Martinez v. Wtvg, Inc., L-07-1269 (4-11-2008)

2008 Ohio 1789
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 11, 2008
DocketNo. L-07-1269.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2008 Ohio 1789 (Martinez v. Wtvg, Inc., L-07-1269 (4-11-2008)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martinez v. Wtvg, Inc., L-07-1269 (4-11-2008), 2008 Ohio 1789 (Ohio Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
{¶ 1} Appellant, Ricardo Martinez, brings this accelerated appeal from a summary judgment issued by the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in a defamation suit. Because we do not find that a genuine issue of material fact exists, we affirm.

{¶ 2} The facts giving rise to this appeal are as follows. Appellee, WTVG-TV Channel 13, regularly broadcasts a nightly news program at 11:00 p.m. called Nightbeat. *Page 2 During the February 24, 2005 edition of Nightbeat ¸ appellee reported the recent grand jury indictments of Misty Davis, Jeffrey Lauharn, and Ricardo Martinez for the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Along with the report, appellee displayed mug shots of all three of the indicted individuals, including a mug shot of Ricardo Martinez. The mug shot that appellee displayed, however, was not that of the recently indicted Ricardo Martinez, but instead was appellant's mug shot. While appellant and the recently indicted Ricardo Martinez share the same name, appellant was not indicted for rape, and appellant had never been indicted for a sexually-related offense.

{¶ 3} Appellee obtained appellant's mug shot from the Lucas County Sheriffs Department following its general practice to obtain mug shots for news reports. On the afternoon of February 24, 2005, appellee's crime beat reporter, Erica Hurtt, informed the station's news director, Brian Tauring, that a grand jury had indicted Misty Davis and Jeffrey Lauharn on two counts of rape and Ricardo Martinez on two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition. The news director then instructed Matt Simansky, the producer of Nightbeat, to include the indictments in the news broadcast that evening, and to obtain mug shots to include with the report.

{¶ 4} The producer delegated this task to the night assignment editor, Jennifer Dugan, who called the Lucas County Sheriffs Department to request the three mug shots. She asked for the mug shots by stating the name of each suspect and by mentioning the rape indictments. The officer interrupted her, stating that he knew the story and that the other stations were asking for the same mug shots. He told her he would have them on *Page 3 the counter to pick up. One of appellee's photographers, Brian Sobolweski, picked up the mug shots, and the mug shots were used in that evening's broadcast.

{¶ 5} One of the mug shots provided by the Lucas County Sheriffs Department was appellant's mug shot. No evidence was presented to the trial court to determine whether the Lucas County Sheriffs Department records of appellant were inaccurate and incorrectly identified appellant as the indicted Ricardo Martinez, or whether the officer that evening simply accessed the records of the wrong Ricardo Martinez to find the mug shot.

{¶ 6} Immediately after seeing the news report, appellant called appellee. Jennifer Dugan, the night assignment editor, took appellant's call. Appellant told the night assignment editor that appellee had displayed the wrong mug shot in connection with the indictment. He demanded that the photo not be used again, and was told that he would be called back. The night assignment editor promptly informed theNightbeat producer, news director, and Diane Larson, managing editor and anchor. The managing editor sent an e-mail to the news director stating that she had been informed that the station had used the mug shot of the wrong Ricardo Martinez, and that they needed to double check to ensure they had the correct mug shot. Appellee did not return appellant's phone call.

{¶ 7} Appellee's "Master Control" department automatically recorded and re-aired the 11:00 p.m. broadcast at 2:30 a.m. the next morning. Thus, appellant's mug shot was once again broadcast in connection with the grand jury indictments. Appellant's mug *Page 4 shot was not used for the 8:00 a.m. news later that morning at the direction of the managing editor.

{¶ 8} Appellant filed a suit against appellee in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, claiming two counts of defamation, one arising from each broadcast of the incorrect mug shot, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Appellee filed an answer, and then filed a motion for summary judgment. In its brief, appellee argued that summary judgment was appropriate for the defamation causes of action because appellee was protected by a privilege in both R.C.2317.05 and the common law. Appellee argued that because the news report was a fair and impartial report of a grand jury proceeding gained from government sources, appellee's claim failed as a matter of law. Appellee further argued that if the underlying defamation claim failed, so too did the tort causes of action.

{¶ 9} Appellant opposed appellee's motion, arguing that appellant was not entitled to the statutory privilege because the news report contained information extraneous to the grand jury proceedings, namely, the mug shot. Appellant also argued that the information was incorrect and therefore should not be protected by the privilege. Last, appellant argued that no common law "neutral reportage" privilege is recognized in Ohio, and thus appellee was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the defamation claims. Further, appellant argued that if the defamation claims still existed, so too should the negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. *Page 5

{¶ 10} The trial court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment, finding that appellee was protected under the "fair report" privilege codified in R.C. 2317.05. The court held that while appellee's news report was incorrect, the report was privileged because appellee gained its information from a government source. Further, appellee did not publish the report maliciously. Therefore, the court concluded, appellee could not be held liable for defamation. The court also held that "derivative tort claims for emotional distress cannot co-exist with a defamation claim."

{¶ 11} Appellant now appeals, setting forth the following assignments of error:

{¶ 12} 1. "The trial court erred in finding a mug shot of plaintiff-appellant added to the grand jury report of an indictment of a different Ricardo Martinez is within the `impartial report' privilege of 2317.05."

{¶ 13} 2. "The trial court erred in not finding a jury question in whether defendant acted maliciously in the twice publication of the plaintiff-appellant's mug shot to incorrectly illustrate an individual charged with child rape."

{¶ 14} 3. "The court below erred in not viewing the facts as nonprivledged [sic] slander and in not applying the standard of proof for non public figure slander of clear and convincing proof of negligence."

{¶ 15} 4. "The court erred in dismissing appellant's intensional [sic] and reckless infliction of emotional distress claim in holding derivative tort claims cannot co-exist with a defamation claim." *Page 6

{¶ 16} On review, appellate courts employ the same standard for summary judgment as trial courts. Lorain Natl. Bank v. SaratogaApts. (1989), 61 Ohio App.3d 127,

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Bluebook (online)
2008 Ohio 1789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martinez-v-wtvg-inc-l-07-1269-4-11-2008-ohioctapp-2008.