Opinion ID: 1376401
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Could Devlin's Statements Reasonably be Interpreted as Stating Actual Facts About Turner?

Text: According to Devlin's letter, Turner grossly mishandled what apparently should have been a sensitive and delicate investigation. She chose words that could effectively convey her strong disapproval. To be actionable, however, such words must be capable of being reasonably interpreted as stating actual facts about Turner. See Milkovich, 497 U.S. at 16-17, 110 S.Ct. at 2704-05, 2706 (citing Greenbelt Coop. Publishing Ass'n Inc. v. Bresler, 398 U.S. 6, 14, 90 S.Ct. 1537, 1542, 26 L.Ed.2d 6 (1970) (holding that reference to negotiation technique as blackmail was nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole); Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, 50, 108 S.Ct. 876, 879, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988) (holding that the First Amendment precluded recovery for emotional distress for advertisement parody that could not reasonably have been interpreted as stating actual facts about the public figure involved); Old Dominion Branch No. 496, Nat. Ass'n of Letter Carriers v. Austin, 418 U.S. 264, 284-86, 94 S.Ct. 2770, 2781-82, 41 L.Ed.2d 745 (1974) (holding that use of the word scab, with a definition that included traitor, was merely rhetorical hyperbole and was not a basis for a defamation action under federal labor law)). This requirement provides assurance that public debate will not suffer for lack of `imaginative expression' or the `rhetorical hyperbole' which has traditionally added much to the discourse of our Nation. Milkovich, 497 U.S. at 20, 110 S.Ct. at 2706 (citing Falwell, 485 U.S. at 53-55, 108 S.Ct. at 880-82). Devlin's depiction of Turner's interview as like a criminal interrogation that bordered on police brutality falls within this protection. Devlin's letter did not accuse Turner of physical abuse or brutality. Instead, Devlin characterized his interview as an interrogation conducted as if the student had committed an illegal act and characterized his manner as bordering on police brutality. Use of the words manner, as if, and bordered  and indeed the entire letter  do not describe or imply an accusation of physical conduct and clearly let the reader know that the characterizations were not meant to be precise. We recognize, of course, that statements of opinion are actionable when they imply a false assertion of fact. Milkovich, 497 U.S. at 18-19, 110 S.Ct. at 2706. If Devlin's statement could reasonably be interpreted as accusing Turner of physically abusing the victim, we would have a different case. Contrary to the suggestion in Justice Martone's concurring opinion, however, we do not believe a reasonable person could make that implication from Devlin's letter. Devlin does not complain about Turner's physical conduct but rather his demeanor  his demand, his rudeness, his manner. The reasonable inferences to be drawn must be determined by reading the letter as a whole, not by singling out two words. We agree with the concurrence that an allegation of police brutality might, in some cases, be read as an allegation of physical abuse, but we do not believe it can reasonably be read that way in this case. See Falwell, 485 U.S. at 50, 108 S.Ct. at 879; Letter Carriers, 418 U.S. at 284-86, 94 S.Ct. at 2781-82; Bresler, 398 U.S. at 14, 90 S.Ct. at 1542; cf. Baltimore City Police v. Andrew, 318 Md. 3, 566 A.2d 755, 757 (1989) (charge that officer placed suspect in a headlock and threw him against a vehicle was consistent with the general understanding of police brutality). In Yetman, the defendant referred to the plaintiff as a communist while addressing an audience of the plaintiff's political opponents. 168 Ariz. at 73, 811 P.2d at 325. Rejecting the argument that the comment could be interpreted only as an assertion of fact on the one hand or only as invective or hyperbole on the other, we closely scrutinized the record and found, in context, that it reasonably could be interpreted either way. Id. at 79-80, 811 P.2d at 331-32. [9] In this case, the context of Devlin's statements dictates the opposite conclusion  the statements were nothing more than an assessment of, and attack on, Turner's manner, demeanor, methods, and interviewing techniques. Unlike Yetman, therefore, where the evidence supported two tenable views, this record shows that Devlin's analogy was unmistakably exaggeration used to voice ardent protest against methods  not an assertion of fact. In our view, even the most careless reader would have perceived Devlin's description as no more than rhetorical hyperbole, a vigorous epithet used to criticize Turner's behavior. Bresler, 398 U.S. at 14, 90 S.Ct. at 1542; see also Thuma v. Hearst Corp., 340 F. Supp. 867, 869, 871-72 (D.Md. 1972) (reference to police shooting as cold-blooded murder was hyperbole used to voice disapproval for what the speaker believed to be an unjustified shooting); Fleming, 454 N.E.2d at 101 (reference to the police as dictators and Nazis was non-actionable rhetoric used to criticize behavior, not a statement of fact); Orr v. Lynch, 60 A.D.2d 949, 401 N.Y.S.2d 897, 899 (App. Div.) (report that police opened fire and gunned down suspect was non-actionable rhetorical hyperbole), aff'd, 45 N.Y.2d 903, 411 N.Y.S.2d 10, 383 N.E.2d 562 (1978). This, of course, distinguishes the present case from Yetman, where we left it to the jury to decide whether the statement contained a provably false factual assertion or whether it was mere opinion, implying no assertion of provable fact and therefore not actionable. Id. at 80-81, 811 P.2d at 332-33. In this case, we do not believe there is an issue of interpretation for the jury. While this view of the facts may be arguable, see Yetman, 168 Ariz. at 83, 811 P.2d at 335 (Corcoran, J., dissenting), this case and Yetman are not legally inconsistent. Contrary to the suggestion in Justice Martone's concurrence, Yetman is not overruled explicitly, nor sub silentio, and has not been interred. We believe, therefore, that summary judgment was properly granted in favor of Devlin, both because her comments state matters that are not susceptible to proof of truth or falsity and because they state matters that cannot reasonably be interpreted as actual facts. Given this, we need not decide whether the comments were made with actual malice as required by New York Times.