Morrissette v. Cowette
Decision Date | 06 August 1982 |
Docket Number | No. 82-046,82-046 |
Citation | 122 N.H. 731,449 A.2d 1221 |
Parties | George H. MORRISSETTE v. Donald B. COWETTE et al. |
Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Theodore Barnes, Concord, on brief and orally, for plaintiff.
Brown & Nixon P. A., Manchester (David L. Nixon, on brief and Edward Stewart, Jr., on brief and orally, Manchester), on brief and orally, for defendants.
The plaintiff, George Morrissette, contends that the Superior Court (Flynn, J.) erred in dismissing his libel action. We uphold the trial court.
The plaintiff alleges that he was libeled during the summer of 1980, while he was a candidate for the New Hampshire State Senate, when the president of the defendant New Hampshire State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, sent a letter to union members urging them to support the plaintiff's opponent, the incumbent Senator Norman Champagne. In the final two paragraphs of the letter, the defendants stated:
One month after he was defeated in the primary election, the plaintiff brought suit alleging counts in libel, interference with prospective advantage, and violation of the State campaign financing law. The latter two counts were dismissed without objection on the defendants' motion. The superior court also granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment on, and dismissal of, the plaintiff's libel count, ruling that the defendants' letter was not defamatory as a matter of law. The plaintiff appealed to this court.
In reviewing a case involving summary judgment, we must consider the pleadings and affidavits filed in support of the motion to see if they raise a genuine issue of material fact. Nashua Trust Co. v. Weisman, 122 N.H. 397, 445 A.2d 1101 (1982). We must assume all the allegations in the plaintiff's pleadings are true and construe all reasonable inferences in his favor. Kenneth E. Curran, Inc. v. Auclair Transp., Inc., 121 N.H. 451, 454, 431 A.2d 124, 126 (1981). After examining all the material that was before the trial court--affidavits, answers to written interrogatories, and depositions--we conclude that no genuine issue of material fact was raised.
To be libelous, language must be defamatory; that is, "it must tend to lower the plaintiff 'in the esteem of any substantial and respectable group, even though it may be quite a small minority.' " Thomson v. Cash, 119 N.H. 371, 373, 402 A.2d 651, 653 (1979) (quoting W. Prosser, Torts § 111, at 743 (4th ed. 1971)). The threshold question, therefore, is whether the defendants' words were reasonably capable of a defamatory meaning. See Thomson v. Cash, 119 N.H. at 373, 402 A.2d at 653; Jones v. Walsh, 107 N.H. 379, 380, 222 A.2d 830, 831-32 (1966).
The only explicit reference to the plaintiff in the defendants' letter reads:
...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Kassel v. Gannett Co., Inc., 88-1766
..."must be read in the context of the publication taken as a whole." Duchesnaye, 480 A.2d at 125; see also Morrissette v. Cowette, 122 N.H. 731, 449 A.2d 1221, 1222 (1982); Thomson v. Cash, 119 N.H. 371, 402 A.2d 651, 653 (1979). The jury ought to consider "all the circumstances under which t......
-
Automated Transactions, LLC v. Am. Bankers Ass'n
...Words alleged to be defamatory must be read in the context of the publication taken as a whole. 216 A.3d 78 Morrissette v. Cowette, 122 N.H. 731, 733, 449 A.2d 1221 (1982) ; accord Duchesnaye v. Munro Enterprises, Inc., 125 N.H. 244, 249, 480 A.2d 123 (1984). An important criterion for dist......
-
Riblet Tramway Co. v. Ericksen Associates, Inc.
...`in the esteem of any substantial and respectable group, even though it may be quite a small minority.'" Morrissette v. Cowette, 122 N.H. 731, 733, 449 A.2d 1221 (1982) (quoting Thomson v. Cash, 119 N.H. 371, 373, 402 A.2d 651 (1979)). Expressions of opinion are actionable if they reasonabl......
-
Chamberlin v. 101 Realty, Inc.
...plaintiff in the esteem of any substantial and respectable group, even though it may be quite a small minority." Morrissette v. Cowette, 122 N.H. 731, 733, 449 A.2d 1221 (1982), quoting Thomson v. Cash, 119 N.H. 371, 373, 402 A.2d 651 (1979); W. Prosser, Torts § 111 at 743 (4th ed. 1971). A......