Opinion ID: 1826657
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the trial court properly ordered a new trial.

Text: Cottrell maintains that the trial court erred when it concluded that Culpepper was unduly prejudiced by its decision at the close of the evidence changing Cottrell's classification from a limited-purpose public figure to a private figure with regard to the defamatory statements made by Culpepper. Culpepper argued in his motion for a new trial that he was prejudiced by the trial court's ruling because during his cross-examination of Cottrell's witnesses and during the presentation of his defense, he elicited evidence to show that Cottrell's evidence did not establish actual malice. He further argued that if the law from the beginning of the case had been that Cottrell was a private person with regard to the statements made by him, he would have focused on defending against the lesser standard of common-law malice and he would have cross-examined Cottrell's witnesses to establish Cottrell's attitude about rule violations and the reasons why Culpepper disliked Cottrell. Culpepper's counsel further maintained that he would not have asked Culpepper questions such as, [D]id you use good judgment at times with regard to saying things among your friends about Ronnie Cottrell? Culpepper states that questions like these lend themselves to establishing common-law malice, not to defending against it. He further states that he would have presented additional/different evidence and possibly called other witnesses. We have thoroughly reviewed the record, and we conclude that Culpepper was prejudiced by the trial court's changing Cottrell's classification from a limited-purpose public figure to a private figure at the close of all the evidence. It is clear that Culpepper's strategy throughout the trial focused on establishing that Culpepper did not make the statements with actual malice and not on defending against a finding that he had made the statements negligently. Therefore, the trial court did not exceed the scope of its discretion when it ordered a new trial. Hayden v. Elam, 739 So.2d 1088, 1093 (Ala.1999)([T]his Court will reverse an order granting a new trial when some legal right is denied and the record clearly shows that the trial court abused its discretion.).