Section 7A trial. Financial adviser Peter Mahommed gets one out of 15 imputations up against Channel Seven’s Today Tonight – the only imputation almost conceded by Seven’s counsel Kieran Smark ... more
Year: 2005
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions v Brown
Supreme Court judge takes a swipe at the media for “interfering with the proper administration of justice”. Nevertheless, he grants Karen Brown, the security guard charged with murder, access to the “tainted” money she was paid by The Daily Telegraph and Channel Seven ... more
Channel Seven Perth Pty Ltd v “S” (a company)
Application by Channel 7 Perth under the Surveillance Devices Act refused by Supreme Court. Broadcast of secretly taped footage about employee sacking might “have a chilling effect on private speech” ... more
Michael Megna & Russell Lloyd v David Marshall & Richard Tory
Section 7A trial. Defendants denied publication of “political scandal sheets” attacking the mayor and general manager of a local council. Jury disbelieves the denials and finds that all 90 imputations pleaded from 17 circulars arose and are defamatory. Success for Molomby SC ... more
Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia v Chibo
Justice Nicholas awards $175,000 to the defamed head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Bishop Zaia. David Chibo, publisher of the offending article, is nowhere to be seen … more
Tucker v Echo Publications Pty Ltd
Unexpected verdict and damages of $125,000 awarded to plaintiff in case concerning allegations of poor treatment of an employee. Acting judge rejects all evidence put by Byron Bay newspaper … more
John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Pat O’Shane
Court of Appeal shaves $45,000 from original Pat O’Shane verdict of $220,000. O’Shane lost 50 percent of her imputations on appeal yet the reassessed damages arising from the Janet Albrechtsen article are only reduced by 20 percent … more
Australian Broadcasting Corporation v Hodgkinson
Elaborate discussion in the NSW Court of Appeal over whether a contextual imporation using the phrahse “fit and proper” could be pleaded. Defamation action against the ABC over allegations of misconduct against a university researcher made by radio presenter Norman Swan ... more
Kaplan v Go Daddy Group Inc
Claim of injurious falsehood over internet site that was rude about a car dealer. Balancing freedom of speech with protection of reputation is not a relevant considering in the world of injurious falsehood. Proprietary or economic interests prevail ... more
Jerry Bennette v Ian Cohen
Byron Bay property developer says defamation jury was perverse. It found that he did “illegal work which severely damaged the environment”, but that this was not defamatory. Court of Appeal reserved ... more
Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Richard Sleeman
The Australian wants the NSW Court of Appeal to consider “afresh” all the factual issues in the Sleeman case. Last October Justice Levine awarded damages of $400,000 to freelance sports writer Richard Sleeman. The newspaper failed to defend Amanda Meade’s snippet in its Media section ... more
John Zunter v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd
Justice Simpson uses her special news judgment to once more send the s.22 defence packing. Damages of $100,000 awarded over Sydney Morning Herald bushfire story. The judge thinks that withholding names from a story does not affect its news value … more