ROGER R. NEWTON, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA FREEDOM NEWSPAPERS, INC., D/B/A PANAMA CITY NEWS-HERALD, APPELLEE
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Summary judgment was properly granted for the media defendant because the public official plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence of actual malice.
Appellant, a public official, sued a newspaper for libel, alleging an article was published with actual malice. The article recounted testimony from d…
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ERVIN, Chief Judge.
In this appeal from entry of summary judgment in favor of appellee, Florida Freedom Newspapers, Inc., in a public official libel case, appellant Newton, Mayor of the City of Apalachicola, contends summary judgment was improperly granted in that the record discloses the article in question was published with actual malice. We disagree and affirm.
Before a public official may prevail in a libel action against a media defendant he must prove, with convincing clarity, that the alleged defamatory falsehood was “made with ‘actual malice’ — that 'is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” New York Times Company v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279-280, 84 S.Ct. 710, 725-726, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964) (e.s.). That standard is satisfied only if there is “sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.” St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727, 731, 88 S.Ct. 1323, 1325, 20 L.Ed.2d 262 (1968). Accord Times Publishing Company v. Huffstetler, 409 So. 2d 112, 113 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). Here, as in Huffstetler, the record fails to show that the alleged false statements in the article resulted from deliberate falsification or awareness of probable falsity. Instead, the article, which is substantially accurate, simply recounts testimony given at depositions in an unrelated criminal prosecution and any inaccuracies are of only “minor significance when the entire story is considered.” 409 So. 2d at 113.
Because summary judgment should be more liberally granted where, as in this case, the constitutional standard of “actual malice” applies, see Menendez v. Key West Newspaper Corporation, 293 So. 2d 751, 752 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), we are unable to say, given the record before us, that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment.
AFFIRMED.
ZEHMER, J., concurs.
BOOTH, J., dissents without written opinion.
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C.C. "Doc" Dockery v. Florida Democratic Party, 799 So. 2d 291 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)…ockery, in a defamation action in which the actual malice test applies, summary judgments are to be more liberally granted. Cronley v. Pensacola News-Journal, Inc., 561 So. 2d 402, 405 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Newton v. Florida Freedom Newspapers, Inc., 447 So. 2d 906 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Menendez v. Key West Newspaper Corp., 293 So. 2d 751, 752 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A public-figure plaintiff such as Dockery must present record ev…
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Cronley v. Pensacola News-Journal, Inc., 561 So. 2d 402 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…anted more liberally. Id. at 752. Similarly, this court upheld a summary judgment where the record failed to show that allegedly false statements were published with deliberate awareness of their falsity. Newton v. Florida Freedom Newspapers, Inc., 447 So. 2d 906 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). We also recognized the principle enunciated in Menendez that summary judgments are to be liberally granted where the constitutional requirement of actual malice applies. Newton, 447 So. 2d at 907. Finally, we recognize that a l…
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Reeves v. Knight-Ridder Newspaper, Inc., 490 So. 2d 1333 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…affirm on authority of Lampkin-Asam v. Miami Daily News, Inc., 408 So. 2d 666 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), rev. denied, 417 So. 2d 329 (Fla.), appeal dismissed, 459 U.S. 806, 103 S.Ct. 29, 74 L.Ed.2d 44 (1982), and Newton v. Florida Freedom Newspapers, Inc., 447 So. 2d 906 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Affirmed.…
Authorities Cited
- N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (U.S. 1964)
- ST. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727 (U.S. 1968)
- Times Publ'g Co. v. Huffstetler, 409 So. 2d 112 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)
- Blastit, Inc. v. Jerac Corp., 293 So. 2d 751 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Menendez v. KEY W. Newspaper Corp., 293 So. 2d 751 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)