No. 132P18-2 TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT SUPREME COURT of NORTH CAROLINA ******************************** BETH DESMOND, ) from Wake

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No. 132P18-2 TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT SUPREME COURT of NORTH CAROLINA ******************************** BETH DESMOND, ) from Wake No. 132P18‐2 TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA ******************************** BETH DESMOND, ) ) Plaintiff‐Appellee, ) ) v. ) From Wake County ) No. COA 18‐411 THE NEWS AND OBSERVER ) PUBLISHING COMPANY and ) MANDY LOCKE, ) ) ) Defendants‐Appellants ) ************************************************** BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ************************************************** ‐ i ‐ INDEX TABLE OF CASES AND AUTHORITIES ............................................... ii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 2 ARGUMENT ............................................................................................ 4 I. Journalists must be able to report on allegations of mistakes, misconduct, or abuse by public officials without fear of unwarranted defamation liability. ............................................. 4 II. This Court should reverse the decision below because the Court of Appeals misinterpreted the law of actual malice. ...... 7 A. The Court of Appeals failed to conduct an independent review of the record as the First Amendment requires. ..... 9 B. The Court of Appeals erred by not requiring Desmond to show that the Newspaper Defendants knew the statements at issue were false or had serious doubts about their truth. ...................................................................................... 13 C. The Court of Appeals erred by not finding as a matter of law that the Newspaper Defendants’ interpretation of source information was a “rational interpretation” of what sources had said. ................................................................... 15 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 17 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE .................................................................. 19 CONTENTS OF APPENDIX ................................................................. 20 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................ A‐1 ‐ ii ‐ TABLE OF CASES AND AUTHORITIES Cases Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc., 466 U.S. 485 (1984) ................................................................................... passim Bowser v. Durham Herald Co., 181 N.C. App. 339, 638 S.E.2d 614, (2007).................................................................................................... 11 Desmond v. News & Observer Publ’g Co., __ N.C. App. __, 823 S.E.2d 412 (2018) .................................................................................... passim Doe v. Doe, __ N.C. App. __, 823 S.E.2d 583 (2018) ............................. 12 Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64 (1964) ............................................. 17 Gertz v. Welch, 418 U.S. 323 (1974) ......................................................... 9 Greenbelt Coop Publ’g Ass’n v. Bresler, 398 U.S. 6 (1970) .................... 17 Griffin v. Holden, 180 N.C. App. 129, 636 S.E.2d 298 (2006) ................ 17 Herbert v. Oklahoma Christian Coalition, 1990 OK 90, 992 P.2d 322 (1999) ................................................................................................... 14 Johnson v. Southwestern Newspapers Corp., 855 S.W.2d 182 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993) ............................................................................................ 19 Lancaster v. Daily Banner‐News Publishing Co., 274 Ark. 145, 622 S.W.2d 671 (1981) ................................................................................ 18 Lewis v. Rapp, 220 N.C.App. 299, 725 S.E.2d 597 (2012) ..................... 20 McCoy v. Hearst Corp., 42 Cal.3d 835, 727 P.2d 711, 715 (1986) ........... 15 N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) ......................... 3, 4, 9, 10 Profitt v. Greensboro News & Record, Inc., 91 N.C. App. 218, 371 S.E.2d 292 (1988) ............................................................................................ 19 Reuber v. Food Chemical News, Inc., 925 F.2d 703 (4th Cir. 1991) ....... 18 Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957) ............................................. 4 Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (1966) .............................................. 5 ‐ iii ‐ Snyder v. Phelps, 580 F.3d 206 (4th Cir. 2009) .................................... 15 Time, Inc. v. Pape, 401 U.S. 279 (1971) .............................................. 11, 20 Varner v. Bryan, 113 N.C. App 697, 440 S.E.2d 295 (1994) ................... 17 Other Authorities Ben Railton, Considering History: Walter Cronkite, David Halberstam, and Two Legacies of Adversarial Journalism, Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 27, 2018, http://perma.cc/Y4BA‐RGVM ........... 16 Bruce W. Sanford, Libel and Privacy § 1.3 (2006) ............................. 11, 12 Christopher Zoukis, Presidential Commission Criticizes Some Forensic Methods, Huffington Post (Oct. 3, 2016), https://perma.cc/7YKK‐C5BD ............................................................ 9 David Grann, Trial by Fire, The New Yorker (Aug. 31, 2009), https://perma.cc/K3HL‐VC2V ............................................................ 6 Jon Schuppe, Epic Drug Lab Scandal Results in More Than 20,000 Convictions Dropped, NBC News (Apr. 18, 2017), https://perma.cc/3AEL‐N3H8 ............................................................ 6 Pamela Colloff, Blood‐Spatter Expert in Joe Bryan Case Says “My Conclusions Were Wrong”, ProPublica (Sept. 17, 2018), https://perma.cc/ZDP6‐FTAX ............................................................ 7 Ryan Gabrielson, The FBI Says Its Photo Analysis Is Scientific Evidence. Scientists Disagree., ProPublica (Jan. 17, 2019), https://perma.cc/6J35‐3HFQ .......................................................... 7, 8 Spencer S. Hsu, Convicted defendants left uninformed of forensic flaws found by Justice Dept., Wash. Post (Apr. 16, 2012), https://perma.cc/SJZ8‐NVGX ............................................................ 5 Spencer S. Hsu, FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades, Wash. Post (Apr. 18, 2015), https://perma.cc/GSE9‐WBF7 ......................... 5 Spencer S. Hsu, Forensic techniques are subject to human bias, lack standards, panel found, Wash. Post (Apr. 17, 2012), https://perma.cc/Y83P‐5AGH ............................................................ 8 ‐ iv ‐ Ten Years of “Independent Appellate Review” in Defamation Cases from Bose to Connaughton to the Present, Libel Defense Resource Center Bulletin, Apr. 30, 1994, at 1, 10 ............................................... 12 Tigran W. Eldred, Amplifying Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union: The Proper Scope of De Novo Appellate Review in Public Person Defamation Cases, 47 Fordham L. Rev. 579 (1989) ........................... 11 Rules N.C. R. App. P. 28(i)(2) ............................................................................ 1 Constitutional Provisions Const. amend. I ....................................................................................... 4 ‐ 1 ‐ No. 132P18‐2 SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA ******************************** BETH DESMOND, ) ) Plaintiff‐Appellee, ) ) v. ) From North Carolina Court of ) Appeals THE NEWS AND OBSERVER ) COA No. 18‐411 PUBLISHING COMPANY and ) MANDY LOCKE, ) ) ) Defendants‐Appellants ) ************************************************** BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ************************************************** The amici listed below, through their counsel and pursuant to Rule 28(i) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure and their accompanying Motion for Leave to File Brief of Amici Curiae, hereby submit this brief in support of The News & Observer Publishing Company and Mandy Locke (collectively, the “Newspaper Defendants”).1 Amici are the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, ABC, Inc., American Society of News Editors, The Associated Press, Associated Press Media Editors, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC, Capitol 1 No person or entity—other than amici curiae, their members, or their counsel— directly or indirectly wrote this brief or contributed money for its preparation. N.C. R. App. P. 28(i)(2). ‐ 2 ‐ Broadcasting Co., CBS Broadcasting Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., GateHouse Media, LLC, Knight Science Journalism Program, The Media Institute, Media Law Resource Center, MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing, National Press Club Journalism Institute, National Press Photographers Association, The New York Times Company, North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, North Carolina Press Association, Online News Association, The Pilot, POLITICO LLC, Radio Television Digital News Association, Reporters Without Borders, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., Society of Professional Journalists, Tribune Media Company, Undark Magazine, The Washington Post, and WBTV, LLC. A full description of amici’s respective interests in this case are set forth in the accompanying Motion for Leave to File Brief of Amici Curiae. INTRODUCTION At issue in this case is the proper application of the constitutional “actual malice” standard. This case arises out of an award‐winning investigative series published by the Newspaper Defendants that delved into the work of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (“SBI”) and, more specifically, into alleged analytical and testimonial errors by plaintiff Desmond, a forensic firearms examiner employed by the SBI Crime Lab. Forensic science often plays a central role in modern‐era criminal cases. Accordingly, reporting about forensic science, including potential errors or
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