Bellamore v. Commissioner

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• finding that “[t]he trial 11 judge determined that [plaintiffs] were public figures” and “[a] public figure defamation 12 plaintiff must prove with clear and convincing evidence that the defendant made the 13 statements with ‘actual malice.’”
• “A defamation action consists of four elements: (1) a 22 false statement, (2) publication, (3) fault, and (4) damages.”
• The jury is entitled to determine actual malice, even when the truth or falsity of the allegations are largely dependent upon the testimony of the parties themselves.
• “When the audience knows the facts 9 underlying an opinion and can judge the truthfulness of the allegedly defamatory 10 statement themselves, the basis for liability for the opinion is undercut.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).