CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN JOSE : Bid to Reinstate Libel Award Fails
A state appeals court has refused to reinstate a former San Jose city councilman’s $1-million libel award against the San Jose Mercury News, saying articles about his financial dealings were not deliberately or recklessly false. A series of articles in 1984 about Claude Fletcher “contained some factual errors” and “clearly was not a model of objective reporting” but did not meet constitutional standards for libel suits by a public official, the 6th District Court of Appeal ruled. The ruling upheld a decision by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Frank Cliff to throw out a jury’s verdict of $1 million in damages for Fletcher.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.