Wynn v. Associated Press
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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant's defamation claim against The Associated Press and one of its reporters (collectively, Respondents), holding that a news article reporting on the contents of a citizen's complaint to the police that was neither investigated nor evaluated by the police is not a report of an official action or proceeding for which the fair report privilege provides an absolute defense.
Respondents published a news article reporting on a 2018 citizen's complaint to the police, in which the complainant alleged that Appellant sexually assaulted her in the early 1970s. Police did not investigate the allegations for statute of limitations reasons. In his complaint, Appellant asserted that the complainant's accusations against him were false and that Respondents published the article with malice. The district court concluded that the fair report privilege protected Respondents from defamation liability because their article reported on a public record, namely documentation of a citizen's complaint to the police alleged that a crime occurred. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the complaint did not constitute an official action or proceeding as contemplated by the fair report privilege.
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