Torts Keyed to Epstein
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
ProfessorMelissa A. Hale
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The Plaintiff, a reputable attorney, was retained by the Nelson family to bring a civil suit against Richard Nuccio (Nuccio), a policeman who had previously been convicted of second-degree murder for the death of young Nelson. The Defendant published an article entitled “Frame-Up: Richard Nuccio and the War On Police” that purported to show that Nuccio was innocent, that his prosecution was a communist frame-up and that the Plaintiff was an architect of the frame-up. The article also falsely charged that the Plaintiff was a communist and had engaged in communist activities. The editor of the article did not do an independent investigation, but had relied on its author’s extensive research. The Plaintiff filed a libel action and won a jury verdict for $50,000. The court refused to enter judgment on the verdict on the ground that the New York Times standard protects discussion of any public issue without regard to the stature of the person defamed. The decision was affirmed on a ppeal because the Plaintiff failed to show that the Defendant acted with actual malice as defined by New York Times. The Plaintiff appealed.
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Topic Resources
11m 49s