California IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Top Grower Loses Judgment Appeal

J. G. Boswell Co., California’s biggest farming enterprise, lost an appeal in the 5th District State Court of Appeal of an $11.1-million judgment for malicious prosecution of three Kern County farmers. Boswell filed a libel suit over ads that growers Ken Wegis, Jack Thomson and his son, Jeff, ran in local newspapers during a bitter campaign over the Peripheral Canal. The ads criticized the company for opposing the canal and providing financing to help defeat it in 1982. The Kern County growers, awarded a summary judgment on the libel action, then countersued on grounds that Boswell abused the legal system by using libel law to stifle political opponents. Each of the three farmers was awarded $200,000 real damages and $3.5 million punitive damages after a trial.