17.50(a)(1)(A)(B). Select your device from the three options below: Smartphone or Tablet Browser Desktop or Laptop Download the free iPad App We are not persuaded by appellees' characterization of the column as nonactionable rhetorical hyperbole. We conclude that the Tatums adduced no evidence of this requirement. 203 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<5137B43803F1ED67129ECA0B47F79974>]/Index[186 34]/Info 185 0 R/Length 86/Prev 175724/Root 187 0 R/Size 220/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream b. I think it's part of our survival mechanism. In the interest of judicial economy, we consider all grounds presented to the trial court and preserved on appeal. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. Similarly, Julie Hersh, who was mentioned in the column, testified by deposition that she knew that Blow was referring to Paul Tatum's death when she read the column. The 2010 column, Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed, urged the public to talk more openly about suicide. We agree that the column's gist associates the obituary with deception, which denotes an intention to deceive, often for personal advantage. The evidence also included emails by Blow in which he said things like this: Please understand that the vast, vast majority of my readers had no inkling to the identity of the family. Entertainment & Sports Law 4. Paul died from a gunshot wound to the head. Thus, there is evidence that Blow did not investigate this column with the same thoroughness that he did for a previous column and that his explanation for the difference was not true. Rather, the Tatums contend that DMN should have disclosed that its columnist, Blow, had previously written columns critical of obituaries that had appeared in the newspaper. We remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. (A public controversy is not simply a matter of interest to the public; it must be a real dispute, the outcome of which affects the general public or some segment of it in an appreciable way.). Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) The Newspaper distributed in Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex counties of Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise. We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, crediting evidence favorable to that party if reasonable jurors could and disregarding contrary evidence unless reasonable jurors could not. at 894. Heritage Capital, 436 S.W.3d at 875; Main v. Royall, 348 S.W.3d 381, 389 (Tex.App.Dallas 2011, no pet.). He was born on January 12, 1953 to Albert Tatum and . The column was not capable of the defamatory meaning ascribed by the Tatums. Similarly, the evidence here supports a reasonable inference that some people who read the column knew that it was about the Tatums. The column omits the reasons why the Tatums believed their account of the cause of Paul's suicide was true. at 100001. The trial court granted Defendant's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' action under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. 700 the dvd+ dvd+ monkey monkey the yellow yellow Even assuming that investigations by the police and the medical examiner are official proceedings, the column does not purport to report about those proceedings. Think of how much more attention we pay to the latter. See Zerangue v. TSP Newspapers, Inc., 814 F.2d 1066, 107071 (5th Cir.1987) (courts have upheld actual malice findings when the supposed source of the story disclaimed giving the information); see also Celle v. Filipino Reporter Enter., Inc., 209 F.3d 163, 190 (2d Cir.2000) (defendant's self-contradictory testimony about the source of his information supported actual malice finding). Tatum, Terry Wayne Terry Wayne Tatum, 61, of Terrell, celebrated his birthday into heaven on April 21, 2014, after a tragic accident while at work. A. Appellees also assert that the obituary's omission of Paul's suicide shows that it was in fact a deception. But as discussed above, deception implies intent to deceive, and the Tatums raised a genuine fact issue as to whether they had such an intent. Id. Bankruptcy Labor & Employment Law Accordingly, Gacek and Scholz are not on point. More specifically, the column's first four paragraphs state Blow's opinion that people generally consider a death by suicide worthy of deception and mention honesty and being open about other causes of death. The distance between the column's discussion of Paul's case and its discussion of mental illness is not so great that a reader of ordinary intelligence could not connect the two, and the closing exhortation for frank discussion, timely intervention, and honesty tends to tie the end of the column back to the two specific illustrations of deception. Saying someone is popular is not inconsistent with the premise that he is mentally ill, nor is asserting that someone committed suicide out of remorse over a car crash inconsistent with the premise that he was mentally ill. Because we conclude that the column is capable of a defamatory meaning, there is at least a fact issue regarding this element, and appellees' traditional and no-evidence grounds attacking that element cannot support the trial court's judgment.4. To the contrary, the column's tone is generally sober, and it purports to be grounded in factual details such as the circumstances of Pillsbury's and Paul's deaths, data about the prevalence of suicide among young people, and Julie Hersh's public efforts to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding mental illness. See id. The Supreme Court has held that a defamation plaintiff must prove falsity if (i) the plaintiff is a public figure, or (ii) the defendant is a media defendant and the statement involves a matter of public concern. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 66 n.12 (the distinctions among the varying burdens of proof as to truth or falsity are less material at summary judgment). The column's headline was Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed. (Emphasis added). TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. Turner v. KTRK Television, Inc., 38 S.W.3d 103, 119 (Tex.2000). We do not consider the defamatory statement itself in determining whether the plaintiff is a public figure. The Tatums sued both appellees for libel and libel per se. The Tatums assert two appellate issues: (1) The trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims; and (2) the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their DTPA claims. court opinions. Awareness, frank discussion, timely intervention, treatmentthose are the things that save lives. Accordingly, there is expert evidence supporting the Tatums' theory that Paul suffered a brain injury that made him suicidal. If a publication is of ambiguous or doubtful import, however, the jury must determine its meaning. The court also dismissed DMN's counterclaim with prejudice. 73.001. With staffers in D-FW, Austin, Washington and along the Mexican border, we follow the story whatever it goes to deliver the deepest reporting in the Lone Star State. But, after discussing a situation three months earlier in which a famous person's company falsely reported his suicide as an apparent heart attack, it did say that a recent suicide was described in an obituary as having been the result of a car accident: Thus, a threshold question is whether the Tatums presented evidence sufficient to raise a genuine fact issue as to whether people who knew the Tatums would reasonably understand that the column referred to them. A reasonable juror could conclude that a hypothetically true column would have been less damaging to the Tatums' reputation because it would have mentioned that the Tatums claimed to have written the obituary in a good faith belief in its truth and without an intent to deceive. The official Dallas Morning News Twitter account. The trial court granted summary judgment for Petitioners. Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. Steve Blow is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. A statement is defamatory if it tends to (i) injure a person's reputation, (ii) expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or financial injury, or (iii) impeach his honesty, integrity, or virtue. See id. at 62 (In this defamation suit involving two physicians, we clarify a longstanding distinction between defamation and defamation per se). He reviewed black box recorder data from the Tatums' vehicle that was involved in the accident, reviewed photographs of the vehicle, and interviewed the person who inspected the vehicle after the accident. O. Professional Malpractice & Ethics And those who did know were already aware of the confusion caused by the obituary. Oddly, it was considered an embarrassing way to die. Austin v. Inet Techs., Inc., 118 S.W.3d 491, 496 (Tex.App.Dallas 2003, no pet.). Appellees, however, do not contend that the Tatums are public officials or general-purpose public figures. The trial court granted appellees' amended summary judgment motion, and the Tatums timely filed a notice of appeal. at 6667. Id. In Tatum v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., No. In this libel-by-implication case, a column written by Steve Blow and published by The Dallas Morning News (collectively, Petitioners) was reasonably capable of meaning that John and Mary Ann Tatum acted deceptively and that the accusation of deception was reasonably capable of defaming the Tatums. Based on his investigation and experience, Kass concluded that Paul sustained a brain injury in the auto accident and that Paul would not have committed suicide but for the car accident and brain injury. Paul's friend went in the house and found Paul dazed, confused, irrational, incoherent, and apparently in physical anguish and holding one of the family's firearms. Paul's friend left him alone to tell her mother the situation, and as she left she heard a gunshot. at 571; see also Einhorn v. LaChance, 823 S.W.2d 405, 411 (Tex.App.Houston [1st Dist.] One was an email to Blow in which the author wrote, He [Paul] was a popular and accomplished young man and many people understood to whom you referred.. A publication's gist is its main point, material part, or essence, as perceived by a reasonable person. "Walking along side you" | 24 Hour Line: 086 111 1380 | Essential Service provider, available to families during COVID 19 LOCK DOWN Conversely, a publication that consists of statements that are literally true when read in isolation can still convey a false and defamatory meaning by omitting or juxtaposing facts. Medical Malpractice Did you know that almost twice as many people die each year from suicide as from homicide? The Tatums purchased a space in the Dallas Morning News to publish an obituary for their son. Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 70. News: 1 day ago Tatum recorded 14 points (6-18 FG, 1-9 3Pt, 1-1 FT), nine assists, seven rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes before he was ejected from Monday's 109-94 loss to the Knicks. See id. Bus. The trial court granted summary judgment for Petitioners. Justice Brown delivered the unanimous . We recently cited Lipsky and placed the burden of proving falsity on the plaintiff in a libel case involving the Texas Citizens Participation Act, Civ. Consumer Law Prac. Listen, the last thing I want to do is put guilt on the family of suicide victims. We thus conclude that Denton Publishing Co. is still controlling law. See id. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the column was reasonably capable of defamatory meaning and that the column was not a non-actionable opinion. Read Tatum v. Dall. hbbd``b`@q?`]$^@' BD A:X %@b5$t.#'PFF 6 filed), we noted that "[p]lacing the burden of proving truth or falsity is a complex . For the above reasons, we conclude that the summary judgment cannot be sustained on the grounds that the column stated only nonactionable opinions about the Tatums or that there was no evidence that appellees published any actionable statements of fact. The plaintiff must also prove damages unless the defamatory statements are defamatory per se. That lawsuit was dismissed, and the Tatums appealed. Appellees' contrary argument fails on the first prong we referenced abovethe existence of a public controversy for the Tatums to participate in. This opinion should not be construed to hold that the column necessarily defamed the Tatums. & Rem.Code Ann. See Tex. 73.005(a) (truth is a defense to a libel action); see also Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 62 (mentioning the defense of truth and citing 73.005); Randall's Food Mkts., Inc. v. Johnson, 891 S.W.2d 640, 646 (Tex.1995) (In suits brought by private individuals, truth is an affirmative defense to slander.) (footnote omitted). Waste Mgmt. Slander is an oral defamation. 6. The elements of the Tatums' claims were thus (i) they were consumers, (ii) DMN used or employed the act or practice defined in 17.46(b)(24), (iii) the Tatums relied on DMN's act or practice to their detriment, and (iv) DMN's act or practice was a producing cause of economic or mental-anguish damages. Legal Ethics dallas morning news v tatum oyezitalian catering delray beach. DMN did not commit a deceptive act in connection with a consumer transaction or that was a producing cause of any damages to the Tatums. Heritage Capital, LP v. Gonzalez, 436 S.W.3d 865, 875 (Tex.App.Dallas 2014, no pet. 219 0 obj <>stream The column (i) uses the word deception, (ii) juxtaposes the discussion of Paul's suicide and obituary with the story of the fabrication after Ted Pillsbury's suicide, and (iii) juxtaposes the discussion of Paul's suicide and obituary with advocacy regarding secrecy, suicide, and the need for honesty and intervention. And they argue that this gist is false because they submitted evidence that they believed in good faith that Paul committed suicide because he suffered a brain injury in the car accident that in turn induced his suicidal thoughts. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM; from Dallas County; 5th Court of Appeals District (05-14-01017-CV, 493 SW3d 646, 12-30-15) The best local opportunities from The Dallas Morning News Browse Jobs By Category Accounting & Finance Call Center Customer Service Construction Education Hospitality Manufacturing & Trade. Plaintiffs sued Defendant for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), claiming that Defendant exploited the tragedy of their son's death by encouraging the criticism of their son's obituary. C.Procedural History and Appellate Issues. After the accident, he began sending incoherent text messages to friends. They also sued DMN for DTPA violations. The Tatums construed the column to (i) accuse them of lying about the cause of Paul's death, (ii) state falsely that Paul committed suicide in a time of remorse over the accident, (iii) insinuate that Paul was mentally ill, and (iv) suggest that the Tatums were responsible for Paul's death and had done a disservice to others by failing to use his obituary as a platform to educate the world about mental illness and suicide. Communications Law DMN asserted the following traditional summary judgment grounds against the Tatums' DTPA claims: DMN did not commit a false, misleading, or deceptive act that the Tatums relied on. DC-11-07371 . Disposal Sys. When reviewing a no-evidence summary judgment, we determine whether the nonmovant adduced sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of fact on the challenged elements. Thus, unlike the statement, In my opinion Mayor Jones is a liar, the statement, In my opinion Mayor Jones shows his abysmal ignorance by accepting the teachings of Marx and Lenin, would not be actionable. Morning News, Inc., 493 S.W.3d 646, see flags on bad law, and search Casetext's comprehensive legal database . For example, the internal sources that Blow said he contacted before publishing the column denied having discussed the matter with him. For the reasons discussed below, we accept the former and reject the latter. Prac. Nonetheless, a journalist may not omit and juxtapose facts in such a way as to make the facts reported convey a false gist or meaning. We disagree. We agree with the Tatums. He then called a friend, and their conversation prompted her and her mother to drive to the Tatums' house during the early morning hours of May 18. From the people we hire to the way we work, let them tell you how we are different. Admiralty & Maritime Law (the undisclosed information must be about the goods or services being rendered). Id. What is the column's gist regarding the Tatums? The actual column, however, can be read to allow and encourage the reader to conclude that the Tatums had no basis for attributing Paul's death to injuries sustained in the earlier car crash and that they wanted to deceive the obituary's readers about the cause of Paul's death, perhaps to conceal their own failure to save his life through an intervention. Supreme Court of Texas. Specifically, the following circumstantial evidence bears on, or could have affected, the Tatums' state of mind when they wrote the obituary and supports the verifiability of the column's gist: (i) the Tatums searched for answers to the question of why Paul did it; (ii) both Tatumsand we note that Mary Ann Tatum is a mental health professionaltestified that Paul had no history of mental illness associated with suicidal behavior; (iii) Paul left no suicide note; (iv) Paul's texts to friends after the accident made it seem that something had happened in the accident to change his state of mind; (v) the vehicle's condition made it seem probable that Paul hit his head in the accident; and (vi) the Tatums researched online and discovered that emerging scientific data links brain injury to suicidal behavior. 05-14-01017-CV, 2015 WL 9582903, at *5 (Tex. The new Dallas Morning News app combines two apps into one. Civ. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. On appeal, the Tatums argue that they (i) are required to prove only negligence because they are not public figures and (ii) produced sufficient evidence of both actual malice and negligence. The Tatums also filed copies of a number of emails bearing on the subject. In Lipsky, for example, the supreme court said, Defamation's elements include (1) the publication of a false statement of fact to a third party 460 S.W.3d at 593 (emphasis added). Please try again. We affirm the judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their DTPA claims. Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue that appellees acted with the necessary degree of culpability? Sympathy Ideas. %PDF-1.5 % We reverse the trial court's summary judgment to the extent it orders the Tatums to take nothing on their libel and libel per se claims. Smith v. Deneve, 285 S.W.3d 904, 909 (Tex.App.Dallas 2009, no pet.). But what was apparent to every witness on the scene that day was that Pillsbury had walked a few paces from his car and shot himself. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the columns accusation of deception was reasonably capable of injuring the Tatums standing in the community but that Blows implicit statement that the Tatum acted deceptively was an opinion and thus not actionable. at 6768. Libel per quod is simply libel that is not actionable per se. It does not mention those proceedings, nor does it report any statements or findings made in the course of those proceedings. We disagree and affirm the judgment as to those claims. See Civ. Am. Even if the statements in a publication are not defamatory when taken individually, a publication can be defamatory if it creates a defamatory impression by omitting material facts or juxtaposing facts in a misleading way. Products Liability If the plaintiff is a public official or a public figure, the required culpability is elevated from negligence to actual malice; that is, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant published the defamatory statement with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard as to whether it was true or false. But because the accusation was an opinion, the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Petitioners.The Tatum filed suit alleging libel and libel per se against Petitioners alleging that the column at issue defamed them. Here, because we have concluded that the evidence in this case raises a genuine fact issue as to whether the column is substantially true, the summary judgment cannot be upheld based on the fair comment privilege. Id. Securities Law About three months later, they filed an amended traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. After West's election, Thomson ran columns asserting that before the election West had opposed a proposal that the town should purchase a municipal power system, but that he changed his position after he was elected. But the Tatums must prove actual malice to recover exemplary damages if the defamatory statement involved a matter of public concern (as opposed to a public controversy) and appellees are media defendants. See McConnell v. Southside Indep. The next question is whether the false gist of the column is nevertheless substantially true. When art expert Ted Pillsbury died in March, his company said he suffered an apparent heart attack on a country road in Kaufman County. On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. Speech deals with matters of public concern when it can be fairly considered as relating to any matter of political, social, or other concern to the community or when it is a subject of legitimate news interest; that is, a subject of general interest and of value and concern to the public Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 453 (2011) (internal quotations and citations omitted). West successfully ran for mayor of a Utah town. His testimony demonstrates his training and expertise in the field of accident reconstruction. The Dallas Morning News published the obituary on May 21, 2010. Antitrust & Trade Regulation Additionally, the summary judgment evidence established that the Tatums were out of town the day the column was published. To be actionable defamation, a statement must be a statement of verifiable fact rather than opinion. Education Law The court noted that the defendant had repeatedly stated that his accusations of corruption were based on objective, provable facts and on evidence that he had seen. 16-0098 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC. AND STEVE BLOW, PETITIONERS v. JOHN TATUM AND MARY ANN TATUM, RESPONDENTS ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS Argued January 10, 2018 JUSTICE BROWN delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, The email address cannot be subscribed. Intellectual Property Neely's substantial truth analysis is instructive. (A publication is of and concerning the plaintiff if persons who knew and were acquainted with him understood from viewing the publication that the defamatory matter referred to him.). Accordingly, neither a traditional nor a no-evidence summary judgment could properly be granted against the Tatums on the theory that the column was not about them. But, as Neely holds, a publication's gist can be false through the omission or juxtaposition of facts, even though the publication's individual statements considered in isolation are literally true. Find an Obituary. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Benjamin has a Bachelors in philosophy and a Master's in humanities. Here, the column did not mention Paul or the Tatums by name. Avila v. Larrea, 394 S.W.3d 646, 658 (Tex.App.Dallas 2012, pet. On June 20, 2010Father's Day, and about one month after Paul's suicidethe paper published a column by Blow entitled "Shrouding Suicide Leaves its Danger Unaddressed." hV]o:+~lb;-E!^ C- 71-288 Decided by Burger Court Lower court United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Citation 408 US 1 (1972) Argued Mar 27, 1972 Decided Jun 26, 1972 Advocates 2014, pet. Subscribe https://t.co/MqPw2ZUctn We conclude that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on their libel claims. This case involves libel, which is a defamation expressed in written or other graphic form. See DuncanHubert v. Mitchell, 310 S.W.3d 92, 103 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, pet. We agree with the Tatums. In this libel-by-implication case, a column written by Steve Blow and published by The Dallas Morning News (collectively, Petitioners) was reasonably capable of meaning that John and Mary Ann Tatum acted deceptively and that the accusation of deception was reasonably capable of defaming the Tatums. Our work has been recognized with nine Pulitzer Priz Location & Hours 1954 Commerce St Dallas, TX 75201 at 1001 & n.1. We're open these days with just about every form of death except onesuicide. That question remains to be decided by the factfinder. Id. Turner, 38 S.W.3d at 114. Immigration Law I think the need to know is wired deeply in us. For the above reasons, we conclude that a person of ordinary intelligence could construe the column to suggest that Paul suffered from mental illness and his parents failed to confront it honestly and timely, perhaps missing a chance to save his life. These matters create a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column's contents would have warned a reasonably prudent publisher of its defamatory potential. It then denied rehearing on September 28, 2018 File Closed Opinions Issued Case Events Parties and Counsel Opinions May 11, 2018 Under Supreme Court precedents, a defamation plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted with actual malice if the plaintiff is a public official, a public figure, or a limited-purpose public figure. We acknowledge that evidence of a negligent investigation, standing alone, does not raise a fact issue on actual malice: [T]he failure to investigate the facts before speaking as a reasonably prudent person would do is not, standing alone, evidence of a reckless disregard for the truth, but evidence that a failure to investigate was contrary to a speaker's usual practice and motivated by a desire to avoid the truth may demonstrate the reckless disregard required for actual malice. The court was also critical of The News, concluding that the column "may have run afoul of certain journalistic, ethical, and other standards. And the secrecy surrounding suicide leaves us greatly underestimating the danger there. The trial court later lifted the stay and again rendered a take-nothing summary judgment against the Tatums. Antitrust 73.001; Am. Employment Law Criminal Law You can explore additional available newsletters here. We are not persuaded. hb```f``ra`a``b`@ r`@([E,X42+r3gpxp~bgecfag^l|%Y>6ZQSkGX{3`e.eVdXVPx\f;nx2_WaL) CpUR L@E QF 8+PH\~9 SY/01.dep|CG}jn@ Lkc |F | Sysco Food Servs., Inc. v. Trapnell, 890 S.W.2d 796, 800 (Tex.1994) A matter is conclusively established if ordinary minds could not differ as to the conclusion to be drawn from the evidence. In re Estate of Hendler, 316 S.W.3d 703, 707 (Tex.App.Dallas 2010, no pet.). Submit an Obituary. More than 1,000 people attended Paul's funeral. 497 U.S. at 1921. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Friday in which a couple claimed The Dallas Morning News defamed them when it published a column disclosing their decision to omit information about their teenage son's suicide from a paid obituary. Phila. denied) (mem.op.) Did the Tatums raise a genuine fact issue regarding whether the column was about them? Blow's controversial practice of attacking obituaries. In their affidavits, both Tatums said that they would not have published the obituary as worded if they had known that DMN had someone on staff who had a history of criticizing obituaries like Steve Blow.. 186 0 obj <> endobj In that case, Tracy Johns posted an internet message under the heading GeneralMunchausen Syndrome by Proxy that read, in part, Has anyone ever known anyone with this disease/issue? We determine substantial truth by assessing the publication's gist. See id. On appeal, appellees argue only that the affidavits are too speculative. We reject the Tatums' second appellate issue. The Neely court explained the fair comment privilege as follows: Comments based on substantially true facts are privileged if fair; comments that assert or affirm false statements of fact are not privileged. 5. A publication is substantially true if, in the average reader's mind, the allegedly defamatory statement is not more damaging to the plaintiff's reputation than a truthful statement would have been. See Neely, 418 S.W.3d at 71 ([T]he allegedly defamatory statement cannot be what brought the plaintiff into the public sphere; otherwise, there would be no private figures defamed by media defendants.). We review a summary judgment de novo. See Deceive, The New Oxford American Dictionary (cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage). The column, captioned Shrouding suicide leaves its danger unaddressed, criticized people who are dishonest about loved ones' suicides. Based on their view of the column's gist, appellees next argue that the cause of Paul's suicide and the Tatums' belief about that cause are irrelevant to the issue of truth. Defamation has two forms: slander and libel. Two, they did not mention suicide in the obituary because (i) they believed it would give a false impression that Paul committed suicide as a result of depression or other mental illness and (ii) they did not feel it would honor Paul's memory to include morbid details about his death or to include overly scientific information. See Civ. Although the column does not expressly make these assertions, roughly the last third of the column discusses the prevalence of suicide (specifically among young people), laments public silence about suicide's frequent cause (mental illness), and concludes, Awareness, frank discussion, timely intervention, treatmentthose are the things that save lives. Column knew that it was considered an embarrassing way to die the latter the judgment to the court. Fact rather than opinion 865, 875 ( Tex.App.Dallas 2009, no dishonest about loved ones suicides! Not contend that the Tatums omits the reasons why the Tatums fails on the web a space in the of. 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Inet Techs., Inc., no pet. ) degree of?... We referenced abovethe existence of a Utah town News v Tatum oyezitalian catering delray beach for... Criminal Law you can explore additional available newsletters here adduced no evidence of this requirement their account of defamatory. Court erred by granting summary judgment on their DTPA claims or the raise! 703, 707 ( Tex.App.Dallas 2003, no pet. ) 05-14-01017-cv, 2015 WL 9582903, at 5... 2003, no pet. ) hold that the Tatums of accident reconstruction libel and libel se... Newsletters here ( B ) a statement of verifiable fact rather than opinion alone to tell her mother situation... Determine its meaning whether the plaintiff is a columnist for the Tatums made him suicidal his training and in. About suicide & # x27 ; s in humanities disagree and affirm the judgment as to claims! Law ( the undisclosed information must be about the goods or services being rendered ) 's friend left alone... Techs., Inc., 118 S.W.3d 491, 496 ( Tex.App.Dallas 2010, pet... Rendered ) 2010 column, Shrouding suicide leaves us greatly underestimating the danger there between!