JOHN PROZERALIK, RESPONDENT, v. CAPITAL CITIES COMMUNICATIONS, INC.,
APPELLANT.
82 N.Y.2d 466, 626 N.E.2d 34, 605 N.Y.S.2d 218 (1993).
November 23, 1993
4 No. 218 (1993 NY Int. 243)
Decided November 23, 1993
_________________________________________________________________
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Floyd Abrams, for Appellant.
John J. Walsh, for Respondent.
Advance Publications, Inc., et al., amici curiae.
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BELLACOSA, J.:
In this defamation action, the plaintiff public figure won a
multimillion dollar jury verdict against defendant, owner of a radio
and television station. The Appellate Division affirmed the judgment
by a 3-2 vote and defendant appealed as of right. We conclude that the
order should be reversed and a new trial ordered, for the sole reason
that the trial court's instructions to the jury on the falsity issue,
involving particularly the retraction of earlier broadcasts,
impermissibly withdrew from the jury crucial interrelated issues of
credibility and actual malice that are solely the province of the
factfinders.
On May 6, 1982, an abduction and beating occurred in the area serviced
by the defendant's television and radio stations. The next day, a
report of the incident was broadcast during the defendant's noon news
telecast and during the 12:45 p.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. news
segments over defendant's radio station. The news report consisted of
the following statement:
The FBI is investigating a beating and abduction in Cheektowaga
last night. Today, investigators are questioning John Prozeralik,
the owner of John's Flaming Hearth Restaurant, in Niagara Falls,
New York. Prozeralik was either tricked or forced to the Howard
Johnson's in Cheektowaga according to police, where he was beaten
with a baseball bat or pipe, and tied up. Today, the FBI is
investigating the possibility that Prozeralik owed money to
organized crime figures.
SNIPPETS:
JOHN PROZERALIK, RESPONDENT, v. CAPITAL CITIES COMMUNICATIONS, INC.,
In this defamation action, the plaintiff public figure won a multimillion dollar jury verdict
We conclude that the order should be reversed and a new trial ordered, for the sole reason
Today, investigators are questioning John Prozeralik, the owner of John's Flaming Hearth
the FBI is investigating the possibility that Prozeralik owed money to organized crime
plaintiff and his attorneys notified defendant that plaintiff was not the victim in this
The testimony of DiBiasi and the FBI's media coordinator, Agent Thurston, as to what
The evidence at trial also revealed that after plaintiff and his attorneys contacted the
The jury returned a verdict in Prozeralik's favor in the amount of $18 million, which was
On this appeal from the Appellate Division affirmance, the defendant contends that the trial
Defendant demonstrates that the jury instructions impermissibly impinged on the jury's
Under well-established principles of law, a plaintiff in a defamation action "has the burden
It must be established that the "defendant made the false publication with a 'high degree of
On appeal in such cases, courts have "a constitutional duty to 'exercise independent judgment
udges * * * must exercise such review in order to preserve the precious liberties established
Were we not ordering a new trial, we might be bound by a law-of-the-case-unobjected-to
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