Annerino v. Dell Pub. Co.

• Decision Date: 15 April 1958
• Docket Number: Gen. No. 47180
• Citation: 149 N.E.2d 761,17 Ill.App.2d 205
• Parties: Rose ANNERINO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The DELL PUBLISHING COMPANY, a corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 761

149 N.E.2d 761

17 Ill.App.2d 205

Rose ANNERINO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The DELL PUBLISHING COMPANY, a corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

Gen. No. 47180.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division.

April 15, 1958.

Rehearing Denied May 13, 1958.

Wm. D. Larkin and Frank Kirk, Chicago, for appellant.

Tenney, Sherman, Bentley & Guthrie, Chicago, Thomas J. Kerwin, Chicago, of counsel, for appellee.

LEWE, Justice.

This suit arises from an alleged invasion of the right of privacy of plaintiff, Rose Annerino, through the use of her photograph in a publication of defendant, The Dell Publishing Company.

Defendant filed a motion to strike the complaint, alleging that in reality it was a suit for defamation by libel, and having been filed more than one year after such action accrued, was barred by the statute of limitations, and that, in any event, it failed to state a cause of action because the story in which plaintiff's photograph was used was a newsworthy occurrence. The court sustained the motion to strike the complaint, and the action was dismissed. Plaintiff appeals.

The facts as taken from the pleadings show that in October, 1954, one Gus Amadeo was held for arraignment in the Criminal Courts Building in the City of Chicago. While there, a girl friend of Amadeo smuggled a gun to him in a detention cell. He escaped. Several days later, Charles Annerino, a detective on Chicago's Robbery Detail, while in a tavern on a routine check with another detective, encountered the armed Amadeo. While wrestling with Detective Annerino's partner, Amadeo's gun went off several times, one of these shots fatally wounding Charles Annerino. Again, Amadeo fled.

The ensuing manhunt and eventual killing of Amadeo in a gun duel with Chicago's police received all the publicity warranted by such an event. The role of Charles Annerino was a necessary element of the story. The night he was shot he was rushed to the hospital, where his wife, the plaintiff, came to meet him. While there, plaintiff learned that her husband was dead. In a condition of shock and grief, pictures were taken of her and seemingly her every word was recorded.

Three months after the incident, defendant in one of its magazines, Inside Detective, retold the story in an article, entitled, 'If You Love Me, Slip Me a Gun.' It is the use of her photograph in connection with this story that plaintiff complains is an invasion of her privacy.

Plaintiff alleges that defendant used her photograph in connection with a story in one of its magazines; that prior to the alleged publication, plaintiff had guarded the privacy of her personal life and not sought to exploit her personality, physical condition or condition of bereavement for profit or commercial gain; that defendant for its own profit and gain did appropriate her photograph and exploit her personality; and that her personality was invaded by such use, which invasion disturbed and destroyed her peace of mind and subjected her to the contempt, ridicule and inquisitive motives of the public. Plaintiff further alleges that such use was without her consent or knowledge. The magazine was attached to and made a part of the complaint.

The basic issue is whether the complaint is sufficient to allege an unwarranted invasion of plaintiff's right of privacy.

In the case of Eick v. Perk Dog Food Co., 347 Ill.App. 293, 106 N.E.2d 742, the court recognized for the first time in this State an individual's right to privacy. In describing the nature of the action, the court said at page 299 of 347 Ill.App., at page 745 of 106 N.E.2d,

'Basically, recognition of the right of privacy means that the law will take cognizance of an injury, even though no right of property or contract may be involved and even though the damages resulting are exclusively those of mental anguish. A person may not make an unauthorized appropriation of the personality of another especially his name or likeness, without being liable to him for mental distress * * *.' (Emphasis ours.)

While that case expressly limited application of the rule to a use of the photograph of a person, who was not the subject of newsworthy interest, the court in adopting the broad language of the majority of the states in describing the 'common-law' right, as opposed to an action created by statute, intended to protect the individual from more than use for advertising or trade purposes. The court in Eick v. Perk Dog Food Co., 347 Ill.App. 293, 106 N.E.2d 742, fully intended to protect inviolate the personality of the individual. See also Sarat Lahiri v. Daily Mirror, 162 Misc. 776, 295 N.Y.S. 382, and Cason v. Baskin, 155 Fla. 198, 20 So.2d 243, 168 A.L.R. 430.

Defendant argues that the article is a factual account of the escape of a dangerous criminal, the heroism of a public servant and the eventual vindication of justice and good, and that, therefore, the use of plaintiff's photograph is not actionable. Looking at the story itself, the very nature of the event portrayed in defendant's publication is evidence of its newsworthy value.

It is further conceded that there are many invasions of privacy that the courts have decided are lawful and for which the invaders may not be punished, particularly where the invasions are justified as a proper exercise of freedom of the press. Jones...