Corso v. NYP Holdings, Inc., 2007 NY Slip Op 32729(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 8/30/2007)
| Citation | 2007 NY Slip Op 32729 |
| Decision Date | 30 August 2007 |
| Docket Number | Motion Seq. No. 003.,0109820/2005. |
| Parties | KRYS CORSO and MICHAEL CHODKOWSKI, Plaintiffs, v. NYP HOLDINGS, INC., MURRAY WEISS, JOHN DOYLE, and JOHN DOES 1-5, Defendants. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (New York) |
In this action, plaintiffs Krys Corso and Michael Chodkowski seek to recover compensatory and punitive damages against defendants NYP Holdings, Inc., the publisher of the New York Post, its Criminal Justice Editor, Murray Weiss and a reporter, John Doyle for libel (first cause of action), libel per se (second cause of action), negligent infliction of emotional distress (third cause of action), intentional infliction of emotional distress (fourth cause of action) and negligence (fifth cause of action), based on false and defamatory statements allegedly made about plaintiffs in an article which was printed in the New York Post on July 20, 2004.
The "Exclusive" article, written by defendant Weiss along with defendant Doyle and others, reported on plaintiffs' arrest following an alleged incident at the BLVD nightclub, under the headline NIGHT CLUB RAPE Waitress' Ordeal at new hot spot
The article read, in relevant part, as follows:
A cocktail waitress at one of Manhattan's hottest new nightspots was viciously raped by two men in a backstage VIP lounge after allegedly being drugged, The Post has learned.
A security guard at BLVD grabbed one suspect — a 6-foot-2, 225-pound man — after he and his accomplice allegedly attacked a helpless server and left her naked and unconscious in a private room.
The man was identified as Michael Chodkowski, 36, a Hicksville, L.I. contractor, who sources say has three prior arrests — one for grand larceny and two for driving under the influence, one in Nassau County, the other in Florida.
The other suspect was identified as Krys Corso, 39, of Park Ridge, N.J.
* * *
Police say the 23-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed victim was raped in a private lounge reserved exclusively for artists and musicians who perform there and friends of the owners and managers, sources say.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney, the woman, who is married, was initially pinned down by the men and sexually mauled as she tried to push them "away while saying, `No.'"
She then fell "unconscious" and was raped by Corso as "Chodkowski held the door to the room closed," the complaint says.
A fourth unidentified person was in the room during the attacks before Chodkowski allegedly ordered the witness "to leave."
* * * Both suspects were charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse.
The suspects were arraigned at 1 a.m. yesterday morning and released on bail. They are due back in court Thursday. Their lawyer, Nicholas Massimo, denied the allegations.
In September 2005, plaintiffs were acquitted, after trial, of the charges.
Plaintiffs' Complaint in this action alleges that
72. Defendants' reporting of the arrests of plaintiffs Corso and Chodkowski present a mixture of statements intended to make plaintiffs the objects of ridicule and to bring them public and personal humiliation. The large number of factual errors, incorrect speculations, innuendo, and out-and-out false statements contained in said publication indicate that defendants and those who republished defendants' statements failed to investigate the facts prior to publishing, and shows a reckless disregard or concern for the truth of said statements.
* * *
74. The above-mentioned statements were published and republished maliciously with the specific intent to harm the plaintiffs, by virtue of the defendants having adopted, espoused and speculated upon the allegations against plaintiffs, and with the specific intent of portraying such allegations to readers in the light least favorable to plaintiffs, and least consistent with a presumption of their innocence.
* * *
77. By virtue of the above-referenced conduct of said defendants, defendants, individually and collectively, acted in a grossly irresponsible manner without due consideration for the standards of information gathering and dissemination ordinarily followed by responsible parties.
Defendants now move for an order pursuant to CPLR §§ 3211(a) (7) and/or 3211(c) and/or 3212(b) dismissing the Complaint in the above-captioned action in its entirety, together with costs.
The motion is granted without opposition to the extent of dismissing the third, fourth and fifth causes of action.
Defendants argue that plaintiffs' first and second causes of action for libel and libel per se must also be dismissed on the grounds that: (i) the article is a fair and true report of a judicial proceeding and therefore absolutely privileged pursuant to Civil Rights Law § 74; (ii) the complained — of article is substantially true; and (iii) the defendants were not grossly irresponsible in publishing the article.
Whenever a libel action is brought against a newspaper, the courts are called upon to strike a balance between the individual's right to protect his good name and the guarantees of the First Amendment which safeguard the people's right to an active, thriving and untrammeled press, an indispensable component of any free and democratic society (citation omitted).
Gurda v, Orange County Publications Division of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., 81 A.D.2d 120, 130 (2nd Dep't 1981), opinion dissenting in part, concurring in part, adopted by the Court of Appeals, 56 N.Y.2d 705 (1982).
"Among the most significant functions served by the First Amendment is to protect the right of free access to information concerning the workings of our public institutions." Gurda, supra, at 131.
In recognition of the importance of this purpose, the State has enacted Civil Rights Law § 74 which provides, in relevant part, as follows:
A civil action cannot be maintained against any person, firm or corporation, for the publication of a fair and true report of any judicial proceeding, legislative proceeding or other official proceeding, or for any heading of the report which is a fair and true headnote of the statement published.
"For a report to be characterized as `fair and true' within the meaning of the statute, thus immunizing its publisher from a civil suit sounding in libel, it is enough that the substance of the article be substantially accurate." Holy Spirit Assoc. for the Unification of World Christianity v. New York Times Co., 49 N.Y.2d 63, 67 (1979). See also, Misek-Falkoff v. American Lawyer Media, Inc., 300 A.D.2d 215 (1st Dep't 2002), lv. to app. den., 100 N.Y.2d 508 (2003), ...
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