Case Title: Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc. v. FIELDS

Citation: 254 Ind. 219, 259 N.E.2d 651

Docket Number: 1067S96

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1970-06-05T00:00:00Z

Document:
254 Ind. 219 (1970)
259 N.E.2d 651
INDIANAPOLIS NEWSPAPERS, INC.
v.
FIELDS ET AL.
No. 1067S96.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed June 5, 1970.
Thomas M. Scanlon, Raymond W. Gray, Jr., and Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd, of counsel, all of Indianapolis, for appellant.
Brunner, Brown & Brunner, of Shelbyville, Elmon M. Williams, of Greenwood, and Felson Bowman, Andrew Jacobs, Sr., of Indianapolis, for appellee.
No petition for rehearing filed.
Richard M. Givan, Judge, having disqualified himself from participating in this cause and the four remaining judges of this Court participating being equally divided, Norman F. Arterburn, Judge, and Donald H. Hunter, Chief Justice, are of the opinion that the decision of the trial court should be reversed, while Roger O. DeBruler, Judge, and Amos W. Jackson, Judge, are of the opinion that the decision of the trial court should be affirmed,
NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to Rule AP. 15(E), the judgment of the trial court is affirmed and the separate opinions of the participating judges herein are as follows:
Donald H. Hunter, Chief Justice.
ARTERBURN, J.
This is an action for libel brought in forty-four paragraphs of complaint by the appellee, Robert H. Fields, Sheriff of Marion County, against the appellant, Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc., publisher of the Indianapolis Star, a daily newspaper published in Indianapolis, Indiana. The action is based upon newspaper articles and editorials, sixty-two in number, pertaining to the Marion County Sheriff's *220 department and jail supervision published on forty-four separate days during a period between October 27 and December 28, 1965. The jury returned a verdict for the appellee-sheriff for $60,000.00 on six of the paragraphs out of the forty-four.
The series of publications upon which the complaint is based was brought about when a newspaper reporter (Rick Johnson) in October, 1965, learned that two inmates (Elmer Reagan and Danner Crick) had died following beatings in the old Marion County jail the previous July. The story, when it broke, revealed as a fact that Elmer Reagan, age 50, was an alcoholic and had been confined in a basement cell in the jail in July. Following a beating, in which a number of his ribs were fractured, he was left lying naked in his own filth on the basement floor of the jail, without a bed, toilet facilities or running water. On July 14, 1965, he was admitted to the hospital in the condition described and died from pneumonia on August 7, 1965, as a result of this condition.
The newspaper article also revealed that another inmate, an alcoholic, Danner Crick, age 62, was found in practically the same condition in the jail with broken ribs and was taken to the hospital and died on July 14, 1965, as a result of such condition.
A deputy sheriff, one Cottey, is alleged to have tipped off the newspaper reporter Johnson that an inmate, Charles P. McAdams, had some information concerning the incidents involving brutality in the jail. Reporter Johnson interviewed McAdams, an inmate, and then took him before a Marion Criminal Court judge where he made a statement under oath before the deputy coroner, alleging that Reagan had been beaten by deputy sheriff King.
Following the statement taken by the deputy coroner, a grand jury investigation was called concerning conditions in the jail. The evidence shows that when Sheriff Fields learned of the McAdams statement through the prosecuting attorney's office he ordered his deputies to pick up McAdams, a former *221 inmate, to bring him before the grand jury. However, McAdams was taken to the jail first, where he was interviewed by the sheriff and deputies. McAdams was then taken to the grand jury later that day in the custody of the sheriff's deputy and, immediately after his testimony, was returned to the jail. He was not released from custody until after he had made a statement repudiating his charge that he had seen a sheriff's deputy beat up Reagan. The evidence shows he was given a flask of whiskey when he left the jail.
The sheriff claimed that it was not his deputies but rather a mental patient, William A. Brown, who was guilty of the beating and the death of Reagan when the mental patient was placed in the same cell with Reagan. Brown was 27 years of age and a former mental patient in a Philadelphia hospital. He was charged with second degree murder of Reagan, arraigned and returned to the Marion County General Hospital for psychiatric treatment and observation. When tried he was found not guilty because of insanity.
The substance of appellee-sheriff's charge is that from the series of articles innuendoes may be drawn therefrom that he was:
We point out that the publications did not flatly say "Sheriff Fields is an accessory to the murder of a prisoner by a deputy." The newspaper articles, however, reported that McAdams had stated and accused deputy sheriff King of beating and murdering Elmer Reagan, and that McAdams had been picked up and interrogated by Sheriff Fields and his deputies before he made the repudiation.
*222 There is no question that the evidence in this case shows a great deal of animosity and ill-will by the reporter Johnson towards Sheriff Fields because of controversies relating to the release of news connected with the Sheriff's department for some time past. The evidence shows threats by Johnson to "get the sheriff" and that he was an "S.B." It is also plain that the series of news items upon which the verdict is based were truthful except in a few details, that is, it is unquestioned that Reagan and Crick were severely beaten up, neglected and uncared for in the jail at the time stated in the newspaper articles and that they were found in filth, dying in the jail, and taken to the hospital where they did die; that someone was at fault, either another inmate or a member of the sheriff's department.
The story about the beating in jail and the deaths was not discovered until some months afterwards by the newspaper. It is uncontroverted that after the news stories broke, McAdams, the informant, was picked up by the sheriff's office and interrogated and a statement taken from him; that likewise Cottey, another deputy sheriff who, it was said, had tipped off reporter-Johnson was suspended and interrogated by the sheriff, and an affidavit taken from him in which he denied ever having informed Johnson of the facts. The real dispute is whether or not a deputy was guilty of the beatings, as stated in the newspaper articles and the inferences which reflect upon the sheriff. The series of articles dealt mainly with the activities of the sheriff's deputies. In a few instances Sheriff Fields' name was mentioned. It is argued by appellant that the innuendoes of wrongful acts that might be drawn as charged cannot be transmuted to the sheriff personally under the New York Times rule. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), 376 U.S. 254, 84 S. Ct. 710, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686.
Appellant contends that a great deal of evidence during the trial was admitted which was improper. The transcript in *223 this case is voluminous. It consists of eight volumes. It is pointed out that a great deal of this evidence goes to the question of falsity of statements made in the newspaper. The appellant contends that to admit such evidence without showing it came to the knowledge of the appellant is immensely prejudicial in a jury trial. The appellee, however, contends the court instructed the jury that as to the issue of malice, only that evidence of falsity of which appellant had pre-publication knowledge was to be considered. Appellant says that such a procedure results in practically "drowning" defendant and then attempting to revive him in the end by an instruction. St. Amant v. Thompson (1968), 390 U.S. 727, 88 S. Ct. 1323, 20 L. Ed. 2d 262.
It is likewise argued in this case by the appellant that evidence of ill-will alone may not go to prove knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of the truth. Appellee's burden of proving that publication was made with knowledge of falsity or with a reckless disregard for the truth cannot be satisfied solely on the basis of evidence of ill-will. Under the New York Times criteria, false statements made with ill-will are not actionable. There must still be proof of knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of the truth.
The trial court's instruction number 30 contravenes this very principle. It stated:
Under this instruction the jury might have based its finding of knowledge of falsity merely on proof of ill-will. In Garrison v. Louisiana (1964), 379 U.S. 64, 85 S. Ct. 209, 13 L. Ed. 2d 125 it was said:
Another issue presented for our consideration is the contention that there is no proof of damages to the appellee-sheriff. The appellee put on witnesses who testified that the sheriff's reputation was injured as the result of the series of newspaper articles. The appellant contends that the sheriff's reputation would naturally be damaged by reporting the truthful facts regarding the two severe beatings of the inmates and their deaths and the facts relating thereto; that the evidence makes no distinction between the damages resulting from truthful reporting and that of any alleged malicious publication of alleged falsehood.
Be that as it may, we need not go into all these serious questions presented for our consideration for the reason that there appears to us to be a more obvious ground which requires a reversal, namely, the admission of prejudicial hearsay evidence. The motion for a new trial lists over one-hundred items of alleged hearsay as highly prejudicial before a jury. To go into each one of these items would unduly extend this opinion. We will consider only a few:
The first instance that comes to our attention is an affidavit taken from deputy sheriff Cottey while he was under suspension following his being named as a tipster to the newspaper reporter. The affidavit was introduced by the appellee-sheriff on the theory that it denied the fact that, as the newspaper claimed, Cottey had tipped off the investigation. Whether or not an affidavit may be used to prove the falsity of a newspaper item, particularly when the witness is available, is the single issue here. The record of the offer, objections and *225 ruling thereon appears in the record as follows, along with the voluminous three-page single-spaced affidavit admitted in the evidence:
*226 The Cottey affidavit (Plaintiff's Exhibits 133, 134 and 135) reads as follows:
Just what the significance of whether Deputy Cottey did or did not tip off the newspaper and whether it is true or false is difficult to understand. However, the fact that appellee had the burden of proving a statement to be false does not alter the accepted rules of evidence for such proof. Hearsay cannot be used to satisfy that burden.
It is our opinion the law is plain. Admission of hearsay of this type prevents cross-examination and confrontation. These elements are important to credible evidence. Under these principles mere affidavits are inadmissible. Wigmore 3rd Ed., §§ 1709 and 1384.
It cannot be seriously argued that the foregoing long affidavit is relevant and proper to prove the falsity of the inference that the sheriff failed to make a prompt investigation of the beatings. The affidavit was taken in November, 1965. The beatings and deaths of the two inmates occurred in July, 1965.
Under the same theory the appellee-sheriff offered in evidence a deposition of Cottey while he, the sheriff, was on the witness stand. It appears this was in direct violation of the statute in this state, which prevents the use of a deposition when the witness is available at the time of the trial. Burns' Ind. Stat. Anno. § 2-1506.
The record in this respect and the objections thereto appear as follows:
"The plaintiff, ROBERT H. FIELDS, was recalled to the witness stand, for continued
*231 "Answer, `Did I ever say to Rick Johnson "quit nosing around the jail"'?
Here we have a deposition which had no more standing than that of an affidavit and was therefore hearsay. It was entered in evidence over objections. Deputy Sheriff Cottey was available as a witness. This deposition was offered on the theory that it went to prove that the newspaper statement that it was tipped off by deputy sheriff Cottey was false. Of course the best evidence to prove such a fact would be the direct statements of the witnesses who were present or alleged to have been present at the time  not their affidavits or statements made to someone else. McCormick on Evidence, § 234, p. 491; Wigmore, 3rd Ed., § 1411.
*232 In another instance the appellee-sheriff attempted to bolster his own testimony and to prove the falsity of a newspaper report that McAdams said he had seen a deputy do the beating and the further implication that the sheriff had intimidated McAdams into making repudiation of the statements. The appellee-sheriff offered evidence on this point by taking the stand himself and repeating conversations he had with McAdams privately in the Sheriff's office, outside the presence of the appellant.
The record shows the following:
This hearsay was highly prejudicial on the issue of the falsity of the news stories.
Another instance of pure hearsay occurred when the sheriff took the stand and testified that Ed Lewis, his former law partner, had told him in substance that Johnson, the reporter, had come to him to see if he could make a deal with the sheriff with reference to retractions in the controversy arising from the publications. We need not set out the substance of the statements which the sheriff said his former law partner had told him Johnson told him. We are not here concerned with the fact that Lewis could and did take the stand for the Sheriff and repeated his conversation with the reporter Johnson of the newspaper. We are concerned here with the fact that the appellee in this case takes the stand and repeats what he claims was told him by this witness, his former law partner. Appellant claims this was highly prejudicial hearsay, used not only to bolster the testimony of Lewis, but also contradict that of Johnson.
Another typical example of hearsay is the admission into evidence of a letter written by the sheriff to Dr. Popplewell, Superintendent of General Hospital on March 25, 1964, about 18 months before the publications in question, complaining about a certain jail physician's poor service and the need for some medical supplies. There is no attempt to show that appellant-newspaper had any knowledge of the contents of *234 such a letter being sent. This hearsay could not possibly be relevant on the basis of proof of falsity of any issue under the circumstances.
In another instance deputy sheriff Mellene was put on the stand and related a conversation he had with Charles McAdams (not a party to the action) in which he stated that he had asked McAdams to tell the truth in the jury room and McAdams told him that Rick Johnson, the newspaper reporter, was an "S.B." and had it in for the sheriff.
There are too many instances of the above character of repeating conversations of third parties, to enumerate here. We can only give the above examples of the erroneous admission of hearsay testimony, most of it highly prejudicial. The record is replete with such hearsay. It is borne out with the following colloquy between the trial court and appellant's counsel at one point where objections were made because of hearsay that was offered and admitted:
*235 The trial lasted approximately two months.
For the reasons stated, the judgment should be reversed, with directions to grant the appellant a new trial.
Hunter, C.J., concurs.
DeBRULER, J.
This appeal arises from a libel action in the Shelby Circuit Court filed by the appellee, former Marion County Sheriff Robert Fields, against Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc., Eugene C. and Eugene S. Pulliam. Appellee's complaint was in forty-four (44) separate legal paragraphs each one based on different articles and editorials published on forty-four (44) separate days in the Indianapolis Star, a daily newspaper owned by the corporate appellant. The trial commenced on April 18, 1967, and ended June 14, 1967. The parties produced ninety-six (96) witnesses and six hundred sixty-four (664) exhibits. The transcript on appeal runs to seven thousand six hundred fifty-one (7651) pages in eight (8) volumes. A verdict was directed in favor of the two individual defendants and the jury returned a verdict for the appellee on six paragraphs in the total amount of $60,000.00
The appellee's complaint alleged appellee was libeled in several different respects but the six recovery paragraphs, Nos. 12, 14, 18, 20, 37, 40, all concerned the Reagan case. The basic outline of the facts of the Reagan case are as follows: Elmer Reagan, a fifty-year old, alcoholic inmate of the Marion County Jail was admitted to the hospital on July 14, 1965, suffering from injuries received in a beating by another prisoner named William Brown. Reagan died as a result of the beating on August 7, 1965. The appellee who was at that time the Marion County Sheriff, filed charges against Brown on August 13th.
On October 21st, another prisoner named Charles McAdams told Marion County Criminal Court Judge Fife, in an interview *236 in court chambers arranged by appellant's reporter, Rick Johnson, that he witnessed Deputy Sheriff Donavan King beat Reagan on July 14th. On October 22nd, McAdams signed an unsworn statement to that effect and three days later his sentence was changed by Judge Fife to time served and he was released from jail. The prisoner, McAdams, was interviewed on October 26th, by appellee before and after McAdams' testimony before the Grand Jury investigating the charges. Appellee said McAdams repudiated his accusation concerning the deputy. McAdams also repudiated it in open court before Judge Fife on October 28th, and he was thereupon immediately sent back to jail. The Grand Jury report said McAdams' accusations were false and indicted Brown for murder. At the trial of Brown the jury found that Brown in fact attacked Reagan but he was acquitted by reason of insanity.
On October 27, 1965, the Indianapolis Star began the series of articles which became the subject of this suit. The six recovery paragraphs alleged that appellant intentionally or recklessly published articles which implied false accusations against appellee to the effect that he had committed certain crimes, namely, accessory after the fact to murder, intimidating a Grand Jury witness, and malicious prosecution of an innocent man. Each legal paragraph included twelve rhetorical paragraphs, the first eleven of which were identical for all forty-four (44) legal paragraphs. We shall use complaint paragraph twelve, the first recovery paragraph, as an example and we include only rhetorical paragraph twelve from that complaint paragraph.
The sub-paragraphs referred to are as follows:
Thus, to find for appellee on complaint paragraph No. 12 the jury had to find that the articles comprising Exhibit 12, forming the basis for that paragraph, when read in the context of all the previous articles in Exhibit 1 through 11, accused the appellee of one of the above alleged crimes, that the *238 accusations conveyed by the articles were false, that appellant knew they were false or published them with reckless disregard of their falsity, and that appellee's reputation was damaged thereby.
We will confine our discussion for the most part to the first recovery paragraph, complaint paragraph No. 12, since the other five recovery paragraphs involve basically the same legal issues although the evidence is somewhat different for each.
The appellant alleges the following errors:
The appellant's first contention is that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict in several respects. In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence this Court will not weigh the evidence nor determine the credibility of witnesses. We will look to that evidence most favorabe to appellee and the reasonable inferences therefrom, and determine whether that evidence, if believed, is sufficient to support the verdict for appellee. If it is, then the verdict will be affirmed. 2 I.L.E., APPEALS, §§ 571, 573, 574.
(A) Appellant claims that there was insufficient evidence that the articles were in fact read as accusing appellee of any criminal acts.
We point out that on this issue, evidence that appellee was personally accused of any one of the three crimes would be sufficient to support the jury verdicts. We believe the evidence was more than ample to permit the jury to find that appellee was personally accused of all three of the crimes set out above in appellee's complaint. The evidence consisted of the articles themselves and the testimony of two witnesses.
*239 There is no question that when read by an ordinary reader in context with the previous articles in the series, the articles comprising Exhibit 12 accused appellee of intimidating McAdams into repudiating his accusations and prosecuting Brown in order to cover up the murder of Reagan by a deputy. (See Appendix for Exhibit 12).
The appellant did not explicitly accuse appellee of the crimes alleged. However, the accusations were clearly implied by what appellant did say and the way it said it, when read in full context. This context was created by the statements explicitly published; the choice of loaded words; the choice of juxtaposition and sequence of ideas; the rhetorical questions; and the cumulative weight of constant repetition. This context cannot be conveyed by paraphrase but we will set out a few of the items reported in Exhibits 1 through 12.
McAdams' story that a deputy killed Reagan was the keystone of the whole attack on appellee. If McAdams' story was true, then any repudiation would have been obtained from him by intimidation or bribery, either of which would be tampering with a Grand Jury witness; similarly, the prosecution of Brown would be a malicious one against an innocent man.
The article published on October 27th, the day the series began, reported in detail McAdams' story that he personally witnessed the beating of Reagan by a deputy on Juy 14, 1965. The Star repeated the essence of this story every day except one, up to and including November 7th, the day of publication of Exhibit 12, and on nineteen (19) days thereafter.
The appellant attempted to buttress McAdams' story by printing that three anonymous tipsters, two of them deputies, had other eye witnesses to the beating by the deputy; by printing statements of other prisoners and McAdams' girlfriend to the effect that McAdams had told them the story about a deputy beating Reagan and that they believed McAdams; by printing several stories of other incidents of alleged brutality in the jail, some even predating appellee's *240 appointment as Sheriff; and by stating that no investigation was started until circumstances of the death were bared by the Star. It is impossible to understand the devastating nature of this attack without reading the actual exhibits. Unfortunately they comprise sixty-two (62) separate articles and cannot be included in this opinion. At the risk of not fully conveying the clarity of the attack we have included some of the articles in the appendix.
The way the publications accused appellee of intimidating McAdams, a Grand Jury witness, was by repeating McAdams' original story, supporting the truth of it as described above and almost totally ignoring the conflicting evidence; printing that appellee "seized" McAdams and McAdams repudiated his story only after appellee "interrogated" him; printing that McAdams "vanished" or "disappeared" after the questioning by appellee; repeatedly printing both Marion County Criminal Court judges' comments that Grand Jury witnesses would be protected from harassment and could not be interviewed except in the presence of the judge. In Exhibit 7 (See Appendix) the "protection" issue was followed by setting out the criminal penalties for tampering with a Grand Jury witness, followed immediately by the story that appellee obtained McAdams' repudiation after taking him to jail and interrogating him. The clearest examples of accusing appellee of intimidating McAdams were in the editorials, Exhibits 2 and 3. (See Appendix).
The publications accused appellee of malicious prosecution of an innocent man, Brown, by emphasizing McAdams' story that a deputy, not Brown, had in fact killed Reagan; implying Brown was shackled at the time and could not have attacked Reagan (See Exhibit 12 in Appendix); stating that the charges against Brown were not filed until after the Star published a report on Reagan's death. (Again see Exhibits 2 and 3 in Appendix).
Neither is there any doubt that the accusations were against *241 the appellee personally. Appellee is mentioned by name sixty-eight (68) times in the series and twenty-seven (27) times in the first twelve exhibits. Appellee is mentioned by use of the phrase "the sheriff" forty-seven (47) times in the series and twenty-six (26) times in the first twelve exhibits. Appellee was at that time the one and only Marion County Sheriff. The phrase "The Sheriff's Office" or "the Sheriff's Dept." was used seventy-two (72) times in the series and thirty-six (36) times in the first twelve exhibits. In the first twelve exhibits appellee is explicitly named as the person who interrogated McAdams and obtained his repudiation of the story that a deputy killed Reagan; he is explicitly mentioned as the person under whose jurisdiction the jail is run and who is thus responsible for its operation.
Appellant cites New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), 376 U.S. 254, 84 S. Ct. 710, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686, and Rosenblatt v. Baer (1966), 383 U.S. 75, 86 S. Ct. 669, 15 L. Ed. 2d 597, as support for its position. This case has nothing in common with New York Times v. Sullivan, supra. That case concerned a single publication in which the plaintiff was not mentioned by name or office. Neither is it like Rosenblatt v. Baer, supra, where again, the plaintiff was not mentioned in any way by name or office.
In addition to the articles themselves, Eugene S. Pulliam, a witness for appellant, testified that he thought Exhibit 3 did imply that appellee intimidated McAdams. Exhibit 3 was made a part of the complaint paragraph No. 12 to provide the context in which Exhibit 12 was to be read.
In addition, Judge Davis testified that he read the series of articles as accusing appellee of intimidating a witness and prosecuting an innocent man.
Since appellant did not attack the legal sufficiency of the complaint by demurrer in the trial court it conceded that the articles were susceptible of the interpretation alleged by appellee in his complaint. It was for the jury to determine if a *242 reasonable reader using words in their ordinary everyday sense would read the articles as implying the meanings alleged by appellee. Logan v. Logan (1881), 77 Ind. 558. The jury was not bound to accept appellant's, appellee's or any witness' reading of the exhibits. The jury was so instructed in court instruction number 23 submitted by the appellant itself.
(B) Appellant contends there was insufficient evidence that the accusations against appellee implied by the articles were false.
We note here again that the key event in this whole affair was the story by McAdams that Deputy King beat Reagan on July 14th. That story made possible and gave rise to the alleged accusations of crime against appellee. If that story was false, then appellee did not need to intimidate McAdams and prosecute Brown in order to protect Deputy King from murder charges. We believe there was ample evidence to support the jury finding that McAdams' story was false.
McAdams said, in relevant part:
The evidence is overwhelming that this story was false. An integral part of McAdams' story was the definiteness as to the time the beating took place on July 14th. His recitation of details made his definiteness seem plausible and lent *244 an air of authenticity to this story. However, the hospital records show that Reagan was admitted at 5:09 p.m. on July 14, 1965, prior to the time of the beating according to McAdams' statement. The jail records show that Reagan was not in a first floor cell on July 14th, but was in a basement cell, and that Deputy Grunden was not even on duty that day. The only scrap of evidence in the whole record that a deputy beat Reagan was McAdams' story. In addition to repudiating this statement to appellee, McAdams repudiated it in open court on October 28th, before Judge Fife who promptly returned him to jail because of it. The Grand Jury report said McAdams' original story was false and they indicted George Brown, another prisoner, for the murder. There were four prisoners who saw Brown attack Reagan and they summoned three deputies who then shackled Brown to prevent further injury to anyone. The jury at Brown's trial found that he had attacked Reagan but was not guilty by reason of insanity. In addition, appellee denied at trial that he intimidated McAdams or prosecuted Brown to cover up a murder. The jury chose to believe appellee and we will not disturb that finding.
We believe there is ample evidence from which the jury could have found that the claim that a deputy killed Reagan was false, there was no attempt by appellee to cover up a murder by a deputy, that appellee did not intimidate McAdams, and that appellee did not prosecute an innocent Brown in order to protect his deputies from a murder charge.
(C) Appellant claims there was insufficient evidence that appellant published the alleged accusations with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard of their truth.
Appellee was a public official seeking damages for defamation by appellant in a series of articles attacking appellee's official conduct. In order for appellee to recover he had to prove that appellant published the defamatory falsehoods with actual malice. New York Times v. Sullivan, supra. In that *245 case the United States Supreme Court held that the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press required that publishing with malice meant publishing with "knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." In Garrison v. Louisiana (1964), 379 U.S. 64, 85 S. Ct. 209, 13 L. Ed. 2d 125, that court elaborated on the meaning of "reckless disregard" by saying that publications are made with "reckless disregard" of the truth when the publisher has a "high degree of awareness of their probable falsity."
In reviewing appellant's contention then we must look at the evidence most favorable to appellee to see if it was sufficient to support the jury's finding that appellant published the defamations with knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard of whether they were false or not.
(1) We emphasize again that the central event in this affair was the story by McAdams that Deputy King beat Reagan. That story created the context and made possible the accusations of crime against appellee. If appellant knew that McAdams' story was false or knew facts which indicated its probable falsity, then it published with actual malice the accusations that appellee was trying to protect a deputy from murder charges by intimidating McAdams into repudiating his story and by prosecuting Brown.
Prior to November 7th, the date of the first recovery paragraph, appellant, including appellant's reporter, Rick Johnson and its editors, had direct knowledge of the hospital records which showed that Reagan was admitted to the hospital at 5:09 p.m. on July 14, 1965. Appellant knew this contradicted McAdams' story. McAdams said Reagan was beaten the first time at 6:00 p.m., again at 7:30 p.m. and again at 10:45 p.m. He was definite as to the times and even substantiated it by recalling the latter time as being near the time King went off duty. Appellant knew this was not a minor inconsistency that could have resulted from a momentary lapse of memory *246 or slip of the tongue. The hospital records struck at the heart of McAdams' story. However, appellant reported only once the fact that the hospital records showed Reagan was admitted at 5:09 p.m. on July 14th, and the significance of this was not brought out. It was mentioned thirty (30) paragraphs deep into the article:
Appellant continued to publish McAdams' original story but never again mentioned the fundamental time discrepancy.
Appellant also knew that McAdams had already repudiated his story on October 28, 1965, in court to Judge Fife, besides earlier repudiating it to appellee. Appellant published this fact only once, but then in subsequent articles continued to omit it while still saying that McAdams repudiated his story only after appellee's deputies "seized" him and appellee interrogated him.
(2) Appellant in Exhibit 1 reported that an anonymous informant and two deputy "tipsters" made statements to Johnson about the Reagan case. Publishing these statements tended to strongly substantiate McAdams' story by, among other things, indicating that there were several other eye witnesses to the beating of Reagan by a deputy.
Exhibit 1 reads in part as follows:
This article clearly says that as of October 8th, Johnson had been told the name of the alleged deputy attacker, the names of at least two prisoner eyewitnesses to the attack, the names of at least two deputies who were eye witnesses to the attack. However, there is sufficient evidence to show that appellant knew when it published that exhibit that it had not been given any such information.
Appellant alleged the August 14th tip came from Deputy Robert Atwell. At trial Atwell denied telling Johnson anything remotely like the statements attributed to him by Johnson. Atwell said that after September 1st, he told Johnson of the rumor that Deputy King might be involved in the Reagan affair. Atwell stated that as far as he was concerned it was an "unbased rumor." This rumor could very well have been due solely to the fact that Johnson himself was telling that story to certain deputies at the jail.
At trial Johnson claimed that the October 7th tip came from Deputy Cottey. This portion of Exhibit 1 clearly says that appellant knew the name of the attacker and the names of other eye witnesses to the beating besides McAdams. However, Cottey's testimony was that all he ever told Johnson was that a prisoner named McAdams wanted to talk to a newspaper man about something that happened in the jail.
Johnson claimed that the October 8th tip came from Deputy *248 Finney. This part of Exhibit 1 clearly states that the deputy gave Johnson the names of other eye witnesses to the beating besides McAdams, both deputies and prisoners. Finney testified that late in October he told Johnson, upon request, the names of the deputies who worked the second shift in the jail as of October, which included King, Grunden and Ping. The date of July 14th was not mentioned. Appellant stated in its answers to the interrogatories that the deputies named by this tipster, who according to the article were involved in or had first hand knowledge of the beating, included Deputies Grunden and Ping. However, Grunden was not on duty on July 14th, and Ping had not even joined the department on that date. It is interesting to note that Grunden was also mentioned in McAdams' original statement. There is sufficient evidence in the record to support a jury finding that the three deputies did not make the statements attributed to them by appellant and the statements were, therefore, to some extent fabricated by appellant.
We believe the above evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury finding that appellant published the defamations with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard of whether they were false or not.
(3) Although the above evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury finding of actual malice, there was a third category of evidence relevant to the issue of appellant's malice and that was the appellee's evidence that prior to the publication of Exhibit 1 appellant and its reporter Rick Johnson harbored ill will and hatred against the appellee. This ill will originally stemmed from appellee's handling of the Hynes case in November, 1964. Prior to that time appellant had evidently approved of appellee's official conduct.
On the evening of November 17, 1964, Lee Hynes' body was found. Three suspects were questioned. One was cleared and he, but not his name was released. At 5:00 a.m., November 18th, the murder weapon was found, and then the other *249 two were arrested and charged with the murder of Hynes. At this time the arrests and names of the suspects were made known.
Appellant's reporter Johnson was displeased with this because the news was not available for the Indianapolis Star's deadline. He called appellee to complain about this. Appellee told Johnson that to have released the information any sooner would have jeopardized the investigation. Johnson said that was a bad policy and apparently his employers agreed with that assessment.
Johnson then immediately had another disagreement with appellee's policy in releasing news in a case involving two shop-lifters. Johnson called appellee and threatened to put him on the front page of the paper unless appellee "shaped up." The next day appellant published an article stating that appellee had "silenced" his employees. Appellee then banned Johnson from getting any news at the jail. On December 4th and 5th, 1964, around midnight Johnson called appellee to complain about the ban and threaten appellee with keeping him on the front page "as long as it takes."
The law librarian in the City-County Building testified that during this period she heard Johnson call appellee a son-of-bitch. Politically, I'll kill him." After a so-called reconciliation even with him." The prosecutor of Marion County testified that he heard Johnson say "I'm going to get the son-of-a-bitch and he'd better remember what happened to his predecessor." Winston Churchill, a Sergeant on the Indianapolis Police Department stated that Johnson told him, "I'll kill the son-of-a-bitch. Politically, I'll kill him." After a so-called reconciliation between Rick Johnson and appellee, Rick Johnson, said, "Well, the son-of-a-bitch kissed the book." There was also evidence that appellant's reporters were saying that they were going to put appellee through "journalism school."
In August of 1965, the appellant wrote a series of articles supporting Deputy Charles Haine who was under suspension *250 by appellee for taking a bribe on August 7, 1965. These articles implied that Haine was being framed. Haine was found guilty by the Merit Board on October 20, 1965. The next day Johnson met with McAdams and that meeting soon resulted in McAdams' original story and his release from jail.
Appellant argues that ill will evidence is not admissible because it is not relevant to appellant's actual malice in publishing the alleged accusations against appellee. Appellant cites New York Times v. Sullivan, supra; Garrison v. Louisiana, supra; Henry v. Collins (1965), 380 U.S. 356, 85 S. Ct. 992, 13 L. Ed. 2d 892; and Beckley Newspapers Corp. v. Hanks (1967), 389 U.S. 81, 88 S. Ct. 197, 19 L. Ed. 2d 248, in support of its proposition.
None of these cases supports appellant's contention. The question of the admissibility of ill will evidence did not arise in those cases, nor did the United States Supreme Court even discuss the exclusion of such evidence offered on the issue of malice.
Those cases were concerned with the legal definition of actual malice. In New York Times there was no mention of the concept of ill will evidence at all. In the other three cases the Supreme Court was concerned with the legal standard for determining "reckless disregard" that was to be incorporated in the jury instructions on malice. They held that malice may not be equated with ill will and the jury may not be instructed that ill will evidence alone is sufficient to prove malice.
Appellant's argument is that ill will evidence is not admissible on the issue of whether appellant published with reckless disregard for the truth. We believe that it is relevant and admissible on that issue. It is true that ill will evidence does not tend to prove that appellant had knowledge of the falsity of its publications. However, actual malice may consist in a "high degree of awareness of their probable falsity." Garrison v. Louisiana, supra.
*251 Appellant's estimate of the probability of falsity of its publications was not derived with mathematical exactness from purely objective factors. It was certainly influenced by various considerations one of which might very well have been appellant's hatred for appellee. Ill will evidence might also tend to prove that appellant published in spite of its estimate of a probability of falsity. We also believe that there is sufficient evidence of appellant's actual malice without even considering the ill will evidence.
(4) There is still more evidence in the record relevant and admissible on the issue of appellant's actual malice. Johnson made no effort to verify McAdams' story in even the obvious easy ways, in spite of the following facts: McAdams was a petty criminal, had an unsavory reputation, and McAdams was obviously making a deal to gain his freedom. Even Johnson's version of the way he and McAdams dealt at their first meeting should have been alarming:
On October 22nd, in the presence of Judge Fife, the coroner and Johnson, McAdams signed a notarized statement, not a sworn statement under oath. After McAdams left Johnson raised the issue of further verification of McAdams' story but the matter was dropped. If McAdams' story had been true, between seventy (70) to one hundred (100) prisoners would have been able to verify it in some way, but none did. Appellant was content to print several stories from prisoners *253 and McAdams' girlfriend to the effect that McAdams had told them the story and they believed him. At least one of these prisoners would have been an eye witness if McAdams' story had been true. Four prisoners on a work crew witnessed Brown attack Reagan and summoned three deputies who shackled Brown to prevent further such attacks, but appellant did not interview them.
Appellant argues that the above evidence is inadmissible because the New York Times standard of reckless disregard cannot be satisfied by evidence of failure to investigate. The Supreme Court has not held that evidence of failure to investigate is never admissible on the issue of malice. In St. Amant v. Thompson (1968), 390 U.S. 727, 88 S. Ct. 1323, 20 L. Ed. 2d 262, the Court said:
In certain circumstances evidence of a failure to investigate would be circumstantial evidence relevant to the issue of whether or not the publisher in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the publications. As the Supreme Court also said in St. Amant:
We believe that this evidence was admissible on the issue of reckless disregard.
(D) Appellant claims there was insufficient evidence to show that appellee was damaged by any of the alleged accusations in any of the paragraphs on which appellee recovered. It argues that appellee confuses proof as to the amount of damages with proof as to the fact or cause of damage with respect to the six recovery paragraphs. All of appellee's witnesses testified that the series hurt appellee's reputation, but did not say what it was in the articles that hurt appellee's reputation, nor which articles they referred to. Appellant does not question the amount of damages.
In each legal paragraph appellee alleged his "good reputation was ruined by the publication specified in (rhetorical) paragraph No. 12, resulting in his being held up to public scorn, shame and disgrace, to his damage" in the amount of $51,872.41. Thus, appellee's complaint alleged general damages for injury to his reputation and mental suffering, resulting from the false accusations of crime made by appellant in Exhibits 1 through 44, published in the Indianapolis Star, a daily newspaper which had an average circulation of 225,584 each weekday and 360,742 on Sunday.
Prior to his becoming Sheriff appellee was an attorney, engaged in the private practice of law, an occupation especially dependent upon the practitioner's good reputation in his community. This is also true of a political officeholder which appellee had become when he was appointed Sheriff.
At the trial appellee put on several witnesses, consisting of attorneys, politicians from both parties, and public officials, from appellee's community, who testified that the series of articles on which the complaint was based, damaged severely appellee's reputation in that community.
*255 The witnesses' testimony certainly was sufficient to support the jury finding that appellee's reputation had been damaged by the series of articles in question. The fact of damage was thus established. Other evidence, discussed above was sufficient to support the jury finding that in the six recovery paragraphs appellant intentionally or recklessly published false imputations of crime against appellee. General damages to a person's reputation are presumed to follow from the imputation of crime.
In this case damages are presumed from the malicious publication under either the majority or minority rule; under the minority rule because it is a libel or under the majority rule because it involves one of the four special slander categories, namely, accusation of crime. See the *256 thorough discussion in Gibson v. Kincaid (1967), 140 Ind. App. 186, 221 N.E.2d 834 (concurring opinion of Judge Faulconer).
The jury was instructed that the damages were to compensate appellee for injury as the proximate result of the alleged accusations. Certainly, the jury could infer that those accusations caused the damage to appellee's reputation. The jury returned a verdict of $10,000.00 on each of the six paragraphs. We believe there is sufficient evidence to support the jury verdict.
Appellant cites Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers (1966), 383 U.S. 53, 86 S. Ct. 657, 15 L. Ed. 2d 582, for the proposition that the First Amendment required that appellee prove that the defamatory statements caused him damage. That case is not applicable here because it was concerned only with alleged libels occurring in the context of a labor dispute within the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. The court held that National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction over the labor dispute did not pre-empt all state libel actions, but restricted them to cases where the plaintiff proved actual malice and damages. This restriction was intended to minimize *257 conflicts with the National Labor Relations Board while preserving the states' interests in preventing malicious publication of defamatory falsehoods.
Appellant's next contention is that the verdicts are contrary to law because they are inconsistent. The jury returned a verdict for appellee on six paragraphs out of the forty-four (44) in the complaint, Nos. 12, 14, 18, 20, 37, 40, but returned a verdict for appellant on the other thirty-eight (38) paragraphs.
Appellant argues that the evidence on the issues of falsity, malice and damages was identical for all forty-four (44) paragraphs of complaint so the verdicts must be consistent. Appellant also says that appellee's strongest case of libel was to be found in the publications in complaint paragraphs prior to the first recovery paragraph, but the jury returned verdicts for appellant on those paragraphs.
The Court indulges every reasonable presumption in favor of the legality of jury verdicts. State Farm Life Ins. Co. v. Spidel (1964), 246 Ind. 458, 202 N.E.2d 886. Each of the forty-four (44) complaint paragraphs constituted a separate and independent cause of action. It is clear that the evidence was not the same for all of these paragraphs. Each paragraph was based on different publications and the evidence of malice for some of the paragraphs was different from that for others. When jury verdicts on distinct causes of action are challenged as being contrary to law because inconsistent the role of the reviewing court is simply to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the verdicts in favor of the appellee. If there is such evidence then those verdicts will be sustained and this Court's inquiry will cease. The fact that appellant could have been hurt worse by more verdicts for appellee is not grounds for throwing out the verdicts actually returned for appellee.
This case is clearly distinguishable from those cases where *258 the verdict is inconsistent because it is a logical or legal impossibility, e.g., an agency situation where the jury found for the sole acting agent while holding the non-acting master liable. In that case the reviewing court does not intrude into the central jury function of determining the facts and reaching the verdict based on that determination. There is no way an appellate court can effectively do that and that is what appellant asks in this case. Appellant concedes that the evidence on all issues on every paragraph is not identical. Therefore, the inconsistency in the jury verdicts does not result from a logical or legal impossibility but from appellant's recommendation as to how the jury should have viewed the evidence.
Appellant contends that the trial court erred in giving certain instructions and refusing certain instructions tendered by appellant.
(A) Appellant says the trial court erred in giving instruction No. 20, which reads as follows:
Appellant argues that this instruction is not a statement of the law relevant to the case but is an argument; it is the "reasoning" in Garrison v. Louisiana, supra, and therefore *259 not suited to be included in a jury instruction; it invades the province of the jury by assuming contraverted facts.
We believe it is clear from reading this instruction that it properly states the law as far as it goes. It does not assume any facts nor invade the province of the jury. The fact that the language is based on the Garrison case adds support to it and labelling it "reasoning" does not seem relevant to us. All the applicable law cannot and need not be included in one instruction. Palmer v. Decker (1970), 253 Ind. 593, 255 N.E.2d 797; McClure v. Miller (1951), 229 Ind. 422, 98 N.E.2d 498; all the instructions must be read together. State v. Coridan (1943), 221 Ind. 404, 47 N.E.2d 978. When this is done it is clear that there is no error in this instruction.
(B) Appellant says the trial court erred in giving instruction No. 30 and refusing appellant's tendered instruction No. 7. Number 30 reads as follows:
Appellant objected to this instruction as follows:
Appellant's tendered instruction No. 7 would have instructed the jury that ill will evidence was completely irrelevant to this case.
*260 The sole issue raised by appellant's objection and offer of appellant's tendered instruction No. 7 was whether ill will evidence was admissible on the issue of whether appellant published the articles in question with knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard for their falsity. We have decided above in section I(C) that it was admissible on that issue and only on that issue. That is precisely what the trial court instructed the jury.
For the first time on appeal appellant attempts to argue that instruction No. 30 is erroneous because it tells the jury that ill will is the same as reckless disregard; because it does not tell the jury that actual malice had to be based on evidence of knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of truth and not simply on ill will alone; that it is no answer that the jury was properly told in other instructions that actual malice meant publishing with knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth.
These issues are not before the Court because they were not raised in the trial court. Pittman-Rice Coal Co. v. Hansen (1947), 117 Ind. App. 508, 72 N.E.2d 364.
We do not review issues presented for the first time on appeal except to avoid grave injustice. Widmer v. Sweeney (1955), 234 Ind. 263, 124 N.E.2d 385. We see no such problem here.
(C) Appellant says the trial court erred in giving instruction No. 28, which reads in part as follows:
Appellant objected to the last paragraph as follows:
The instruction is adequate and this issue is disposed of by the above discussion in Section I(A) concerning the sufficiency of the evidence to show that the publications accused appellee personally of the crimes alleged.
The rest of the instruction is as follows:
Appellant objected to this portion of the instruction as follows:
However, on appeal appellant's argument is entirely devoted to showing that this instruction is inconsistent with other instructions given. This was not the basis of the objection in the trial court and it cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. Pittman-Rice Coal Co. v. Hansen, supra; Widmer v. Sweeney, supra. We believe the instruction is adequate and does exactly what appellant's objection demands.
(D) Appellant says the trial court erred in giving instruction No. 24, which reads as follows:
and in giving instruction No. 26, which reads as follows:
and in refusing appellant's tendered instruction No. 9, which reads as follows:
Appellant's argument is that the jury was erroneously told that the standard by which they were to determine the question of reckless disregard was the negligence standard of whether appellant failed to exercise care to learn facts which were available to it had it conducted an investigation. Appellant cites the St. Amant case to the effect that:
Clearly, No. 24 does not suffer from this defect. It tells the jury that appellant's knowledge must be of such facts and circumstances existing at the time of publication which refute the falsehood. This seems a legitimate paraphrase of the legal test set out in the last sentence of appellant's tendered instruction No. 9. The last portion of No. 24 does not detract from the first part and does not make due care the standard for determining whether appellant published the articles with actual malice. It merely elaborates on the state of mind of one who knowingly or recklessly publishes a defamatory falsehood.
*264 We believe No. 26 was a proper instruction. We agree with the rule in the St. Amant case that to find reckless disregard to evidence must "permit the conclusion that appellant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the publication." However, this does not tell us what kind of evidence may be used to reach that conclusion. Whether appellant in fact entertained such doubts may be proved by circumstantial evidence just as the state of mind of persons in other types of cases may be proved by circumstantial evidence. As was also stated in St. Amant:
We believe that evidence which permits the vital conclusion includes, besides ill will evidence, evidence of the obvious lack of reliability of appellant's sources of information, and evidence of appellant's information as to additional sources available to it. In Goldwater v. Ginsburg (2d. Cir., 1969), 414 F.2d 324, the court stated:
All the evidence must permit the conclusion that the appellant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the publication.
Appellant's tendered instruction No. 9 is erroneous and was properly refused. The fact that appellant recklessly failed to check a known source may be evidence that it entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the publication. The trial court instructions do not establish a standard of reasonable care or due care as to the publication of the defamatory falsehoods. The legal definition of "reckless disregard" was given to the jury in several instructions and we see no error here.
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in admitting several different items of evidence which were incompetent because they were hearsay.
(A) Appellant contends the trial court erred in permitting appellee to read into evidence certain portions of Deputy Cottey's deposition. The introduction of this evidence came about in this way. During cross-examination by appellant, appellee was questioned about certain statements made by Cottey in his deposition. Appellee objected arguing that Cottey was under subpoena by appellant and available to testify. The objection was overruled and appellee answered the questions. Then on re-direct appellee read into evidence *266 other portions of Cottey's deposition. Appellant objected to that pointing out that Cottey was also under subpoena by appellee and that appellant had not had anyone read from Cottey's deposition. That objection was also overruled and it is this ruling that appellant contends was erroneous. This ruling was, of course, proper since appellant had opened the door by asking appellee about certain of Cottey's answers on his deposition leaving a misleading impression, and appellee was therefore entitled to read other portions of that deposition. Appellant then put into evidence still other portions of Cottey's deposition. Clearly there is no reversible error here.
(B) Appellant argues that appellee's, Deputy Mellene's and Deputy Robert Atwell's statements concerning the questioning of McAdams on October 26th, constituted hearsay and were inadmissible. These statements were to the effect that McAdams went willingly to the jail to see appellee, that he voluntarily repudiated his story about a deputy beating Reagan, and that Rick Johnson had it in for appellee.
Hearsay evidence has been defined as follows:
See also 5 Wigmore, Evidence §§ 1361, 1362, (3d ed., 1940); Wayne Works v. Hicks Body Co. (1944), 115 Ind. App. 10, 55 N.E.2d 382.
If the questioned evidence is hearsay and does not fall within one of the exceptions to the rule, then it is inadmissible in evidence. Compton v. Fleming (1846), 8 Blackf. 153. The question for this Court then would be whether the erroneous *267 admission of such evidence was harmless error. However, the evidence is inadmissible only if it is really hearsay evidence. Not all testimony about the extra-judicial utterances of a third person made outside the presence of the parties qualifies as hearsay evidence. It depends on the purpose for which it is offered.
Professor Wigmore says:
*268 So in this case, if the questioned utterances by third parties which are in the form of assertions, not made under oath or subject to cross-examination by appellant, are offered to prove the fact of the utterance and not offered to prove the truth of the facts asserted, then there is no hearsay problem. It is not even a case of being an exception to the hearsay rule, which would imply it was hearsay. It is not hearsay at all.
A corollary of this rule is that only utterances capable of being true or false can possibly fall within the classification of hearsay. True requests, commands, and questions are not assertions and a witness may testify concerning a third party's making such utterances because they are not offered for the truth of the facts asserted.
With these principles in mind we turn to the alleged error.
There was sufficient evidence to support the jury finding that the appellant impliedly accused appellee and his deputies of the crime of intimidating McAdams, a Grand Jury witness, into repudiating his story by twice interviewing McAdams on that date at the jail. Thus, appellant attempted to give legal significance to appellee's and the deputies' actions. An intimidation of a person is a more subtle thing than use of force, and must be determined from the context and the words used by both parties. The utterances of McAdams were not offered for their truth but for the fact that they were made. They were admissible as the "verbal part of an act". Wigmore defines this as follows:
See also McCormick, Evidence, supra.
The conduct involved here was independently material to the issue of the falsity of appellant's accusation against appellee that appellee intimidated a Grand Jury witness. The conduct by itself was equivocal. The deputies asked McAdams to go to the jail and be interviewed and he was permitted to drive his own car. He repudiated his story and he left. Was he intimidated through fear to rescind a true story or did he merely repudiate a lie? The words are of vital importance in determining that issue and given legal significance to the conduct. The words obviously accompanied the conduct. All four of Wigmore's tests are satisfied in this case.
Appellee's and his deputies' testimony concerning McAdams' statements are also admissible as circumstantial evidence of McAdams' state of mind at the time, namely, whether he was in a state of fear. On this point Wigmore says:
See also McCormick, Evidence, supra.
It is not decisive that the statements could also have a testimonial use.
See also McCormick, supra.
What McAdams said, treated as a factual occurrence which was circumstantial evidence of his state of mind was relevant to the charge of intimidation against appellee, and appellee and the deputies were eye-witnesses to that occurrence. Appellee and the deputies had a perfect right to describe what they did, said, saw and heard during the interview with *271 McAdams in order to refute the charge of intimidation. There is no hearsay problem here because McAdams' statments were not offered for the truth of the facts they asserted.
If any items of evidence were relevant and admissible for one purpose and not for another, there was no error in their admission. In State v. Vaughn (1962), 243 Ind. 221, 184 N.E.2d 143, we held:
See also 6 Wigmore, Evidence, supra.
Appellant did not request such an instruction in this case.
(C) Another item of evidence that appellant claims was inadmissible hearsay was Deputy Cottey's affidavit.
This affidavit was not offered for the truth of the assertions therein but as circumstantial evidence to refute appellant's repeated claim that appellee did not investigate the charge of jail irregularities. (See discussion above in B) The fact that the affidavit was taken several months after the beating on July 14th is not relevant. When Cottey left on vacation on Oct. 20, appellee did not even know of Cottey's alleged involvement in the case. While on vacation Cottey became ill and did not return to work for some time, the exact date not being clear to us. The lapse of time between his availability to be interviewed and the taking of the affidavit might have diminished the relevance of the affidavit but it could not convert it into hearsay. It was not objected to as being irrelevant, nor was a limiting instruction sought by appellant. State v. Vaughn, supra.
In any event the evidence in this affidavit was the same as that presented through appellee's reading of certain portions *272 of Cottey's deposition and was therefore merely cumulative. Even if it was erroneously admitted it was harmless error. Bankers Surety Co. v. German Investment & Securities Co. (1920), 189 Ind. 311, 126 N.E. 6.
(D) Appellant claims another example of inadmissible hearsay was plaintiff's Exhibit 237 T, a transcript of McAdams' guilty plea on August 26, 1965, where McAdams, after he supposedly witnessed the beating of Reagan, requested to serve his time in the Marion County Jail. This is not an example of hearsay. McAdams' request for something is not a declaration or assertion which can be true or false. It cannot be offered for the truth of what it asserts because it asserts nothing, nor attempts to. It is a different type of utterance altogether. The fact that McAdams made such a request is admissible to show McAdams' state of mind at that hearing and that he had no fear of being in the Marion County Jail. (See the discussion above under B)
(E) Appellant claims plaintiff's Exhibit 282 A, a letter from appellee to the Superintendent of General Hospital, dated March 25, 1964, was inadmissible hearsay.
One of the main charges appellant made in its series of articles was the existence of brutality and neglect of sick prisoners in the jail supervised by appellee. Appellee introduced the exhibit as an act which showed his concern for such prisoners. The letter was not hearsay because it was not offered for the truth of the assertion made therein, but for the fact that it was written at all. (See discussion above in B)
Even if it were inadmissible, this letter merely discussed the problems of medical attention for the prisoners and we fail to see how it could conceivably constitute reversible error.
We repeat that this trial lasted from April 18th, until June 14, 1967. There were ninety-six (96) witnesses and the trial court admitted six hundred sixty-four (664) separate items of *273 evidence. We believe the trial court did a good job of dealing with this avalanche of evidence and do not see how this letter could have made any difference either way.
(F) Appellant contends that it was error to admit the testimony of appellee as to what his former law partner Ed Lewis had told him that appellant's reporter Rick Johnson had said in a conversation between Lewis and Johnson at which appellee was not present.
Both Lewis and Johnson testified to that same conversation. Appellant does not point out how appellee's testifying to that conversation could be prejudicial to appellant; nor does appellant set out what appellant's testimony even was on this point. The trial court committed no error here.
Appellant implies that there are many more examples of erroneous admissions of hearsay evidence, however, it does not argue them and they are not before us on this appeal.
I vote to affirm this judgment. Jackson, J., is of the opinion that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed and concurs in this opinion.
*276 Exhibit 2, p. 1:
Exhibit 2, p. 3:
Exhibit 3, p. 2:
Exhibit 7, p. 1:
Exhibit 11, p. 1:
Exhibit 12, p. 1:
Exhibit 12, p. 2:
NOTE.  Reported in 259 N.E.2d 651.