Opinion ID: 796854
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Defamation by Implication

Text: 38 Lastly, we consider whether the district court correctly rejected plaintiff's defamation by implication claim. By this claim, Nichols argues that even if Moore's statements were literally true when read in isolation, when viewed in their entirety and in proper context, they defamed plaintiff by implying that he was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. Under Michigan law, claims of defamation by implication, which by nature present ambiguous evidence with respect to falsity, face a severe constitutional hurdle. Locricchio v. Evening News Ass'n, 438 Mich. 84, 122, 476 N.W.2d 112 (1991). Michigan caselaw also states: 39 Principles of general libel and First Amendment libel law continue to apply [regarding defamation by implication]. Michigan prohibits libel liability for true speech on matters of public concern. Liability may not be imposed on a media defendant for facts about public affairs it publishes accurately and without material omissions. 40 Royal Palace Homes, 495 N.W.2d at 394 (citations omitted). Furthermore, in Locricchio, Chief Justice Cavanaugh elaborated on defamation by implication in his concurring opinion: 41 [I]t is enough to conclude, as a matter of law, that a defamation defendant cannot be held liable for the reader's possible inferences, speculations, or conclusions, where the defendant has not made or directly implied any provably false factual assertion, and has not, by selective omission of crucial relevant facts, misleadingly conveyed any false factual implication. 42 Locricchio, 438 Mich. at 144, 476 N.W.2d 112. 43 In the present case, and as discussed in the previous sections, each sentence of Moore's narration regarding James Nichols in Bowling for Columbine is substantially true. Though it is possible that a viewer of the movie could erroneously conclude that James Nichols made practice bombs in preparation for Oklahoma City, and was arrested and charged in the Oklahoma City bombing, the court finds that plaintiff's evidence cannot meet the high hurdle presented by a defamation by implication claim. Plaintiff has not presented any evidence indicating that Michael Moore intended to falsely implicate James Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing. See Royal Palace Homes, 495 N.W.2d at 396 ([The defendant] is not responsible for every defamatory implication a reader might draw from his report of true facts, absent evidence that he intended the defamatory implication.). Additionally, plaintiff has failed to prove that Moore's narration included either false statements or the omission of material facts. Instead, Moore's narration clearly indicated that James Nichols was charged with making and possessing small bombs and that the charges against Nichols were dropped due to a lack of evidence. For these reasons, plaintiff's claim for defamation by implication must fail and the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendant as to this claim. 44 AFFIRMED.