stating that whether a person is a public official or a public figure is a mixed question of fact and law to be determined by the trial court and whether the evidence in the record is sufficient to support a finding of actual malice is a question of law
How later courts described this case
- stating that whether a person is a public official or a public figure is a mixed question of fact and law to be determined by the trial court and whether the evidence in the record is sufficient to support a finding of actual malice is a question of law
- elements of defamation under Arkansas law
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Ray Thornton, Justice, concurring. I concur in the deci sion to affirm, but, in my opinion, it is only necessary to decide whether the trial court erred in determining that Jarrell Southall was a limited-purpose public figure who failed to show that appellees published the allegedly inaccurate news stories about him with actual malice. Southall’s charges, if proven, would not reach the threshold of actual malice required by the landmark case of New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). I agree with the majority that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment and that the case should be affirmed.
Special Justice Keith N. Wood joins in this concurrence.