Court Opinion

ID: 9794720
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:10:18.546819+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:19:18.735064
License: Public Domain

Fatzee, J.,
dissenting: It is well settled in this jurisdiction that newspapers and television stations have a qualified privilege to publish and telecast as current news, all matters involving open violations of the law which justify police interference, and matters in connection with inquiries regarding the commission of crime, even though the publication may reflect upon the individuals concerned and tend to bring them into public disgrace (Beyl v. Capper Publication, Inc., 180 Kan. 525, 305 P. 2d 817, and Stice v. Beacon Newspaper Corporation, 185 Kan. 61, 65, 340 P. 2d 396, 76 A. L. R. 2d 687), and that where the subject of the article is a public official, so much of this private character as affects his fitness for public office is subject to a wider latitude of public scrutiny and discussion than that of a private citizen (Stice v. Beacon Newspaper Corporation, supra).
*555In my opinion, the district court erred in failing to sustain paragraph two of the appellant’s motion which would have required the plaintiff-appellee to attach the complete and full text of the statement alleged to have been publicized on February 19, 1962, and which he contends constituted a defamatory statement. Only when the full text of the statement is attached to the petition can it be determined whether the article in question was qualifiedly privileged as being a fair comment on matters in connection with a grand jury investigation regarding the commission of crime by certain county officials in Crawford County.
I would reverse the judgment with directions to require the plaintiff to attach to the petition the full text of the statement. It is obvious from a casual reading of the statement alleged to be libelous, that an official investigation of some character was being conducted in Crawford County, which revealed that the plaintiff had violated the criminal statutes of the state as a county commissioner. The question whether the plaintiff has alleged the ultimate facts constituting actual malice, evil-mindedness, or a wicked purpose to injure the plaintiff should only be inquired into after it is determined as a matter of law that the publication is or is not qualifiedly privileged.