Opinion ID: 1826657
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: General law regarding a claim of defamation.

Text: A court must determine as a matter of law a plaintiffs classification in the context of a defamation claim. White v. Mobile Press Register, Inc., 514 So.2d 902 (Ala.1987). This determination will establish the plaintiffs burden of proof. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). In defamation actions, a plaintiff is either a private person, a public official, or a public figure, either in general or for the limited purpose of a particular public controversy. Mead Corp. v. Hicks, 448 So.2d 308 (Ala. 1984). If a plaintiff is determined to be a public official, public figure, or limited-purpose public figure, then the plaintiff has the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that the defamatory statement 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, 376 U.S. at 280, 84 S.Ct. 710; Curtis Publ'g Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 87 S.Ct. 1975, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094 (1967); Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974); and White, 514 So.2d at 904. If it is determined that the plaintiff is a private figure, then the plaintiff has the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant negligently published the defamatory statement. Mead Corp., 448 So.2d at 312 (holding that defendants who made false defamatory statements about private figures may be held liable if their conduct created an unreasonable risk of harm to the plaintiff). Whether an individual is a public figure, limited-purpose public figure, or private figure is a question of law to be determined by the court. Mobile Press Register, Inc. v. Faulkner, 372 So.2d 1282 (Ala. 1979). This determination must be made by the trial court before the jury is charged so that the court can properly instruct the jury. Faulkner, 372 So.2d at 1285. A public figure is one who either has gained notoriety from his achievements or seeks public attention through vigor and success. New York Times, supra. In Gertz, the United States Supreme Court reduced the public-figure question to a more meaningful context by looking to the nature and extent of an individual's participation in the particular controversy giving rise to the defamation. 418 U.S. at 352, 94 S.Ct. 2997. Thus, the Court recognized a limited-purpose public figure as an individual [who] voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy. 418 U.S. at 351, 94 S.Ct. 2997. In this case, the NCAA and Culpepper agree that neither Cottrell nor Williams is a public official or a general-purpose public figure. The NCAA and Culpepper, however, maintain that the evidence established that both Cottrell and Williams are limited-purpose public figures; Cottrell and Williams disagree, claiming that the evidence established that they are private figures. Therefore, we must determine whether the NCAA and Culpepper established that Cottrell and Williams were limited-purpose public figures.