Gertrude E. Cruxton v. Thomas H. Taylor

• Decision Date: 01 April 1982
• Docket Number: 82-LW-2187,43953
• Parties: Gertrude E. Cruxton PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. Thomas H. Taylor, Jr. DEFENDANT-APPELLEE.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

Gertrude E. Cruxton PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. Thomas H. Taylor, Jr. DEFENDANT-APPELLEE.

No. 43953.

82-LW-2187 (8th)

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District Cuyahoga

April 1, 1982

APPEAL FROM COMMON PLEAS COURT No. 013,801.

For plaintiff-appellant: Howard S. Stern.

For defendant-appellee: Charles B. Zellmer.

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

PRYATEL C.J.

This cause came on to be heard upon the pleadings and the transcript of the evidence and the record in the Common Pleas Court, and was argued by counsel for the parties; and upon consideration, the court finds no error prejudicial to the appellant and therefore the judgment of the Common Pleas Court is affirmed. Each assignment of error was reviewed and upon review the following disposition made:

Plaintiff, Gertrude Cruxton, instituted this libel action against defendant, Thomas H. Taylor, Jr., in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on June 12, 1980. Plaintiff pertinently alleged that from 1976 through 1979 she was a duly elected qualified and acting council member of the Village of Moreland Hills and that during this period of public service she had executed her civic duties in a diligent, effective and competent manner. Defendant (who according to the complaint is personally acquainted with the plaintiff)®1¯ in the past has circulated written materials concerning plaintiff's discharge of her public duties which were allegedly designed to malign her in this capacity. Specifically, plaintiff charged that in March of 1980 defendant wrote a letter to the Editor of the Chagrin Valley Herald requesting that it be published (which it was in the April 3, 1980 edition). In this letter defendant purportedly falsely and maliciously "casted doubts upon plaintiff's reputation as a public servant, and responsibility as a public servant as well as the validity and regard with which her opinion on Village matters is held."®2¯ Plaintiff sought damages in the amount of $25,000.00,®3¯ publication of a statement by defendant admitting the falsity of the statements contained in the cited letter and a public apology from defendant.

Footnote 1 However, in discovery proceedings, both parties admitted that although aware of one another, they had never been formally or actually acquainted.

Footnote 2 In this respect, plaintiff also averred that defendant acted intentionally to "politically injure, disgrace, discredit and defame plaintiff's personal reputation."

Footnote 3 In subsequent interrogatories, plaintiff described these damages as "have become inhibited, I am reluctant to join in any civic public activity in my Village where I was previously highly regarded by my neighbors and other residents. I also had to engage an attorney to correct the record and clear my name." and that in support of her demand for $25,000, plaintiff intended to rely at trial on the cost of litigation, attorney fees and damage to her former reputation.

In his answer, defendant admitted that he wrote a letter to the Editor of the Chagrin Valley Herald Sun, in March, 1980 (which was completely and accurately reproduced in the paper), but denied the remaining allegations countering that "any and all remarks about plaintiff published by defendant are true." Subsequent discovery by way of interrogatories filed by both parties revealed the following. Plaintiff, who was aged 69 at the commencement of these proceedings, is married and has been a resident of the Village of Moreland Hills for the past 27 years.®4¯ Plaintiff has held the offices of Precinct Committeeman from 1972 through 1979 and Moreland Hills Village Councilman from 1976 through 1979 at which time elections were held and plaintiff lost her office. In March of 1980, plaintiff was running for the office of Precinct Committeeman against one "Feeley." Plaintiff's claim of defamation herein rests on two publications. The first of these is a "fact sheet" which defendant, then president®5¯ of the Moreland Hills Civic League, helped distribute®6¯ in October of 1979 and which reads (in pertinent part) as follows:

Footnote 4 Defendant, on the other hand, has been a bona fide resident of Moreland Hills since 1974 and was aged 45 at the inception of these proceedings.

Footnote 5 The current president of the organization is one William Gall.

Footnote 6 The answers to interrogatories propounded to defendant further reveal that Leslie Illes, a "local councilman" and Charles Mellen prepared this "fact sheet." These two named individuals also circulated this sheet together with a newspaper endorsement of certain listed candidates for mayor and council. The distribution was done by car.

PRE-ELECTION FACT SHEET

The Moreland Hills Civic Committee feels that the voters should know certain documented facts about the candidates seeking election this year.

GEORGE L. KEETER

GERTRUDE CRUXTON

Refused to accept Council committee chairmanship or committee membership for one year of her four years on Council.

As chairman of ad hoc committee, she held no meetings.

Does not hold regular meetings of Town Hall Committee of which she is now chairman.

Her Town Hall Committee maintenance improvements have resulted in cost overruns and repeated problems due to poor workmanship.

Monitors local Police radio channels at home. Do you want your private problems in her personal record file?

Presented her own hastily prepared and confusing legal opinion on legislation, then refused to give Village Law Director and Council copies for review.

Accompanied George Keeter on walkout of special Council meeting.

Uses derogatory terms when referring to local business establishments.

Publicly belittles petitioners at Council and Planning Commission meetings.

Note: Those of you who received a letter from the Cuyahoga County Republican Party should know that these endorsements were made by Carol Salerno, Republican Ward leader and her assistant - both Keeter-Cruxton supporters - not by the County Republican Party.

Moreland Hills Civic Committee T. Taylor - Chairman

In later discovery proceedings, plaintiff admitted that all but the last paragraph (referred to in the Note ) in this publication was true.

The second allegedly libelous publication is a letter to the editor submitted by defendant which was printed in the Chagrin Valley Sun Herald on April 3, 1980. This letter states:

To the editor.

The Moreland Hills Village Council voied on March 12 to place a tax increase on the ballot in the upcoming primary election. I was unable to attend the merting when the issue was considered, and read with much interest your article describing that particular council meeting.

I concluded from your article that 25 residents appeared at the meeting In opposition to the tax increase and that the village council ignored this groundswell of opposition and voted for the tax increase.

On questioning my local councliman about ?? issue, learned that only one of the residents in attendance opposed the tax increase. This one resident was Certrude Cruxton who was soundly defected last fall in her quest to return to council.

1. therefore, criticize your misrepresenting the facts and giving undue attention to the opinion of a citizen whose opinions are obviously not highly regarded in the connunity. We now have a council which acts responsibly and treats the concerns of the village with reason and objectivity. This message should be conveyed by your paper.

T.H. Taylor Jr. Moreland Hills

Editor's note: The story on page one March 20 correctly reported the opposition of the 25 residents who attended the meeting at which the levy was placed on the ballet. The story also quoted a senior citizen, who said that she and most of the others had attended the meeting after receiving a "Taxpayers' Newsletter." They obviously were not ?? to lend support to the new tax request.

Plaintiff claimed that she was not the person who spoke at the cited meeting of March 12th, and that defendant could have easily verified that fact "if he had any regard for the truth or my reputation in the community." Plaintiff further claimed that defendant's "perverse evil motives and malice" were apparent from the face of the letter. However, plaintiff also admitted that "plaintiff has no evidence, and knows of no evidence to support a claim that defendant knew at or before the time of publication and/or distribution of said letter (or fact sheet) that any portion of the contents of said letter (or fact sheet) was false."

As support for his allegations of the "truth" of his comments, defendant cited a newspaper article published by the Chagrin Valley Sun Herald on March 20, 1980, in which the March 12th Moreland Hills Council meeting was debated. Specifically, the article discussed the "2.2 mill levy officials were expected to place on the June 3rd ballot." This article referred to plaintiff in these terms.

"But former councilman Gertrude Cruxton told the Herald Sun she didn't feel the village needed the additional funds. 'There was $60,000 left in the general fund when (former mayor George) Keeter left office,' she claimed. 'Besides, why don't they raise the city income tax the other quarter percent permitted to a full 1 percent? That would bring in a lot of money without hurting the people who are living on fixed incomes.' Mrs. Cruxton also disputed Peckinpaugh's levy cost figure of $15.75. She contends the cost will be much higher."

However, plaintiff denied making these statements. Defendant, on the other hand, claimed that the statement in the third paragraph of his letter that "only one of the residents in attendance opposed the tax issue" was obtained from a local councilman named Leslie Illes who attended the meeting. The remaining statements in the letter (and hence the inference that plaintiff was the one person)...