Judge’s Estate May Pursue Damage Claim : Courts: Justices rule that late Calvin Schmidt met requirement for seeking punitive award in libel suit against Register.

The estate of an Orange County judge, now deceased, who had claimed that the Orange County Register libeled him, may seek full damages, the state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

Municipal Judge Calvin Schmidt claimed he was libeled in articles published by the Register in 1988 and 1989. Schmidt’s attorney submitted a written demand for a clarification of an article printed on March 10, 1989.

When no correction was printed, Schmidt sued Freedom Newspapers Inc., which publishes the paper, for damages of at least $200,000 plus punitive damages.

The issue before the court was whether Schmidt was entitled to seek any damages besides his proved financial losses. Under state law, anyone seeking such damages must first demand a retraction from the newspaper’s publisher. Freedom Newspapers argued that Schmidt did not comply with the law because his complaint was addressed to the editor, not the publisher.

A state appeals court ruled against Schmidt but was overturned by the Supreme Court.

Schmidt claimed that the allegation of libel was known to the publisher and that the editor was delegated the authority to respond to the request for a correction.

“These allegations, if proved, are sufficient to establish service of the demand for correction upon the publisher,” said the majority opinion by Justice Ronald George.

Warren Siegel, a lawyer representing Schmidt’s estate, said the ruling will allow him to seek full compensatory and punitive damages. Schmidt died in the fall of 1991.

“Under the statute that was involved, if you don’t give notice to the publisher and state what the error is that you want corrected, then the most the newspaper can be libeled for is special damages” for financial losses, Siegel said.

“It’s a technical ruling, but a significant one because of the libel laws in California,” he said.

Duffern Helsing, a lawyer representing Freedom Newspapers, said he was disappointed in the ruling, “but not surprised.”

Schmidt died in the fall of 1991.