Kaelin v. Globe Communications Corporation

Kato Kaelin, a houseguest at O.J. Simpson’s estate, testified to the various events surrounding the killing s of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in October of 1995. After Simpson was acquitted of the double murders, Globe Communications Corporation’s weekly newspaper, the “National Examiner”, published an article about Kaelin, claiming “Kato” Kaelin’s friends believed he was still a suspect in the murders. The article continued, stating LAPD cops were working diligently to put Kato behind bars for perjury.

Kaelin demanded a retraction, but it was refused. A libel action against Globe in the superior Court of California was filed by Kaelin, but Globe removed it to federal court on the basis of diversity of citizenship. Globe argued that even if the front page headline could be found defamatory, the article itself could not. Kaelin argued that the headline could be read as the cops believe Kato committed the murders and he fears he is wanted for perjury.

In reality, the cops did not think Kaelin committed the murder and he was not a suspect. Trial court granted Globe summary judgment because Kaelin could not prove that the Globe acted with actual malice. Kato appealed following this decision. The argument Globe made about headlines alone not being capable of being involved in libel action suits in California was unhelpful to Kaelin’s case. He was eventually able to prove the headline was false and defamatory and the evidence provided was enough.

The news editor of the “National Examiner” did acknowledge the headline was not true to the story. This statement alone was enough to show the headline was defamatory and the editors at Globe at had acted in actual malice. Kaelin’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals did in fact rule in his favor. The decision ruled that while stories could be accurate, the headlines could commit libel separately.

Kaelin brought enough evidence to court in the first place. The headline was clearly defamatory and the editors intent could have been nothing else except actual malice. The statement from the news editor, John Garton, clarified the truth that Globe never believed Kaelin was a murder suspect; they were just trying to sell papers. Reversing the district court’s previous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals judged newspapers may not rely on false headlines with defamatory content to sell their papers. Just because the headline sounds interesting and catches the attention of more people does not make it right. Using false information about someone as a headline in order to make more money is not ethical by any means. 

Take a look at this article about "The Man in the Guesthouse", reinforcing Kato's role as a key witness in the trial and nothing more:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20103866,00.html