Believing that Paul's suicide was caused by a brain injury he sustained in the earlier automobile accident, the Tatums stated in the obituary that Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. The obituary was published on May 21, 2010. Appellees asserted several summary judgment grounds. 16-0098 Decided: May 11, We are not persuaded by appellees' characterization of the column as nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole. port rowan funeral home In D Magazine Partners we said that the supreme court's 2000 Turner opinion suggests that lack of privilege might be an element of a defamation plaintiff's case, while its 2013 Neely opinion indicates that privilege is a defense. The Tatums argue that there was, focusing specifically on the intent that the word deception implies. 12, 2007, pet. There is also evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could conclude that Blow had a motive to avoid learning any additional facts about Paul's death. To accuse someone of deception is to impeach his or her honesty and integrity. Applying Neely here, we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that the column's false gist, as discussed above, was more damaging to the Tatums' reputation than a hypothetical truthful account that acknowledged their claims that they reached a good faith conclusion about the cause of Paul's suicide and did not accuse them of deception. Constr., L.P. v. Underwriters at Lloyd's London, 327 S.W.3d 118, 127 (Tex.2010) (citing dictionaries as aids to interpreting an insurance policy). Arbitration & Mediation 2695. This case involves libel, which is a defamation expressed in written or other graphic form. By using the statement In my opinion Mayor Jones is a liar as an example of an actionable statement of fact, the Court took the position that such a statement can be proven false. WebOpinion for John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. the Dallas Morning News, Inc. and Steve Blow Brought to you by Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information. dallas morning news v tatum summary what colors do wasps like. In May 2010, Paul was a seventeen-year-old high school student. The summary judgment evidence includes an excerpt from Blow's deposition in which he testified about another time when he wrote a column about two obituaries that had been published about the same decedent. His family sued and lost before the Texas Supreme Court. Rather, this case turns on the verifiability of the column's accusation of deception against the Tatums. In addition to their libel claims, the Tatums also asserted DTPA claims against DMN. The Supreme Court has held that a defamation plaintiff must prove falsity if (i) the plaintiff is a public figure, or (ii) the defendant is a media defendant and the statement involves a matter of public concern. Heritage Capital, 436 S.W.3d at 875. Gaming Law The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the columns accusation of deception was reasonably capable of injuring the Tatums standing in the community but that Blows implicit statement that the Tatum acted deceptively was an opinion and thus not actionable. Criminal Law Am. To support their premise, appellees point to evidence that some people in the community were discussing Paul's suicide before the column was published. Rather, the Tatums contend that DMN should have disclosed that its columnist, Blow, had previously written columns critical of obituaries that had appeared in the newspaper. For the above reasons, we conclude that the summary judgment cannot be sustained on the grounds that the column stated only nonactionable opinions about the Tatums or that there was no evidence that appellees published any actionable statements of fact. WebThe Tatums assert two appellate issues: (1) The trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims; and (2) the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their DTPA claims. Crediting the Tatums' evidence as we must, we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that the column's gist was false. Here, the column did not mention Paul or the Tatums by name. We agree with the Tatums. Civ. (A public controversy is not simply a matter of interest to the public; it must be a real dispute, the outcome of which affects the general public or some segment of it in an appreciable way.). We conclude otherwise. A statement does not have to refer to the plaintiff by name, however, if people who know and are acquainted with the plaintiff reasonably understand from reading the statement that it referred to the plaintiff. Main, 348 S.W.3d at 395 ; see also Houseman v. Publicaciones Paso del Norte, S.A., 242 S.W.3d 518, 525 (Tex.App.El Paso 2007, no pet.) Securities Law anita baker first husband; dallas morning news v tatum oyez. Appellees further argue that the column does not omit or juxtapose facts in such a way as to make its gist false. John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. the Dallas Morning News, Inc. and Steve Blow, 05-14-01017-CV (Tex. All service and technical issues must go through our Customer Service Center. The test here is whether the defamatory statement is verifiable as false. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the columns accusation of deception was reasonably capable of injuring the Tatums standing in the community but that Blows implicit statement that the Tatum acted deceptively was an opinion and thus not actionable. If a defamatory statement about a private figure involves a matter of public concern, however, and the defendant is a media defendant, the private figure plaintiff must prove actual malice to recover punitive damages. v. Ackerman McQueen, Inc. See 13 Summaries "Casetext is a game changer! 94 S.W.3d at 583. Next, specifically as to Paul's death, Blow wrote that the paid obituary said Paul died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident, but Paul's death turned out to have been a suicide. Blow continued, There was a car crash, all right, but death came from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a time of remorse afterward. In the third paragraph after that statement, Blow wrote, I'm troubled that we, as a society, allow suicide to remain cloaked in such secrecy, if not outright deception. The above parts alone could cause a person of ordinary intelligence to read the column as accusing the Tatums of deceit by writing an obituary that stated a false cause of Paul's death and concealed the true cause of his death (for their own self-benefit and to the detriment of society as a whole). 7. Prac. 05-14-01017-CV, 2015 WL 9582903, at *5 (Tex. Make your practice more effective and efficient with Casetexts legal research suite. Id. We agree with the Tatums on all three points. A statement is defamatory if it tends to (i) injure a person's reputation, (ii) expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or financial injury, or (iii) impeach his honesty, integrity, or virtue. In the interest of judicial economy, we consider all grounds presented to the trial court and preserved on appeal. Based on that evidence, the court concluded that a factfinder could find that the false gistthat Neely was disciplined for operating while using drugswas more damaging to Neely's reputation than the truththat Neely was disciplined for self-prescribing medications. Our ePaper and live News feed are now together in one app. Professional Malpractice & Ethics The evidence also showed that their friends, recognizing that the column was about the Tatums, contacted them and told them about the column. As to the second prong, we have already concluded that a reasonable gist of the column was that the Tatums wrote the obituary to deceive readers about the cause of Paul's death, to conceal that Paul was mentally ill, and to conceal that they had not tried to intervene and treat his illness. Although the Tatums' mental states when they wrote the obituary may not be susceptible of direct proof, we conclude that they are sufficiently verifiable through circumstantial evidence, such as the investigation into the possible causes for Paul's suicide that the Tatums undertook, to make the column's defamatory gist about them verifiable under Milkovich and Neely. Thus, they must prove only negligence to recover compensatory damages. Prac. We disagree. A publication is substantially true if, in the average reader's mind, the allegedly defamatory statement is not more damaging to the plaintiff's reputation than a truthful statement would have been. Prac. 16m Man shot dead in east Oak Cliff, Dallas police say dallasnews.com Man shot dead in east Oak Cliff, Dallas police say One Bankruptcy See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 63. Milkovich lost on summary judgment and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Id. Because we see no matching argument in appellees' amended motion for summary judgment, that argument is not properly before us. Thus, Blow had a motive not to learn if there was any explanation for the way the Tatums chose to write the obituary other than the supposed desire to deceive the obituary's readers. 05-14-01017-CV JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM, Appellants . As to the Tatums' first point, we agree that the column is capable of a defamatory meaning about them because a person of ordinary intelligence could read the column to accuse the Tatums of deception about the cause of Paul's death and a statement is defamatory if it impeaches a person's honesty or integrity. Banking 13, 2015, pet. WebV. (quoting Bell Publ'g Co. v. Garrett Eng'g Co., 141 Tex. In two appellate issues, the Tatums urge that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment dismissing their libel and DTPA claims. We conclude that there was more than a scintilla of evidence showing more than a mere failure to conduct a reasonable investigation. Herald, Inc., No. Accordingly we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. at 6364. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. Based on their view of the column's gist, appellees next argue that the cause of Paul's suicide and the Tatums' belief about that cause are irrelevant to the issue of truth. By 1879 Alfred H. Belo, who had acquired control of the business, was investigating the possibility of establishing a sister paper in rapidly developing North Texas. Thus, a person of ordinary intelligence could, under the circumstances, at this point alone read the column to have a defamatory meaning by impeaching the Tatums' honesty and integrity. Joseph D. Sibley IV, Houston, TX, for appellants. Appellees made objections to the affidavits in the trial court, which the trial court overruled. 284, 339 S.W.2d 890, 893 (1960). Similarly, although there is evidence that the Tatums disagreed with the manner of death finding of suicide on Paul's death certificate and tried to persuade the medical examiner to change it, there is no evidence that the outcome of this alleged controversy affected anyone except the Tatums. Appellees won a take-nothing summary judgment. 22. of Tex., Inc., 434 S.W.3d at 15657. Government Law The Tatums' DTPA claims are based on 17.46(b)(24) of the DTPA, which provides that it is a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice to fail [ ] to disclose information concerning goods or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have entered had the information been disclosed. Tex. Argued 73.005(a) (truth is a defense to a libel action); see also Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 62 (mentioning the defense of truth and citing 73.005); Randall's Food Mkts., Inc. v. Johnson, 891 S.W.2d 640, 646 (Tex.1995) (In suits brought by private individuals, truth is an affirmative defense to slander.) (footnote omitted). at 14, at *4. In four issues, appellant contends (1) the trial court erred by granting appellees objections to certain summary judgment evidence; (2) the trial court erred by denying appella Sysco Food Servs., Inc. v. Trapnell, 890 S.W.2d 796, 800 (Tex.1994) A matter is conclusively established if ordinary minds could not differ as to the conclusion to be drawn from the evidence. In re Estate of Hendler, 316 S.W.3d 703, 707 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, no pet.). 07060041CV, 2007 WL 1098476, at *4 (Tex.App.Amarillo Apr. See Civ. No. WebFifth District of Texas at Dallas . That lawsuit was dismissed, and the Tatums appealed. at 187. Our decision in Backes v. Misko, No. (describing general-purpose public figures as those who have achieved such pervasive fame or notoriety as to be public figures for all purposes). It is ORDERED that appellees THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW recover their costs of this appeal from appellants JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM. Id. 73.002(b)(2). The court noted that the defendant had repeatedly stated that his accusations of corruption were based on objective, provable facts and on evidence that he had seen. This argument misses the point. 1 of Dallas County, Texas, to: Dana Goodwin. trial court might have granted summary judgment. See id. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Tatums, the evidence raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the actual malice element. In Lipsky, for example, the supreme court said, Defamation's elements include (1) the publication of a false statement of fact to a third party. 460 S.W.3d at 593 (emphasis added). People who were familiar with the situation understood the column to refer to Paul and his parents. If, as concerns the present case, the plaintiff is a private individual rather than a public official or public figure, the elements of defamation are: (1) the defendant published a statement, (2) the statement was defamatory concerning the plaintiff, and (3) the defendant acted with negligence regarding the statement's truth. Dist., 858 S.W.2d 337, 341 (Tex.1993) (A motion [for summary judgment] must stand or fall on the grounds expressly presented in the motion.). Although appellees contend that the column's gist does not include any comment on the Tatums' character or their actions, we disagree. 9 Over the past four years, the Texas Supreme Court has an annual average of granting about seven motions for rehearing of petitions for at 100001. WebNotice is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary for the Estate of Dan R. Cleveland, Deceased, were issued on January 2, 2018, in Cause No. The account about Pillsbury states that his company fabricated reports that Pillsbury had suffered a heart attack when actually he had shot himself to death. We are not persuaded. Civ. Subscribe to Justia's The court then vacated its judgment and stayed the case pending the resolution of a defamation case then pending in the Texas Supreme Court. For example, the internal sources that Blow said he contacted before publishing the column denied having discussed the matter with him. at 571 ; see also Einhorn v. LaChance, 823 S.W.2d 405, 411 (Tex.App.Houston [1st Dist.] Appellees also assert that the obituary's omission of Paul's suicide shows that it was in fact a deception. But as discussed above, deception implies intent to deceive, and the Tatums raised a genuine fact issue as to whether they had such an intent. Id. We conclude that the Tatums adduced no evidence of this requirement. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 72. West sued for defamation, he lost the case on summary judgment, and the case came before the Utah Supreme Court. As the Tatums urge, the service they bought was Paul's obituary. Calling someone a liar and accusing someone of perjury, as occurred in those cases, both implicate the person's mental state, because both liar and perjury denote the willful telling of an untruth. Agriculture Law Prac. Please call 214-745-8383 or 1-800-925-1500. Government Contracts Accordingly, there is expert evidence supporting the Tatums' theory that Paul suffered a brain injury that made him suicidal. You can explore additional available newsletters here. 16-0098 (Tex. 29, 2013), aff'd, 41 N.E.3d 38, 473 Mass. West successfully ran for mayor of a Utah town. Honesty is the first step. By juxtaposing Paul's story with this discussion, the column invites the reader to associate Paul's suicide with mental illness and the Tatums with those who do not engage in life saving frank discussion and timely intervention. The closing line, Honesty is the first step, also invites the reader to contrast honesty with a dishonest obituary published about Paul's death. The summary judgment evidence conflicts on certain points regarding the newspaper's investigation into Paul's death and the manner in which Blow learned about the immediate cause of Paul's death. We resolved that case, however, without deciding the issue because the placement of the burden there would not have affected the outcome.Although Turner contains a passing remark in dicta that a defamation plaintiff must prove that the publication is not privileged, 38 S.W.3d at 115, it does not cite Denton Publishing Co. or hint that it overrules that case's holding that privilege is an affirmative defense, 460 S.W.2d at 885. The Tatums purchased a space in the Dallas Morning News to publish an obituary for their son. Turner v. KTRK Television, Inc., 38 S.W.3d 103, 119 (Tex.2000). We conclude that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims. Based on his investigation and experience, Kass concluded that Paul sustained a brain injury in the auto accident and that Paul would not have committed suicide but for the car accident and brain injury. Doubtless, the reader can appreciate the extreme grief that overcomes any parent who outlives his or her child. Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. This opinion should not be construed to hold that the column necessarily defamed the Tatums. The Tatums also filed copies of a number of emails bearing on the subject. But because the accusation was an opinion, the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Petitioners.The Tatum filed suit alleging libel and libel per se against Petitioners alleging that the column at issue defamed them. They argue that the column's gist includes an assertion that they falsely ascribed Paul's death to injuries sustained in an automobile accident with the intent to mislead and deceive readers and to cover up his suicide. They also argue that the column contains only nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole in the course of advocating societal change. Prac. 16-0098 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW, PETITIONERS v. JOHN TATUM Injury Law Rhetorical hyperbole is extravagant exaggeration employed for rhetorical effect. Real Estate Law The summary judgment evidence included a copy of the printed version of the newspaper column that prompted this suit. WebTHE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM; from Dallas County; 5th Court of Appeals District (05-14-01017-CV, 493 SW3d Thus, if the column's false gistthat the Tatums wrote Paul's obituary with the intent to deceiveis more damaging to the Tatums' reputations than a true statement would have been, then the gist is not substantially true. We draw this factual recitation from the allegations in the Tatums' live petition: The Tatums were Paul Tatum's parents. Although the column does not expressly make these assertions, roughly the last third of the column discusses the prevalence of suicide (specifically among young people), laments public silence about suicide's frequent cause (mental illness), and concludes, Awareness, frank discussion, timely intervention, treatmentthose are the things that save lives. Rather, we conclude only that it is capable of having that meaning. Whether a publication is capable of a defamatory meaning is initially a question for the court. We sustain the Tatums' first issue. Neely v. Wilson, 418 S.W.3d 52, 59 (Tex.2013). Id. Based on the record before us, we conclude that the Tatums were not limited-purpose public figures. 2023-03-29. About three months later, they filed an amended traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. See Civ. In their second appellate issue, the Tatums contend that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their DTPA claims against DMN. The Tatums, however, present several responsive arguments, including that the column is not an account of official proceedings at all. The Tatums' friend Lee Simpson testified by affidavit that he was contacted by Tomaso about Paul's death and that Tomaso did not ask him whether the Tatum family wanted to be contacted. But a statement couched as an opinion may be actionable if it expressly or implicitly asserts facts that can be objectively verified. Two, John Tatum also testified that his minister called him about the column as well. Civil Procedure As explained above, a false gist is substantially true and nonactionable if it is no more damaging to the plaintiff's reputation than a truthful publication would have been. Gacek v. Owens & Minor Distrib., Inc., 666 F.3d 1142, 114748 (8th Cir.2012) ; Scholz v. Bos. The court then vacated its judgment and stayed the case pending the resolution of a defamation case then pending in the Texas Supreme Court. Thus, there is evidence that Blow did not investigate this column with the same thoroughness that he did for a previous column and that his explanation for the difference was not true. padres scout team 2025; what did william engesser die of; assassin's creed odyssey entrance to A no-evidence summary judgment should be reversed if the evidence is sufficient for reasonable and fair-minded jurors to differ in their conclusions. Prac. Civil Rights Antitrust & Trade Regulation Hyper-attenuated inferential chains stretching over The plaintiff must also prove damages unless the defamatory statements are defamatory per se. WebTatum v. Dallas Morning News, Inc. is a case the Supreme Court of Texas will decide this term, involving two parents who were accused by a columnist at the Dallas Morning News In this libel-by-implication case, a column written by Steve Blow and published by The Dallas Morning News (collectively, Petitioners) was reasonably capable of meaning The column's headline was Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed. (Emphasis added). App. padres scout team 2025; what did william engesser die of; assassin's creed odyssey entrance to the underworld exit. See id. 051400951CV, 475 S.W.3d 470, 47981, 48384, 2015 WL 5156908, at *5, *8 (Tex.App.Dallas Aug. 28, 2015, pet. Legal Ethics 2014, pet. Accordingly, neither a traditional nor a no-evidence summary judgment could properly be granted against the Tatums on the theory that the column was not about them. The Tatums timely responded. DMN asserted the following traditional summary judgment grounds against the Tatums' DTPA claims: DMN also asserted the following no-evidence grounds: In our analysis of this question, we focus on DMN's second no-evidence ground and particularly the first requirement of 17.46(b)(24) that the defendant fail[ed] to disclose information concerning goods or services. Id. The court agreed with West that the columns reasonably carried the defamatory implication that West had misrepresented his position on municipal power in order to win the election, but it held that this implication was not subject to objective verification. The gist also implies that the explanation the Tatums gave for the cause of Paul's death was false and that Paul committed suicide because of remorse rather than because of injuries suffered in the auto accident. The other affidavit is by Dr. Joseph Kass, a medical doctor and neurologist who possesses expertise in neurocognitive disorders such as traumatic brain injuries. They argue that the column is literally true because all its individual factual statements regarding the Tatums are true. We construe an allegedly defamatory publication as a whole in light of the surrounding circumstances and based on how a person of ordinary intelligence would perceive it. See Pickens v. Cordia, 433 S.W.3d 179, 185 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet.) Id. Accordingly, because there is no evidence of a public controversy that could make the Tatums limited-purpose public figures, we conclude that the Tatums are private figures for purposes of this summary judgment appeal. That appeal is also being decided today, John Tatum and Mary Ann Tatum v. Julie Hersh, No. 73.002(b)(1)(B). But the Tatums must prove actual malice to recover exemplary damages if the defamatory statement involved a matter of public concern (as opposed to a public controversy) and appellees are media defendants. Appellees' contrary argument fails on the first prong we referenced abovethe existence of a public controversy for the Tatums to participate in. Joseph D. Sibley IV, Houston, TX, for appellants. Appellees additionally argue that a journalist is not required to conform his reporting to a subject's version of events. These cases are distinguishable because the case before us does not turn on the verifiability of the column's statement about the cause of Paul's suicide. (to cause to believe the false); Deceive, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage (3d ed.2011) (to induce someone to believe in a falsehood); Deceive, The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) (cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage). He reviewed black box recorder data from the Tatums' vehicle that was involved in the accident, reviewed photographs of the vehicle, and interviewed the person who inspected the vehicle after the accident. Class Action WebThey have imagination and don't like planning things in advance. The elements of the Tatums' claims were thus (i) they were consumers, (ii) DMN used or employed the act or practice defined in 17.46(b)(24), (iii) the Tatums relied on DMN's act or practice to their detriment, and (iv) DMN's act or practice was a producing cause of economic or mental-anguish damages. Public Benefits That question remains to be decided by the factfinder. (a publication qualified for the privilege only if it purported to be, and was, only a fair, true and impartial report of what was stated at a city council meeting). 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