Nature of the Case
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Facts
RFK was assassinated, and at that time Khawar (P) was a free-lance photographer on assignment. P was photographed near Kennedy by a friend. P did not follow Kennedy into the hall where he was shot. In 1988, Morrow published a book that alleged that the SAVAK and the Mafia carried out the assassination. The book alleged that Ali Ahmand was the trigger man and not Sirhan Sirhan. The book contained four photos of a young man the book identified as Ali standing in the group of people around Kennedy shortly before the assassination. Globe (D) published a 1989 article that the Iranians Killed Bobby for the Mafia. The Globe article included a photo from the Morrow book showing a group of men standing near Kennedy. The picture was enlarged with an arrow pointing to one of the men as Ali. The arrow pointed to P. P, and his father sued D for defamation. Morrow defaulted and the publisher settled with P and Ahmad before the trial. D elected to continue the case. The jury found that the article contained false and defamatory statements about P, that the article was published with negligence and malice and that P was a private figure and that the article was a neutral and accurate report of the Murrow book. P got $100,000 for injury to his reputation, $400,000 for emotional distress, and $175,000 in presumed damages and punitives of $500,000. These were all special verdicts, and the trial judge found that the article was not an accurate and neutral report and that P was a private figure. The court also found that P could not be identified from the photos in the Murrow book and thus vacated the default judgment against him. The court eventually gave judgment to P for $1,175,000. D appealed. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court of California then determined that P was a private figure and then went on to discuss the neutral reportage privilege.
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