Murphy v. Rosen

Citations

• 351 Conn. 120

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court, which had dismissed his defamation action against the defendant, and from the court's decision to award the defendant attorney's fees and costs pursuant to the anti-SLAPP statute (§ 52-196a). The plaintiff claimed, inter alia, that the trial court incorrectly concluded that he had failed to meet his burden under § 52-196a (e) (3) of showing that there was probable cause that he would prevail on the merits of his defamation per se claim, which was based on the defendant's statement on a social media page characterizing the plaintiff as a white supremacist. Held: The trial court properly granted the defendant's special motion to dismiss the plaintiff's defamation action under § 52-196a. 18 Two of the excluded exhibits, for instance, bore the file names ''(Tod- dlerboy) Raamat 2Yo Boy Toddler urinates in a mouth,'' and ''4yo cute brown hair boy playes with mns cock in the bath awesome home video.'' 351 Conn. 120 JANUARY, 2025 121 Murphy v. Rosen The plaintiff expressly waived any challenge to the trial court's determination that the defendant had met her initial burden under § 52-196a (e) (3) of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the plaintiff's com- plaint implicated the defendant's exercise of her constitutional right of free speech on a matter of public concern. The trial court correctly determined that the plaintiff had failed to satisfy his burden of demonstrating that there was probable cause that he would prevail on the merits of his defamation claim, this court having concluded that the characterization of someone as a white supremacist, without more, is a nonactionable opinion rather than actionable defamation per se. Characterizing a person as a white supremacist, without more, is not a fact that can be objectively verified, the use of that term, without more, does not necessarily imply that the declarant knew existing, undisclosed defamatory facts, and, in the present case, give