Court Opinion

ID: 9638557
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:46:53.242283+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:07.747032
License: Public Domain

DAVID B. GAULTNEY, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully disagree with the majority’s resolution of issues two and three.2 The majority holds there is no need for proof of damages to reputation because the statement is defamatory per se. I would hold the statement is not defamatory per se, and the law requires evidence of actual injury to reputation.
A twelve year old was said to have been involved in the disassembly of a Plexiglas wall at a skating rink, a disassembly labeled by the manager of the rink as “vandalism.” The newspaper article reported that “According to the family, [the twelve year old child] and a group of boys were taking a break from skating to talk, and lifted up one of the Plexiglas panels that line the rink. One of the boys let go of the panel, however, which dropped down and chopped off the top portion of [the child’s] pinky finger on his left hand.” The article stated that “The Monroes said their biggest concern was that there were no warning signs or precautionary measures taken to keep children from lifting the Plexiglas panels.” Then the article reported the statement which the trial court found to be defamatory per se: The manager “claimed that [the child] was one of a group of boys who were actually trying to disassemble the Plexiglas and deface and vandalize Mustang’s property.”
The article reported the manager denied the Plexiglas was defective. The article then talked about liability issues, safety measures and Mustang’s contact, or lack of contact, with the family after the accident. The majority’s affirmance of the trial court’s summary judgment presumes the statement in question accuses the child of a crime; the majority focuses its conclusion of defamation per se on “no authority” that “the court’s finding of defamation depended upon whether the crime was punishable by imprisonment.”
The context in which the word was used must be considered. In libel actions, the trial court’s initial determination is whether the words used are reasonably capable of defamatory meaning. See Ezrailson v. Rohrich, 65 S.W.3d 373, 376 (Tex.App.Beaumont 2001, no pet.). The alleged defamatory statement is to be considered as a whole and in light of the surrounding circumstances; the determination is based upon how a person of ordinary intelligence would perceive the entire statement. Id. The statement’s meaning, and whether it is defamatory, depends on a reasonable person’s perception of the statement in the context of the entirety of the publication. See Bentley v. Bunton, 94 S.W.3d 561, 579 (Tex.2002); Turner v. KTRK Television, Inc., 38 S.W.3d 103, 114 (Tex.2000); Musser v. Smith Protective Servs., 723 S.W.2d 653, 655 (Tex.1987); Guisti v. Galveston *342Tribune, 105 Tex. 497, 150 S.W. 874, 878 (1912); Ezrailson, 65 S.W.3d at 376. In this case, the proper focus is on the.entire newspaper article in which the manager’s statement appears and not on an isolated word. See Musser, 723 S.W.2d at 655.
Given the context of the manager’s statement, I do not believe a reader would perceive the use of the word “vandalize” as accusing the child of committing “criminal mischief,” as the majority assumes. The statement was published in an article about the child’s physical injury, and about who might be responsible for the accident. A reasonable reader would, in the context of the article, understand that the manager meant the child was responsible for his injury, not that the child was a criminal. I would hold the manager’s statement reported in the article does not rise to the level of accusing the child of so major a social disgrace that damage to his reputation may be presumed as a matter of law.
Appellant asserts there is no evidence to support the award of actual damages for injury to the child’s “reputation and character.” Appellees argue the law presumes injury, and in a footnote say “it is hard to imagine how the Monroes could have produced such evidence if it were required. The witnesses available to the Monroes— friends, relatives, and classmates of [the child] — all knew him and, naturally, did not believe the false accusation.” (emphasis in original). But if there is no possibility of proving the child’s “reputation and character” were injured, what is the basis for the award of damages? Even if injury is to be presumed, the presumption should be rebuttable, not conclusive. I respectfully dissent.

. I concur in the majority’s resolution of issues one, four, five, and six.