Judge Tosses Failed U.S. Senate Candidate's Libel Suit

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In Jeffrey Greene v. Times Publishing Co. et al. (Case No. 10-47749-CA 32), Judge Valeria Manno-Schurr of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County  dismissed defamation claims against The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times brought by billionaire real estate mogul Jeffrey Greene, who blamed his Democratic U.S. Senate primary loss to Kendrick Meek on the dailies' coverage of him (see "TUOL" post 9/7/10).

Greene is expected to appeal the decision concerning three articles and what he alleged in his voluminous complaint were 22 purportedly libelous statements that harmed his business and campaign effort. Judge Manno-Schurr ruled a Times editorial was entirely opinion and not susceptible to a defamatory meaning. Likewise, she held that an article detailing alleged drug use and bad boy behavior on Greene's yacht by former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson and cohorts, who was best man at Greene's wedding, could not defame the plaintiff because it neither suggested he participated in nor even witnessed  the allegedly nefarious goings-on.

A third article involving a condo deal in which Greene participated with a California businessman who subsequently was indicted for mortgage fraud unrelated to his association with Greene was not defamatory either, according to the court, because the plaintiff failed to show any misstatements by the media defendants rose to the level of actual malice. (Tip of the hat to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, www.rcfp.org, for following up on this case.)

It's Not Easy Being Greene

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Billionaire real estate mogul Jeffrey Greene, who was bested in Florida's Democratic U.S. Senate primary race by Kendrick Meek, has filed a 55-page defamation lawsuit in Miami Dade Circuit Court against The St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald.


Greene alleges the defendants conspired to assassinate his character and diminish his chances of winning the primary by publishing stories that cast him in a negative light.  An article that appeared in the Herald concerning a Calif. businessperson subsequently indicted for mortgage fraud who was involved in an unrelated condo deal with Greene and a second article concerning alleged drug use and lurid partying by former boxing champ Mike Tyson aboard Greene's yacht underlie the defamation claim.

According to the plaintiff, both stories were false and he purportedly provided evidence to that effect to the Florida dailies pre-publication. Both papers did print a correction concerning the Tyson story.

To prevail on his claim, Greene must prove the defendants published the stories with actual malice, that is, knowing the stories were untrue or with reckless disregard about the truth or falsity of the articles.  Greene is seeking $250 million in compensatory damages (or about 10 times what he spent out of his own pocket to fund his campaign) and $250 million in punitive damages.


Time will tell, but political candidates successfully suing media outlets covering their campaigns for defamation is as rare an occurrence nowadays as apparently, losing gracefully.