Pittsburgh Courier Pub. Co. v. Lubore, 11315.
| Decision Date | 20 November 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 11315.,11315. |
| Citation | 200 F.2d 355 |
| Parties | PITTSBURGH COURIER PUB. CO., Inc. v. LUBORE. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
George E. C. Hayes, Washington, D. C., with whom James A. Cobb, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellant. Julian R. Dugas, Washington, D. C., also entered an appearance in behalf of appellant.
Before EDGERTON, PROCTOR, and FAHY, Circuit Judges.
The defendant newspaper appeals from a judgment for the plaintiff in a libel suit.
There is no dispute about the facts. Appellee was and is a District of Columbia police detective of good repute. Under a headline "Claims Cop Took $1,225" appellant published a news story that included these statements: The court found that "The charge made by Roxie Henry reported in said article was an oral statement made to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and was reduced to affidavit form by an Assistant United States Attorney, a copy of which affidavit was given to a representative of the defendant newspaper by Curtis P. Mitchell, attorney for the said Roxie Henry." The court also found that the appellant did not publish the item "with express malice or in reckless or careless indifference to the rights and feelings of the plaintiff."
Appellant's news story showed that Roxie Henry had accused appellee of theft. One who repeats another's defamatory story is legally responsible unless the story is true or the repetition privileged. Appellant did not plead, or attempt to prove, that there was a particle of truth in Roxie Henry's charge. Appellant claims that its report of the charge was privileged, like a report of judicial proceedings. But as we said in Washington Times Co. v. Bonner, 66 App.D.C. 280, 284, 86 F.2d 836, 840, "By the weight of authority the qualified privilege to publish reports of judicial proceedings does not arise until there has been official action by the magistrate or court * * *." The public needs to know what goes on in court but does not need to know that A has...
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