TV & VIDEO - June 9, 1987

A California appeals court has upheld a 1983 jury verdict that CBS-TV and its news magazine “60 Minutes” did not slander a doctor who sued for $30 million after a segment narrated by Dan Rather linked him to insurance fraud. Dr. Carl A. Galloway, who prepared his appeal himself without the help of a lawyer, contended that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jack Swink improperly instructed the jury during the four-week trial. The three-justice appeal panel disagreed with Galloway: “In denying appellant’s motion for new trial . . . the trial court stated that it was ‘convinced that both sides had a fair trial and that the verdict of the jury should stand.’ Our review of the record leads us to a similar conclusion,” the justices wrote.