Tschirgi v. Lander Wyoming State Journal, 84-218
Decision Date | 03 October 1985 |
Docket Number | No. 84-218,84-218 |
Parties | 12 Media L. Rep. 1182 Arnold B. TSCHIRGI, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. LANDER WYOMING STATE JOURNAL, Appellee (Defendant). |
Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Arnold B. Tschirgi, Lander, pro se.
Charles G. Kepler of Simpson & Kepler, Cody, for appellee.
Before THOMAS, C.J., and ROSE, ROONEY, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.
Appellant sought to recover damages resulting from the publication of alleged defamatory material by the Wyoming State Journal, a newspaper published at Lander, Wyoming. This appeal is from a summary judgment in favor of the Wyoming State Journal. We affirm.
The issue presented for our determination, as stated by appellant, is:
"When a county official acting as a private citizen (appellant) is stopped in another county for an alleged minor traffic violation and (1) passively declines to sign the citation and requests an opportunity to post bond, but (2) is threatened with several days in jail without an opportunity to post bond unless he signs the ticket, and (3) is then physically assaulted and arrested by the officers involved, but (4) remains passive and is not wrestled to the ground, can a newspaper (appellee) approximately nine months later publish that an opposing political candidate and the highway patrolman said that appellant 'was wrestled to the ground by a Rawlins highway patrolman' without [being liable] therfor * * *?"
Appellant was seeking election to a fourth term as county and prosecuting attorney for Fremont County, Wyoming. From August 12, 1982 through August 23, 1982, the Wyoming State Journal printed four articles concerning an incident which had occurred nine months earlier in which appellant had been arrested for a traffic violation. Appellant contends that portions of the articles published August 19, 1982 and August 23, 1982, were libelous in that they stated he was "wrestled to the ground" at the time of his arrest.
Reno Livestock Corporation v. Sun Oil Company (Delaware), Wyo., 638 P.2d 147, 150 (1981). See also, Roth v. First Security Bank of Rock Springs, Wyoming, Wyo., 684 P.2d 93, (1984), and Blackmore v. Davis Oil Company, Wyo., 671 P.2d 334 (1983).
Appellant contends he was not "wrestled to the ground." It is undisputed that he was "wrestled against his car." Viewing the record in a light most favorable to appellant, we will, for purposes of considering the propriety of summary judgment, accept as true his contention that he was not wrestled to the ground, accepting also the undisputed fact that he was wrestled against his car.
The newspaper contends that the news stories published on August 19 and 23, to which appellant objects, were substantially true; that in any event appellant was a public official (county and prosecuting attorney for Fremont County, Wyoming at the time) and as such it must appear that the articles were published with malice or reckless disregard of whether they were true or not, and that the contrary appears from the uncontroverted facts before the court. Since we will find that the articles as published were substantially true, it is unnecessary for us to decide issues concerning appellant being a public official and whether there was malice, or reckless disregard in publication.
The portions of the news stories complained of are:
News Story of August 19, 1982.
Appellant conceded in his deposition that, except for the statement that he was wrestled to the ground, the statements of the officers as published by the newspaper were not libelous. With respect to the use of the word "wrestling," appellant stated:
Evidence before the trial court in support of the motions of the parties for summary judgment was in the form of depositions. Patrolman Vantine, in his deposition, reaffirmed the correctness of the Wyoming State Journal's publication of his version of the incident stating:
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