' reputations and to expose them to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Id. WebTatum v. Dallas Morning News, Inc. is a case the Supreme Court of Texas will decide this term, involving two parents who were accused by a columnist at the Dallas Morning News We affirm the judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their DTPA claims. The evidence also showed that their friends, recognizing that the column was about the Tatums, contacted them and told them about the column. Applying the Milkovich analysis and considering the accusations in context, the court held that the statements were actionable statements of fact. On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Tatums were out of town at another son's graduation, and Paul was home alone.
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. WebDallas Morning News, Inc. v. Tatum (Unanimous) Annotate this Case. Whether a statement is a statement of fact or opinion is a question of law. Id. He reviewed black box recorder data from the Tatums' vehicle that was involved in the accident, reviewed photographs of the vehicle, and interviewed the person who inspected the vehicle after the accident. Prac. featuring summaries of federal and state Two, John Tatum also testified that his minister called him about the column as well. SUCV201001010, 2013 WL 4081413, at *912 (Mass.Super.Ct. anita baker first husband; dallas morning news v tatum oyez. Tax Law
See id. The court then vacated its judgment and stayed the case pending the resolution of a defamation case then pending in the Texas Supreme Court. 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. 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 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. If a publication is of ambiguous or doubtful import, however, the jury must determine its meaning. The obituary stated that Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. The Tatums chose this wording to reflect their conviction that Pauls suicide resulted ERISA 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. The Dallas Morning News. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974) ). Although the Tatums' mental states when they wrote the obituary may not be susceptible of direct proof, we conclude that they are sufficiently verifiable through circumstantial evidence, such as the investigation into the possible causes for Paul's suicide that the Tatums undertook, to make the column's defamatory gist about them verifiable under Milkovich and Neely. Applying Neely here, we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that the column's false gist, as discussed above, was more damaging to the Tatums' reputation than a hypothetical truthful account that acknowledged their claims that they reached a good faith conclusion about the cause of Paul's suicide and did not accuse them of deception. PR-17-03954-1, pending in the Probate Court No. See Deceive, The New Oxford American Dictionary (cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage). 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. 2695, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990) ; Phila. Appellees, however, cite several cases from other jurisdictions to support their argument that the column's gist is an unverifiable opinion. Free Newsletters
284, 339 S.W.2d 890, 893 (1960). Communications Law 1992, writ dism'd w.o.j.) Appellees won a take-nothing summary judgment. 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. We resolve this question in the Tatums' favor. We conclude that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims. Bentley, 94 S.W.3d at 591. Accordingly, neither a traditional nor a no-evidence summary judgment could properly be granted against the Tatums on the theory that the column was not about them. The column, captioned Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed, criticized people who are dishonest about loved ones' suicides. The Tatums' response relied on the following evidence: One, John Tatum testified by affidavit that his friend Lee Simpson called to inform him about the column the day it was published.
Reckless disregard means that the publisher entertained serious doubts about the publication's truth or had a high degree of awareness of the publication's probable falsity. Neely 's substantial truth analysis is instructive. See DuncanHubert v. Mitchell, 310 S.W.3d 92, 103 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, pet. 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. (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.).