Curtis Publishing Company v. Butts

351 F.2d 702 (5th Cir. 1965)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The Saturday Evening Post (D) printed an article accusing Butts (P), the coach of the University of Georgia football team, of conspiring to fix a 1962 Georgia-Alabama game by giving Paul Bryant, the Alabama coach, crucial information about Georgia's offensive strategy. The article revealed that George Burnett, an Atlanta insurance salesman had because of electronic error, overheard a phone conversation between the two coaches. P denied the charges and sued D. Expert witnesses supported P's contention from analysis of the actual game and notes prepared by P relating to the conversation. The evidence also tended to show that D had departed greatly from the standards of good investigation and reporting. The jury was instructed that the truth was a defense only if the libelous statements were substantially true. The jury returned for verdict for P for general damages of $60,000 and punitives that were reduced on remittitur from $3,000,000 to $400,000. The district court granted D's motion for a new trial, conditioned upon the failure of P to remit that portion of the award of punitive damages in excess of $400,000. Approximately six weeks after the final verdict, the Supreme Court then handed down the Sullivan decision and D moved for a new trial. The trial court denied that because P was not a public official and there was ample evidence that the jury could have concluded that the statements were published with reckless disregard for the truth. D filed a Rule 60(b) motion, and that was denied. This appeal resulted.