Court Opinion

ID: 9680651
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:35:45.014188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:29.862461
License: Public Domain

*731KELLER, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the majority that the trial court was correct to enter summary judgment for American Publishing Company of Kentucky, d/b/a The Daily News. I write separately in this case because I believe there are material issues of fact with respect to whether Paul Douglas Hall (“Hall”) and Jimmy Pursiful, Jr. (“Pursiful”), acted with actual malice when they financed and drafted, respectively, a political advertisement which contained allegedly false, libelous statements. After a review of the pretrial discovery record in this case, I conclude that summary judgment with respect to Troy Welch’s claims against Hall and Pursiful was improper, and I would reverse the Court of Appeals with respect to those claims and remand the claims against Hall and Pursiful to the Bell Circuit Court for trial.
In order to demonstrate a prima facie case for defamation, Welch must produce evidence that (1) the language of the advertisement contains facially defamatory statements; (2) those facially defamatory statements are false; and (3) the persons responsible for those statements acted “with knowledge that [the statements were] false or with reckless disregard of whether [they were] false or not .” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964); Warford v. Lexington Herald-Leader Co., Ky., 789 S.W.2d 758, 771 (1990). To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, Hall and Pursiful must demonstrate that “it would be impossible for [Welch] to produce evidence at trial warranting a judgment in his favor.” Steelvest v. Scansteel., Ky., 807 S.W.2d 476 (1991); CR 56.03.
Justice Cooper’s dissenting opinion correctly identifies that a written statement is facially defamatory and can be libelous, if false, when it tends to (1) bring a person into public hatred, contempt or ridicule; (2) cause him to be shunned or avoided; or (3) injure him in his business or occupation. McCall v. Courier Journal and Louisville Times Co., Ky., 623 S.W.2d 882, 884 (1981), cert denied, 456 U.S. 975, 102 S.Ct. 2239, 72 L.Ed.2d 849 (1982). For Welch to have a defamation cause of action, statements must not only tend to portray him in a negative light, but must also be false. Welch’s deposition was taken in connection with discovery in this case, and he denied the truth of many of the allegations, thereby creating a factual dispute inconsistent with summary judgment. There are three statements which meet both of the first two elements of the prima facie case for defamation: (1) “Employees Have Been Paid Almost $100,000 because of Political Firings”; (2) “The City is Broke Because of his Management”; and (3) “Think before you vote and wonder why Frog and his cronies are working so hard to get rid of people who have stood in his way and called his hand on illegal activities. FROG WAS SUCCESSFUL IN RUNNING OFF 62 SEPARATE COUNCIL MEMBERS IN DISGUST .”
Most of the majority opinion focuses on Welch’s evidence regarding actual malice, the third element of the prima facie case for defamation. With the exception of a handful of sentences which refer to “the appellees,” both the majority opinion and the court of appeals analyze the salient issues exclusively from the perspective of The Daily News. While I agree with the majority opinion’s conclusion that the trial court correctly granted summary judgment for The Daily News, the factual issues involving Hall and Pursiful are distinct, and summary judgment is not appropriate with respect to their claims. Actual malice can be inferred from circumstantial evidence. Ball v. E.W. Scripps Co., Ky., 801 S.W.2d 684 (1990). The record in this case, including Pursiful’s deposition in which his evasiveness is patent and during which he alleged an inability to remember circumstances surrounding the placement of this advertisement twenty-five times in an hour and three minute deposition, does not establish that it would be impos*732sible for Welch to prove the elements of his claim at trial.
It is not disputed that Pursiful went to The Daily News to purchase an advertisement on Hall’s behalf. Carla Sue Bennett, an employee of The Daily News, testified at her deposition that Pursiful constructed the content of the advertisement himself, using notes he had brought with him, and that she assisted with formatting the layout. Pursiful admitted in his deposition that he voted for Welch’s opponent and encouraged others to do so, although he quibbled over definitions when asked if he “supported” the opponent. Pursiful arranged for the advertisement to be placed on the eve of the election. The body of the advertisement has no headlines which support either the $100,000 allegedly connected with political firings nor the 62 council persons who it alleges left during Welch’s tenure as mayor, and Welch alleges in his deposition that these figures are grossly out of proportion with reality. The newspaper and its employees deny authorship of the copy at the top and bottom of this advertisement. Summary judgment was proper for the claims against the newspaper because it had no duty under the circumstances to investigate the context of the paid advertisement. However, the persons responsible for the placement of this advertisement, Hall and Pursiful, had personal knowledge of the truth of their own words, or at the very least had an opportunity to determine whether the statements they made in the advertisement were true. The record of pretrial discovery does not establish that it would be impossible for Welch to prove that Hall and Pursiful acted either with knowledge that portions of the advertisement were false or with reckless disregard of whether the advertisement contained false information. At trial, Welch may not have prevailed on his claims, but summary judgment with respect to his claims against Hall and Pursiful was improper.
Accordingly, I would affirm the court of appeals with respect to the claim against American Publishing Company of Kentucky, d/b/a The Daily News, but would reverse with respect to the claims against Paul Douglas Hall and Jimmy Pursiful, Jr. I would remand those claims to the trial court for trial.