Simmons Law Group, P.A. v. Corp. Mgmt., Inc.
| Docket Number: | 2009-IA-00651-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-19-2010 Opinion Author: Graves, P.J. Holding: Reversed and rendered. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Defamation - Vortex public figure - Actual malice - Reckless disregard Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Dickinson, Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens and Chandler, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Pierce, J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-27-2009 Appealed from: Greene County Circuit Court Judge: Kathy King Jackson Disposition: The trial court denied Simmons' motion for summary judgment. Case Number: 2008-03-030(2) |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Simmons Law Group, P. A. and Heber S. Simmons, III |
ALEXANDER FREDERICK GUIDRY, DANNY ALTON DRAKE |
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| Appellee: | Corporate Management, Inc. | JACKYE C. BERTUCCI, JOHN R. REEVES, DARREN E. GRAY | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Defamation - Vortex public figure - Actual malice - Reckless disregard |
| Summary of the Facts: | Corporate Management, Inc. is a private hospital and nursing home administrator that managed the Greene Rural Health Center, the public hospital and nursing home in Greene County. CMI sued Greene County Board of Supervisors and others for breach of contract when the Greene County Board of Supervisors purported to terminate CMI’s contract to manage GRHC. The Greene County Board of Supervisors retained Heber Simmons and Simmons Law Group as defense counsel. Shortly after a motion hearing in the breach-of-contract suit, the Hattiesburg American published an article about the motion hearing, which included an out-of-court statement Mr. Simmons had given. CMI then filed an action against Simmons alleging that Mr. Simmons’ statement published in the Hattiesburg American was defamatory against CMI. Simmons moved for summary judgment which the court denied. The Supreme Court granted an interlocutory appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Any person who becomes involved, voluntarily or involuntarily, in any matter of legitimate public interest – and this certainly includes the method of administration of any program of services financed in whole or in substantial part by public monies – becomes in that context a vortex public figure who is subject to fair comment. When the defendant in a defamation case is a vortex public figure, a person’s ill will or personal spite will not, standing alone, support a finding of actual malice. The evidence must show that the defendant made a false publication with a high degree of awareness of probable falsity, or must have entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication. Evidence of negligence is not sufficient to establish actual malice. At the hearing on Simmons’ motion for summary judgment, CMI admitted it was a “vortex” public figure. Thus, the issue is whether the trial court erred by finding that CMI’s evidence, taken as true, could support a reasonable jury finding that Mr. Simmons acted with actual malice, i.e., with knowledge that the statement was false or made with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. CMI has not presented sufficient evidence to support such a finding. The only evidence that CMI presented in response and opposition to Simmons’ motion for summary judgment was an affidavit from the Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Management, Inc. Even if the statements in the affidavit were to be proven true, that would not prove that Mr. Simmons knew the information upon which he based his statement was false at the time he made the statement nor that he made the statement with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. As Simmons argues, “CMI’s proof, even taken as admissible, probative, and true, only goes to prove that today there might be some small doubt that what Simmons said could possibly be false.” |
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