Opinion ID: 1155573
Heading Depth: 2
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Heading: Pertinent Virginia Decisions Since New York Times

Text: Sanders v. Times-World Corp., 213 Va. 369, 192 S.E.2d 754 (1972), was decided after New York Times and Rosenbloom, but before Gertz. There, for the first time, we applied the New York Times malice standard to a libel case involving a private person arising from matters of public or general concern, as required by Rosenbloom. In Rosenbloom and Sanders, the relevant test was not the status of the plaintiff involved but rather the events which were the subject of the publication. Newspaper Publishing Corp. v. Burke, 216 Va. 800, 803, 224 S.E.2d 132, 135 (1976). In Sanders, we cited three earlier Virginia cases, from 1961, 1967, and 1970 respectively, for the proposition that, where defendants' statements were qualifiedly privileged, the plaintiff bears the burden to establish actual malice. The Sanders decision was based, nevertheless, on the federal standards of New York Times and Rosenbloom. Newspaper Publishing Corp. v. Burke, supra , was the first libel case we decided after Gertz. Analyzing Gertz, we held that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury, in violation of the Gertz admonition, that the newspaper defendant could be adjudged liable without fault to the private plaintiffs. Additionally, the Court determined that the trial court incorrectly told the jury that an award of punitive damages could be premised upon a finding of common-law malice rather than New York Times actual malice. [2] Furthermore, while recognizing that we could define our own standard for recovery of actual, compensatory damages as authorized by Gertz, we chose not to formulate a Virginia standard in that case. We noted that the jury did not award actual damages, only punitive damages, and termed the task of fixing a Gertz -approved standard unnecessary. 216 Va. at 804, 224 S.E.2d at 136. In Fleming v. Moore, 221 Va. 884, 275 S.E.2d 632 (1981) (hereinafter Fleming I), a suit against a non-media defendant and the precursor to the instant case of the same name, we decided that the publication was not defamatory per se; that the plaintiff, a private individual, did not forfeit his private status by speaking at public hearings involving land use proposals; that because the plaintiff Moore was not a public figure, he was not required to show New York Times malice as a prerequisite to recovery of compensatory damages, id. at 892, 275 S.E.2d at 637; that punitive damages may not be awarded without a tandem award of compensatory damages, unless the libel involved was actionable per se,  id. at 893-94, 275 S.E.2d at 638; and, that in libel actions not based upon per se defamation where New York Times malice is not shown, compensatory damages must be limited to actual injuries sustained. We decided, however, that actual injury was not confined to pecuniary loss but included such elements as damage to reputation and standing in the community, embarrassment, humiliation, and mental suffering. We modified language contained in Shupe v. Rose's Stores, 213 Va. 374, 192 S.E.2d 766 (1972), to the extent that Shupe may have indicated that emotional upset and embarrassment cannot constitute special damages. 221 Va. at 894, 275 S.E.2d at 639. In Fleming I, we further decided that Gertz did not control because the Gertz rule was not explicitly extended to non-media defendants. We stated, nevertheless, that we share the Gertz concern with the assessment by juries of punitive damages `in wholly unpredictable amounts bearing no necessary relation to the actual harm caused.' Id. at 893, 275 S.E.2d at 638, quoting Gertz, 418 U.S. at 350, 94 S.Ct. at 3012. Thus, we held in Fleming I, a suit by a private individual against a non-media defendant, that a recovery of punitive damages must be based upon the New York Times actual malice standard that is applicable to media defendants, that is, clear and convincing proof of knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.