Opinion ID: 1601643
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: appellate review of falsity

Text: At the outset, I must respectfully disagree with my Brother BRICKLEY'S conclusion that the underlying factual issue of falsity is subject to independent appellate review as a constitutional fact question. See ante, pp 109-113, 117-123. While I sympathize with the free speech concerns which animate my colleague's analysis, I believe that analysis blurs the distinction between a defamation plaintiff's acknowledged constitutional burden of proving falsity, and the nature of the issue of falsity itself. As my colleague correctly notes, see ante, p 113, the First Amendment requires a defamation plaintiff, at least in a case involving speech of public concern, to bear the burden of proving falsity. See Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc v Hepps, 475 US 767; 106 S Ct 1558; 89 L Ed 2d 783 (1986). It does not follow, however, from the fact that constitutional principles require a certain party to bear a certain burden of proof on a certain issue at trial, that an appellate court must or should independently review the merits of the issue. For example, in a criminal case the government is constitutionally required to bear the burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Failure to so instruct the jury is grounds for reversal. See In re Winship, 397 US 358; 90 S Ct 1068; 25 L Ed 2d 368 (1970). But if the jury is properly so instructed and finds the defendant guilty, constitutional principles have never been thought to require appellate courts to independently review the underlying factual issue of guilt, and thereby substitute their judgment de novo for that of the jury. Rather, appellate courts apply the well-established sufficiency of the evidence standard, construing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and asking only whether a rational jury could properly have reached that verdict. See Jackson v Virginia, 443 US 307, 318-319; 99 S Ct 2781; 61 L Ed 2d 560 (1979); Glasser v United States, 315 US 60, 80; 62 S Ct 457; 86 L Ed 680 (1942); People v Hampton, 407 Mich 354; 285 NW2d 284 (1979). A similarly deferential standard of appellate review has traditionally been applied to jury verdicts in civil cases. See Kupkowski v Avis Ford, Inc, 395 Mich 155, 167-168; 235 NW2d 324 (1975); Dodd v Secretary of State, 390 Mich 606, 612; 213 NW2d 109 (1973). My colleague would analogize the issue of falsity to the constitutional fact issue of actual malice in a defamation case, over which appellate courts are constitutionally required to exercise independent review. See, e.g., Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc v Connaughton, 491 US 657; 109 S Ct 2678; 105 L Ed 2d 562 (1989); Bose Corp v Consumers Union of United States, Inc, 466 US 485; 104 S Ct 1949; 80 L Ed 2d 502 (1984). Another classic example of a constitutional fact question subject to independent appellate review is the voluntariness of a confession. See, e.g., Arizona v Fulminante, 499 US ___; 111 S Ct 1246; 113 L Ed 2d 302 (1991). Actual malice and the voluntariness of a confession, however, are mixed questions of fact and law. Falsity, by contrast, would appear to be a classic issue of pure historical fact. Indeed, with regard to subsidiary factual questions underlying the ultimate issue of actual malice, the Court in Harte-Hanks strongly suggested  and four concurring justices made explicitly clear  that the appellate court need not independently review the historical facts  e.g., who did what to whom and when.... 491 US 694 (White, J., joined by Rehnquist, C.J., concurring); see also id. at 688 (opinion of the Court); id. at 697-699 (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment); id. at 696 (Kennedy, J., concurring) (indicating agreement with Justice Scalia's analysis). [2] Not only does it seem clear that the United States Supreme Court is not inclined to find an independent review standard constitutionally required with regard to the issue of falsity, but this Court's own precedents have consistently viewed the determination of truth or falsity in defamation cases as a purely factual question which should generally be left to the jury. See Steadman v Lapensohn, 408 Mich 50, 53-54; 288 NW2d 580 (1980); Cochrane v Wittbold, 359 Mich 402, 408; 102 NW2d 459 (1960). [3] Hepps, of course, has left unsettled the question whether falsity may be proved merely by a preponderance of the evidence, or whether some higher burden (such as clear and convincing evidence) is constitutionally required. [4] For reasons elaborated below, however, I believe this case can properly be resolved without any further inquiry into the precise scope of either appellate review of falsity or the constitutional burden of proving falsity at trial. I would simply conclude that there is no proper need or basis in this case to adopt the standard of independent appellate review urged by my colleague.