Defense verdict in WLOX Defamation Trial
A Harrison County jury returned a defense verdict Wednesday in the defamation trial against WLOX television station:
A jury on Wednesday found that WLOX did not defame a homebuilding company in an “Action Report” in 2006.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated less than two hours before reaching its verdict.
Here is the Sun-Herald article on the verdict. The case stemmed from the station's report on a dispute between a home owner and a building contractor. The plaintiffs asked for $1 million in damages. Here is an earlier post on the trial. The Sun-Herald article continues:
In closing arguments, WLOX attorney Henry Laird told the jury, “They’re blaming WLOX for what Fairley said. The right to free speech is not a one-way street. This is also about the right for you to know and the right for WLOX to report the news.”
Tupelo attorney Jim Waide, representing the Hudsons with Jackson attorney Chuck McRae, said he thought the jury ruled for WLOX “because the TV station is held in high regard in Harrison County.”
In other words, Waide is saying the jury was biased. I wasn't there, but I find that hard to believe. I grew up on the Coast. In my experience people were fairly ambivalent about WLOX, which has to compete with New Orleans and Mobile stations for viewership of the local news shows. I suspect that the jury was fair and the plaintiffs just didn't prove their case.
This verdict is known because the Sun-Herald covered the trial. You never hear about most defense verdicts because defense lawyer's clients don't want the publicity and plaintiff lawyers aren't going to advertise a losing effort. Plaintiff lawyers, on the other hand, sometimes alert the press after a big win. That's why you see more plaintiff verdict stories in the papers.
