Court Opinion

ID: 9586277
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:09:01.078581+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:27:31.403586
License: Public Domain

Undercofler, Justice,
dissenting.
"Defamation is made up of the twin torts of libel and slander — the one being, in general, written while the other in general is oral, with somewhat different rules applicable to each ... In either form, defamation is an invasion of the interest in reputation and good name.” Prosser, Law of Torts, (4th Ed.), p. 737. See American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters v. Simpson, 106 Ga. App. 230 (1) (126 SE2d 873). Invasion of privacy is a kindred but entirely different action and is not involved here. Spring, Risks & Rights, 1956, p. 41, § 17.
For many years legal scholars have deplored the absurdities of the libel and slander law and the irreconcilability of the cases. However, there is no dispute that truth is a complete defense except in a few jurisdictions which make some exception. Georgia makes no exception. Code § 105-708. As stated in Henderson v. Fox, 83 Ga. 233, 243 (9 SE 839), "[T]he plea [of justification] being established, the action is simply defeated.” See also Savannah News-Press v. Harley, 100 Ga. App. 387 (1) (111 SE2d 259).
"The theory supporting the rule that truth alone is a defense seems to be that a person is in no position to complain of a reputation which is consistent with his actual behavior and character. Defendant’s malicious motives in disseminating the defamatory truth can, accordingly, have nothing to do with the merits of the plaintiffs claim. The real consideration responsible for the rule is the social desirability, as a general matter, of *183leaving individuals free to warn the public of antisocial members of the community, provided only that the person furnishing the information takes the risk of its being false.” Harper and James, Law of Torts(1956) p.416.
In Savannah News-Press v. Hartridge, 110 Ga. App. 203, 206 (138 SE2d 173), Judge Eberhardt said: "If the jury found the article to have been true, that should have ended their deliberations, for in that event the defense of justification was sustained and a verdict for the defendant was demanded. Code § 105-708 provides that'The truth of the charge made may always be proved in justification of the libel or slander.’ And it has long been held, both in the Supreme Court and this court that truth is a perfect defense in a civil action for libel or slander. Cook v. Atlanta Newspapers, Inc., 98 Ga. App. 818, 819 (107 SE2d 260); Henderson v. Fox, 83 Ga. 233 (9 SE 839). We find no better statement of the law than Judge Townsend’s in Savannah News-Press, Inc. v. Harley, 100 Ga. App. 387 (111 SE2d 259), A libel is a false defamation of another (Code § 105-701) and if what is printed is true there is no libel.’ '[T] he plea of justification being established the action is simply defeated.’ Ivester v. Coe, 33 Ga. App. 620, 623 (127 SE 790).
"We suppose there has never been a time since recognition of the action when truth was not an absolute defense. Blackstone asserted: 'Also if the defendant be able to justify, and prove the words to be true, no action will lie, even though special damage hath ensued; for then it is no slander or false tale. As if I can prove a tradesman a bankrupt, the physician a quack, the lawyer a knave, and the divine a heretic, this will destroy their respective actions; for though there may be damage sufficient accruing from it, yet, if the fact be true it is damnum absque injuria; and where there is no injury, the law gives no remedy . . . The truth is an answer to the action, not because it negatives the charge of malice. . . but because it shows that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover damages. For the law will not permit a man to recover damages in respect to an injury to a character which he does not, or ought not, to possess.’ McPheerson v. Daniels, 10 B. & C. 263, 272. And in a note to Wyatt v. Gore, Holt N. P. 299, 308, on the matter of justification *184it was said: 'The ground of the action on the case for a libel, is the quantum of injurious damages which the person libeled either has, or may be presumed to have sustained, from the libelous matter. It is evident, therefore, that if the subject of the libel, both in its substance and measure, be truly imputed to the plaintiff, that there can be no injurious damage. The reputation cannot be said to be injured where it was before destroyed. The plaintiff has previously extinguished his own character. He has, therefore, no basis for an action to recover compensation for the loss of character, and its consequential damage. The law considers him as bringing an action of damage to a thing which does not exist. Least of all will it allow such a person lucrari ex mala fama.’
"This rule in civil actions was, of course, adopted as a part of our common law and, as we have already indicated, has been so recognized and declared both in the decisions of the courts and in the language of Code § 105-708. It is still the rule, both in England and in the vast majority of the American States.”
In the instant case the plaintiff testified that the statements made on "Action Line” were true. There is no evidence of extrinsic circumstances which cause the statements to carry a defamatory meaning. As stated by Prosser, supra, p. 748: "A publication may be defamatory upon its face; or it may carry a defamatory meaning only by reason of extrinsic circumstances. The distinction is not the same as that between defamation which is actionable of itself and that which requires proof of special damage ... There has been no little confusion as to this, sometimes with unfortunate results. If the defamatory meaning arises only from facts not apparent upon the face of the publication, the plaintiff has the burden of... proving such facts, by way of what is called 'inducement.’ Likewise, he must establish the defamatory sense of the publication with reference to such facts, or the 'innuendo’ . . . The function of the innuendo is merely to explain the words in the light of the facts. No mere claim of the plaintiff can add a defamatory meaning where none is apparent from the publication itself in the light of the inducement . . .” Furthermore, the statements here are not ambiguous. *185Dun & Bradstreet v. Miller, 398 F2d 218. As stated in Park & Iverson v. Piedmont &c. Life Ins. Co., 51 Ga. 510, 513, "The office of an innuendo is to explain that which is of doubtful or ambiguous meaning in the language of the publication, but cannot enlarge the meaning of words plainly expressed therein.” Here the statements of fact are true, complete and unambiguous. Accordingly, insofar as the statements of fact are concerned there are no false insinuations and the truth of the facts is a complete defense. 53 CJS 233, 275, Libel and Slander, §§ 137, 177; 50 AmJur2d 682, 683, Libel and Slander, §§ 179, 180.
Plaintiff argues that the opinions expressed on "Action Line” are defamatory. "A defamatory communication may consist in a statement of purported fact or in a statement of opinion. The distinction is important in the interest of sound analysis and of practical importance with respect to the defenses of truth, privilege and fair comment. A statement of fact is one capable of the quality of truth or falsity. A statement of opinion does not have this quality. Shortly speaking, therefore, an opinion is never 'true’ or 'false’ in the same sense as a statement of fact. An opinion is a comment on or an interpretation of fact. It is always related to the facts it purports to interpret. Depending on its conformity with sound critical standards, the opinion may be 'sound’ or 'unsound,’ 'good’ or 'bad,’ 'reasonable’ or 'unreasonable,’ but never 'true’ or 'false.’ Since opinion or comment is related to a proposition of fact, it is important whether the facts on which it is based are stated or other’, áse known or whether they are unknown to the person or persons to whom the opinion is communicated. If they are known, the relationship between the opinion and the facts is apparent. It is subject to examination. On the other hand, if the facts are unknown, the opinion necessarily implies the existence of facts which would support it in the judgment of the person whose opinion is expressed or the person to whom he expresses it. What in form, therefore, is an expression of opinion or judgment is actually, in such a case, an imputation of fact, i.e., facts which would make the opinion a reasonable interpretation thereof.” Harper and *186James, Law of Torts, 1956, p. 370. "Truth, as a defense, becomes greatly complicated when the defamatory publication consists of statements which are in part statements of fact and in part statements of judgment or opinion. It is said that proof of the truth of the factual statements carries with it a privilege to make such comment thereon as a reasonable man might make.” Harper and James, supra, p. 418.
"Defamation is false and injurious statement in an item of fact, not of opinion. The fair expression of opinion, particularly as to matters of public interest, if it is not based upon or does not imply falsehood as to facts, must be permitted in a democratic community. Otherwise free speech and a free press would be ended. . . Those who dislike the opinions so expressed can not be granted the right to complain that they have been defamed, unless the statement of opinion is so intertwined with false statements of fact that the false total stated constitutes defamation. Since opinion shades quickly into fact, the distinction between the two is often difficult to draw.” Spring, Risks & Rights (1956), p. 56, § 28.
Here the plaintiff claims that the statements contained in the telecast to the effect that sometimes small engines are not dependable and, when they are not, they can be very expensive and "this one is going to give more trouble” are untrue and will sustain his action for defamation. I do not agree. First, they are expressions of opinion based upon the true facts of the incident and the relationship is apparent. Second, these statements are not directed to the plaintiffbut to the engine. The telecast shows the plaintiff warranted the repairs for three months and it was not until eight months later that the engine broke down.
"Action Line” told it all and told it truthfully. There are no "half truths,” no ambiguities, and no extrinsic facts which would result in a listener reaching an erroneous conclusion. Its opinions are based on these facts. Consequently, the truth is an absolute defense and the trial court did not err in directing a verdict for the defendant.
Some courts and some legal scholars believe that truth should not be an absolute defense where the *187statements are made maliciously and without good motives or justifiable ends. See Ray, Truth: A Defense to Libel, 16 Minnesota L. R. 43. However, Georgia’s statutes do not make this exception and until changed by the legislature I must apply the statute as written. Code § 105-708.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Jordan and Mr. Justice Hall concur in this dissent.