Piper v. Mize
| Decision Date | 10 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. M2002-00626-COA-R3-CV.,M2002-00626-COA-R3-CV. |
| Parties | DONITA PIPER, ET AL. v. CURTIS MIZE. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, No. 50000474 John H. Gasaway, III, Judge.
Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed.
Rodger N. Bowman, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Donita Piper and Lori Turner.
Christopher J. Pittman, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Curtis Mize.
WILLIAM B. CAIN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which BEN H. CANTRELL, P.J., M.S., and STELLA HARGROVE, SP. J., joined.
Plaintiffs in this case are citizens of Montgomery County. Defendants, Paul Avallone, Wayne Gill, Curtis Mize and Yvonne Van Der Touw are also citizens of Montgomery County who, in varying degrees, were alleged to be involved in the printing and distribution of a newspaper known as The Rattler. Defendant Avallone was the sole writer, publisher and editor of each issue of The Rattler. Defendant Mize is a businessman who allowed copies of the October 5, 2000 edition of The Rattler to be placed on the counter at his place of business for free distribution. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant Mize and finalized the judgment as to Mize under Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure 54.02. Plaintiffs appeal, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
At the time of the events involved in this defamation suit, Johnny Piper was Mayor of the City of Clarksville, Tennessee. Plaintiff/Appellant, Donita Piper, was his wife. Plaintiff/Appellant, Lori Turner, was a former candidate for Mayor of Clarksville and was the Grants Writer for the City of Clarksville.
On or about February 1, 2000, a person or persons not enamored with the merits of the Piper administration began distribution of an underground newspaper called The Rattler. Referring to itself as a "slander sheet" this publication proclaimed itself to be "the first in venomous gossip." To say that the various issues of The Rattler were uncomplimentary of Mayor Piper, his wife Donita Piper and Grants Writer Lori Turner would be a most charitable understatement. This appeal, however, does not provide a proper forum for a full adjudication of the issues between those who wrote, edited and published the various issues of The Rattler on the one hand, and Plaintiffs, Donita Piper and Lori Turner, on the other. The record shows that Defendant/Appellee Curtis Mize neither wrote, edited nor published any issue of The Rattler, but such was the handiwork of Defendant Paul Avallone. The issues drawn between Plaintiffs on one hand and Paul Avallone and the other Defendants on the other remain before the trial court. Pursuant to the finality designation entered by the trial court under Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure 54.02, only the Curtis Mize case is before this Court, and only such acts as the record shows to be attributable to Defendant Mize are at issue in this appeal.
While the Complaint filed in this case is extensive and does not distinguish the relative degrees of alleged culpability of Defendants, the record before the Court establishes that the participation of Defendant Curtis Mize in The Rattler saga is limited to his action in allowing a single edition of The Rattler, to wit, the October 5, 2000 edition, to be placed on the counter at his place of business, along with other free publications, for his customers to take if they so chose.
The meat of the October 5, 2000 issue of The Rattler, as it relates to this case, is an article entitled "Sex Scandals Still Rock City Hall." Under this eye catcher is said, "Loud mouths and gossips had a field day earlier in the year when rumors of Mayor Piper's infidelity with his grants gal, the vivacious and every spunky Ms. Lori Turner, spread like a Montana wildfire through the nooks and crannies of this otherwise quiet mini-metropolis on the Cumberland River." The article continues with a recitation that, "as the story goes," the Mayor's wife, Donita Piper, catching him in the act with Ms. Turner the previous January, "clobbered him with a nine iron."1
Curtis Mize answered the Complaint with general denials and, after discovery, filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. The trial court granted the Motion holding:
On November 15, 2001, the defendant, Curtis Mize, filed a motion for summary judgment. In support of his motion, the defendant simultaneously filed a memorandum of law, a statement of undisputed material facts and ten (10) exhibits consisting of publications, correspondence, portions of depositions, requests for admissions and an affidavit by the defendant. On December 18, 2001, the plaintiffs filed a brief in response to the defendant's motion. On December 18, 2001, the defendant filed his reply to the plaintiffs' brief.
The Court has considered all of the above, deems the facts asserted by the defendant to be undisputed, and finds that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and further finds that the defendant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
Plaintiffs timely appealed.
In granting the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant Curtis Mize, the trial court had before it undisputed facts establishing:
1. Paul Avallone, is the sole writer, publisher and editor of each issue of the newspaper known at (sic) "The Rattler" except the October 10, 2000 alleged edition of "The Rattler" which was not written, published, or distributed by Avallone.
2. Paul Avallone talked to no one about his planned newspaper before he began publishing "The Rattler."
3. Paul Avallone, alone, distributed the various issues of "The Rattler."
4. Paul Avallone printed and distributed thousands of copies [of] various issues of "The Rattler."
5. No one except Yvonne Van Der Touw knew prior to Paul Avallone's deposition in this lawsuit that Paul Avallone was the writer, publisher, and editor of "The Rattler."
6. Curtis Mize did not print any issue of "The Rattler."
7. Curtis Mize did not write any story found in any issue of "The Rattler."
8. Curtis Mize did not take any pictures used in any issue of "The Rattler."
9. Curtis Mize did not pay any printing costs of any issue of "The Rattler."
10. Curtis Mize did not tell Paul Avallone to publish any issue of "The Rattler."
11. Curtis Mize did not give Paul Avallone any story idea to use in any issue of "The Rattler."
12. Neither of the plaintiffs ever requested, either orally or in writing, that Curtis Mize retract any of the statements contained in any edition of "The Rattler."
13. The plaintiffs' complaint specifically asserts that the February 1, 2000, October 5, 2000 and October 10, 2000 editions of "The Rattler" contain defamatory statements concerning the plaintiffs.
14. Among the "stories" contained in the February 1, 2000 edition of "The Rattler" are stories asserting the following: that the Republican National Convention would be held in Clarksville in 2004 and that an additional 18,673 parking spaces had been located in downtown Clarksville.
15. Among the "stories" contained in the October 5, 2000 edition of "The Rattler" are stories asserting the following: that God announced that one local politician was going to win an upcoming election; and that Mayor Johnny Piper's head exploded on television during the taping of a program.
16. Paul Avallone did not write, publish or distribute any copies of the document purporting to be the October 10, 2000 edition of "The Rattler."
17. Curtis Mize did not write, publish or distribute any copies of the documents purporting to be the October 10, 2000 edition of "The Rattler."
18. The plaintiffs cannot identify any harm suffered by them due to the actions of Curtis Mize.
19. There were rumors in the community of Clarksville, Tennessee, before February 1, 2000, that Mayor Johnny Piper had allegedly had an affair and that the plaintiff, Donita Piper, caught her husband in such an affair and hit him with a golf club.
20. Plaintiff Lori Turner is a former candidate for Mayor of the City of Clarksville.
21. Plaintiff Lori Turner has been the subject of numerous articles in both the "Our City" newspaper and "The Leaf-Chronicle" newspaper.
22. Plaintiff Lori Turner has been the featured speaker at various civic groups in the past 7 years.
23. Plaintiff Lori Turner has hosted a local radio talk show.
24. Plaintiff Donita Piper is married to the Mayor of Clarksville, Tennessee.
25. Plaintiff Donita Piper has traveled out of the state and country as the spouse of the Mayor of Clarksville, Tennessee.
26. Plaintiff Donita Piper has written stories and has been a guest commentator for "The Leaf-Chronicle" newspaper.
27. Curtis Mize did not distribute any copies of the February 1, 2000 edition of "The Rattler."
28. Paul Avallone anonymously left several copies of the October 5, 200[0] edition of "The Rattler" at the front door of Curtis Mize's business before Curtis Mize arrived at work one day in early October 2000.
29. Along with the October 5, 2000 edition of "The Rattler," Curtis Mize also has allowed other free publications, such as "Our City" to be placed on his counter at work for customers to take if they choose.2
Certain near universal rules of law form a backdrop for our consideration. The law of defamation consists of the twin torts of libel and slander. Lara v. Thomas, 512 N.W.2d 777 (Iowa 1994); Batt v. Globe Engineering Co., 774 P.2d 371 (Kan. Ct. App. 1989). "It is reputation which is defamed, reputation which is injured, and reputation which is protected by the law of defamation." 50 Am.Jur.2nd Libel and Slander § 2; see also Gobin v. Globe Publ'g Co., 649 P.2d 1239 (Kan. 1982).
As regards a private person, ...
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