Opinion ID: 1214384
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dunlea's Defamation Claim

Text: In order to sustain a claim for defamation, a plaintiff must establish the following four elements: (a) a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (b) an unprivileged publication to a third party; (c) fault amounting at least to negligence on the part of the publisher [actual malice where the plaintiff is a public figure]; and (d) either actionability of the statement irrespective of special harm or the existence of special harm caused by the publication. Beamer v. Nishiki, 66 Haw. 572, 578-79, 670 P.2d 1264, 1271 (1983) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 558 (1977)). As previously indicated, Dunlea's defamation claim was based entirely on the statement Dappen had made to his other daughter, Dunlea's sister, that he was still angry with Dunlea and would not forgive her for what happened in 1964. In response to Dunlea's request for admissions, Dappen admitted that, in a conversation with Patricia Jacobs [Dunlea's sister], vacationing with Defendant Howard Dappen, Patricia Jacobs was told [that] Mr. Dappen would not forgive [Dunlea] for allegations brought in 1964. In his motion for summary judgment on the defamation claim, Dappen had the initial burden of identifying those portions of the record demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. First Hawaiian Bank v. Weeks, 70 Haw. 392, 396, 772 P.2d 1187, 1190 (1989) (citing Wright, Miller & Kane Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d, section 2711, at 555-56 (1983)). Dappen met this burden by identifying the portion of Dunlea's deposition testimony wherein she testified that I believe it [(Dappen's statement to Dunlea's sister) ] to be true. He [ (Dappen) ] said he was angry, and he said he would never forgive me, and I believe he speaks the truth of [sic] that. (Emphasis added.) Additionally, Dappen identified other portions of Dunlea's deposition testimony demonstrating that Dunlea suffered no damage to her reputation, nor were her personal associations with friends and relatives affected. Dappen asserted that there was no genuine issue of to her material fact and that he was therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Dunlea could not establish that the statement was false and defamatory. In opposing summary judgment, Dunlea attempted to convince the circuit court of the existence of genuine issues for trial by submitting an affidavit wherein she attested that: What [Dappen] meant when he said that he would not forgive me for allegations brought in 1964[ ] is that I was wrong for bringing these charges against him because he has consistently maintained that they were not true. These statements were understood by those who knew of my victimization in 1964[ ] to mean that I was bringing false charges at that time[.] Dunlea, however, failed to set forth any specific facts showing that the truthfulness of the statement was a genuine issue for trial. Although Dunlea interpreted Dappen's statement as an assertion that her accusations against Dappen were false, the truth of an alleged defamatory statement is measured by the ordinary implication of the words used. Basilius v. Honolulu Pub. Co., Ltd., 711 F.Supp. 548, 551 (D.Haw.), aff'd without opinion, 888 F.2d 1394 (9th Cir.1989). Dunlea argues that the ordinary implication of the word forgive is that there was some act committed by her that required forgiveness. Thus, Dunlea urges that Dappen's statement implied that he would not forgive her for bringing false accusations against him; in other words, he would not forgive her for lying. Dappen's statement, however, is equally capable of a nondefamatory interpretation, that is, that Dappen would not forgive Dunlea for betraying him or for being disloyal. We have stated that summary judgment would be proper where, although the communication is susceptible to a defamatory interpretation, the moving party showed `through uncontroverted depositions and affidavits that the publication was made without deliberate falsification and without a high degree of awareness of the probable falsity of the statements in the publication[.] Fernandes v. Tenbruggencate, 65 Haw. 226, 228-29, 649 P.2d 1144, 1147 (1982) (citation omitted). Because there is no dispute that the statement at issue was true, we hold that summary judgment was properly granted with respect to count I.