Coleman v. Collins

• Decision Date: 28 May 1980
• Docket Number: No. 77-2542,77-2542
• Citation: 384 So.2d 229
• Parties: William T. COLEMAN, Jr., Paul Chell, Ronald A. Scott, Donald E. Ewing, Philip E. Sherman, Martha Maroska, Peter Maroska and Jane Thompson, Appellants, v. Palmer W. COLLINS, Pierce Wood, et al., Appellees. /NT4-81.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 229

384 So.2d 229

William T. COLEMAN, Jr., Paul Chell, Ronald A. Scott, Donald E. Ewing, Philip E. Sherman, Martha Maroska, Peter Maroska and Jane Thompson, Appellants, v. Palmer W. COLLINS, Pierce Wood, et al., Appellees.

No. 77-2542/NT4-81.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

May 28, 1980.

Rehearing Denied June 30, 1980.

James S. Cheney, Melbourne, for appellants.

Robert T. Westman of Stromire, Westman & Lintz, Cocoa, for appellees.

BERANEK, JOHN R., Associate Judge.

Defendants, William Coleman, Paul Chell, Ronald Scott, Donald Ewing, Martha Maroska, Peter Maroska, and Jane Thompson, appeal from various separate final judgments awarding plaintiff/appellee, Palmer W. Collins, compensatory and punitive damages for defamation and malicious prosecution. Appellants contest, among other things, the sufficiency of the evidence to prove defamation, and the court's instruction to the jury regarding malicious prosecution. We reverse.

In November of 1970, Mr. Collins bought a piece of property on the corner of Bahama Drive and South Patrick Drive in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. Prior to acquiring title, Mr. Collins and his grantor agreed to deed a 20 foot strip of the property to the City of Indian Harbour Beach. The City, however, refused to accept title unless the deed included a reverter clause stating that if the City did not maintain the property as a park, title would revert to Mr. Collins.

On December 1, 1970, Mr. Collins was appointed City Attorney for the City of Indian Harbour Beach, a key factor in this case. He conveyed the 20 foot strip to the City on December 30, 1970, including the required reverter clause in the deed. No problems arose until July 3, 1974, when Mr. Collins announced at a Planning and Zoning Board Meeting attended by the city council that he intended to invoke the reverter clause because the City was not maintaining the property. Approximately ten days later, Peter Chell, an Indian Harbour Beach resident, wrote an "urgent memo" to other Indian Harbour Beach residents alerting them of Mr. Collins' proposed action. The memo stated in pertinent part:

In turn it is now revealed by City Attorney Palmer Collins that he didn't give title to the north property "free and clear" but that he apparently sneakyly (sic) put in a revoking clause in the deed, which might allow him at a future date to regain title to the property.

4. That we question the ethics of the action of the City Attorney in this case and that we question his fitness to continue to hold that office since he has an obvious conflict of interest which he does not appear to be properly handling. (Emphasis supplied.)

Mr. Chell delivered the memo to Martha Maroska, who distributed it to the residents.

On December 2, 1974, two town residents, William Coleman and Ronald Scott, sued Mr. Collins to recover the property. The trial court entered a final judgment in Mr. Collins' favor on March 28, 1975. Philip Sherman, a/k/a Sherman Philips, Jane Thompson and Donald Ewing, via their attorney, Pierce Wood, filed a second suit on March 10, 1975, against Mr. Collins to recover the 20 foot strip, with the court again finding for Mr. Collins. Edward Truex filed a third suit against Mr. Collins on December 19, 1975, this time seeking to enjoin him from acting as City Attorney. Mr. Collins won this suit, also.

Mr. Collins subsequently sued the various people mentioned above for defamation and malicious prosecution. On the malicious prosecution count, the jury awarded Mr. Collins $1000 in punitive damages against Jane Thompson, $1000 in punitive damages against Donald Ewing, $2000 in punitive damages against Edward Truex, and $2500 in compensatory damages against William Coleman, Ronald Scott, Donald Ewing, Edward Truex, Philip Sherman, and Jane Thompson, jointly and severally. On the defamation count, the jury awarded Mr. Collins $10,000 in punitive damages against Martha Maroska, $20,000 in punitive damages against Peter Chell, and $2500 in compensatory damages against Martha Maroska, Peter Maroska, and Paul Chell, jointly and severally.

The facts of this case indicate that plaintiff/appellee was a public official; therefore, the case is governed by New York Times Company v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). Counsel for the plaintiff conceded this before the trial court, and the decision of this Court in Finkel v. Sun Tattler Company, Inc., 348 So.2d 51 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. den., 358 So.2d 135 (Fla.1978), so holds. Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. v. Early, 334 So.2d 50 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976), cert. den. 354 So.2d 351 (Fla.1977), cert. den. 439 U.S. 910, 99 S.Ct. 277, 58 L.Ed.2d 255 (1978), traces the evolution of defamation of public officials and is directly pertinent. As established in the New York Times case, a constitutional privilege regarding public criticism of officials such as the plaintiff exists:

"The constitutional guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice' that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. v. Early, supra, 51, citing New York Times Company v. Sullivan, supra, 376 U.S. at 279-80, 84 S.Ct. at 726.

Early details the elements of the plaintiff's cause of action as follows:

It thus appears that under the present state of the law concerning an action for libel by a public official, the plaintiff has the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the defamatory statement was (1) a statement of fact, (2) which was false, and (3) made with "actual malice" that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. We conclude from our examination of the briefs and those portions of the record to which our attention has been directed, that the plaintiff/appellee did not meet that burden as is illustrated by the following sampling of the various articles of which plaintiff complained. Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. v. Early, supra, 52.

Appellants contend the alleged defamatory publication was not a statement of fact and that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate "actual malice." Appellee counters that the defendants accused him of "sneakily" inserting the reverter clause and that they questioned his ethics. Again, the Ear...