Rose v. Indianapolis Newspapers, 11007.

• Decision Date: 21 May 1954
• Docket Number: No. 11007.,11007.
• Citation: 213 F.2d 227
• Parties: ROSE v. INDIANAPOLIS NEWSPAPERS, Inc.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

213 F.2d 227 (1954)

ROSE v. INDIANAPOLIS NEWSPAPERS, Inc.

No. 11007.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

May 21, 1954.

Eugene M. Fife, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ira L. Haymaker, James D. Acher, Haymaker & Acher, Franklin, Ind., for appellant.

Hubert Hickam, Jerry P. Belknap, Raymond W. Gray, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd, Indianapolis, Ind., of counsel, for appellee.

Before MAJOR, Chief Judge, and LINDLEY and SCHNACKENBERG, Circuit Judges.

LINDLEY, Circuit Judge.

In her complaint in the District Court, plaintiff sought to recover damages from defendants, publishers of the Indianapolis Star, on the charge that the newspaper had, in a certain news article, of December 30, 1952, libeled her, in that it had falsely reported that plaintiff did on December 27, 1952, "slay, kill and murder her husband," and that the State Police and United States Camp Atterbury authorities "did suppress" the news of the event for two days. These statements were charged to be defamatory, for the reason, as plaintiff said, that she did not "slay, kill or murder" her husband, and there had been no suppression of news as reported. Plaintiff averred that she had suffered damage to her good name but asserted no claim for special damages.

The article, as set forth in the complaint, bore a headline, "Atterbury G.I. Slain By War Bride," followed by a subheading, "News Kept Concealed Two Days" and this by a further smaller subheading, "Army Suppression, Police Failure to Report Under Probe." Accompanying the publication was a picture of plaintiff, above which appeared the heading, "Bride Quizzed." The article reported that neither the military authorities nor the state police had made any report of the matter, though two days had elapsed and clearly intimated that this failure to make the facts public was suspicious. However, it did not report, and its language is not susceptible of any implication of intention to report, that plaintiff had had anything to do with the alleged suppression of the news.

In so far as plaintiff was concerned, the publication related that plaintiff and her husband, a sergeant, had been entertaining another soldier, Corporal Puckett, and his wife; that Puckett had brought to their trailer, near the U. S. Military Camp where both soldiers were stationed, a .32 caliber revolver which he proposed to sell to Rose; that Mrs. Rose, the plaintiff, examined the pistol, inquired how it worked and asked "if I pull the trigger will it shoot"; that she did pull the trigger, whereupon her husband fell to the floor; that she then screamed "get a doctor" and, becoming hysterical and unable to answer police questions, was taken to Camp Atterbury Hospital and there treated for shock; that a verdict in the coroner's inquest would be withheld, pending further investigation, and that, ostensibly, police and military authorities had asked that no release of the news be made pending outcome of their attempt to determine the detailed facts surrounding the shooting.

In their answer defendants denied that the article was untrue or libelous. They averred that they had reported only the true circumstances, in so far as plaintiff was involved, and had fairly and accurately stated the facts; that the news item contained only fairly reported factual statements; that the coroner's verdict had discharged plaintiff on January 12, 1953 upon a finding that the death of her husband had occurred by reason of "accidental means when shot accidentally by a revolver in the hands of his wife"; that the facts, as stated by plaintiff herself before the coroner, were that, after the gun was brought into the house, it was handed to her; that she had it in her hand only for a second; that she thought it was a "play gun" such as her little brother had wanted and she had looked for in the stores in Indianapolis; that she did not know the gun was loaded and did not know just what had happened. A transcript of her evidence and that of Puckett and his wife were made part of the answer. Mrs. Puckett said that when she and her husband first arrived, plaintiff was in another room fixing her hair; that Sergeant Rose asked her to come into the room and "be introduced" to the callers and that when she entered and was handed the gun she asked if it would shoot and her husband said it would, "if you pull the trigger," and that the next thing the witness knew, the sergeant fell to the floor. Plaintiff did not deny or refute any of the evidentiary facts thus presented by defendants.

In this situation the precise question presented to the trial court was whether, upon motion for summary judgment, the court was justified in entering such a judgment, i. e., whether, upon the face of the record, there remained any substantial question of fact which should have been submitted to a jury.

It appears that the news report was, in its essence, in full accord with what actually happened at the time plaintiff's husband was slain. The undisputed fact is...