-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
- Thread starter MD Buckeye
- Start date
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
EXPERTS SAY URBAN MEYER WOULD BE UNLIKELY TO WIN POSSIBLE DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST BRETT MCMURPHY
Following a report from Stadium reporter Brett McMurphy about former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith directing a racial slur at former Buckeye wideout Trevon Grimes during an altercation in practice, head coach Urban Meyer said legal action might be taken.
"Certainly looking into legal action,” Meyer said on the Big Ten teleconference on Tuesday. “I just don’t know how that’s allowed. I don’t understand the rules and the laws of the land that say that you can just accuse people of something that did not happen."
He did not clarify whether he meant either he or Ohio State is determining whether legal action can or should be pursued.
Ryan Stubenrauch, an Ohio lawyer who does public records training, said Meyer is more likely than Ohio State to pursue legal action because he is the one cast in “bad light” that damages him and is “injured” by the claims. Both Stubenrauch and Christopher Hollon, an Ohio lawyer who is the current chair of the Ohio State Bar Association's media law committee, said Meyer would likely file a defamation claim if he opts to take the legal route.
However, both Stubenrauch and Hollon agree that it’s unlikely Meyer would win since he would need to prove McMurphy knowingly printed falsehoods.
“For public figures, politicians, sports coaches, figures that are in the media all the time, we have a heightened bar and I have to prove that you either knew for certain it was false, I have to prove that you were 100 percent lying, or I have to prove that you recklessly disregarded information that suggested it was false,” Stubenrauch said. “So, that's kind of like a fancy lawyer way of saying either you knew it was false or you damn well should have. That's probably the colloquial way to explain defamation.”
Stubenrauch said there’s a chance Meyer could win a lawsuit if he could “prove McMurphy published this knowing, or recklessly not knowing, that it was false,” though that’s difficult to do.
“Urban Meyer would likely be seen as a public figure by a court,” Hollon said. “That means that to prevail on a defamation claim, he would have to show that Brett McMurphy acted with actual malice toward him. The way that the courts interpret actual malice is that Brett McMurphy would have to know what he reported was false or he would have had to acted in, what the courts call, reckless disregard for the truth, meaning he didn't care what was true or not, he just threw it up there. That's a very high burden on the plaintiff to show a defamation claim.”
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ble-defamation-lawsuit-against-brett-mcmurphy
Following a report from Stadium reporter Brett McMurphy about former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith directing a racial slur at former Buckeye wideout Trevon Grimes during an altercation in practice, head coach Urban Meyer said legal action might be taken.
"Certainly looking into legal action,” Meyer said on the Big Ten teleconference on Tuesday. “I just don’t know how that’s allowed. I don’t understand the rules and the laws of the land that say that you can just accuse people of something that did not happen."
He did not clarify whether he meant either he or Ohio State is determining whether legal action can or should be pursued.
Ryan Stubenrauch, an Ohio lawyer who does public records training, said Meyer is more likely than Ohio State to pursue legal action because he is the one cast in “bad light” that damages him and is “injured” by the claims. Both Stubenrauch and Christopher Hollon, an Ohio lawyer who is the current chair of the Ohio State Bar Association's media law committee, said Meyer would likely file a defamation claim if he opts to take the legal route.
However, both Stubenrauch and Hollon agree that it’s unlikely Meyer would win since he would need to prove McMurphy knowingly printed falsehoods.
“For public figures, politicians, sports coaches, figures that are in the media all the time, we have a heightened bar and I have to prove that you either knew for certain it was false, I have to prove that you were 100 percent lying, or I have to prove that you recklessly disregarded information that suggested it was false,” Stubenrauch said. “So, that's kind of like a fancy lawyer way of saying either you knew it was false or you damn well should have. That's probably the colloquial way to explain defamation.”
Stubenrauch said there’s a chance Meyer could win a lawsuit if he could “prove McMurphy published this knowing, or recklessly not knowing, that it was false,” though that’s difficult to do.
“Urban Meyer would likely be seen as a public figure by a court,” Hollon said. “That means that to prevail on a defamation claim, he would have to show that Brett McMurphy acted with actual malice toward him. The way that the courts interpret actual malice is that Brett McMurphy would have to know what he reported was false or he would have had to acted in, what the courts call, reckless disregard for the truth, meaning he didn't care what was true or not, he just threw it up there. That's a very high burden on the plaintiff to show a defamation claim.”
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ble-defamation-lawsuit-against-brett-mcmurphy
Upvote
0
Which begs the question of the standard of defamation in todays social media society. Seems it is much easier to defame someone.
Upvote
0
Zoo animals that volunteered to enter, and choose to remain in, the zoo. Let's not forget that.
Mark May voluntarily blew those 5 guys at Pitt and Brett McMurphy chose to get in the public spotlight knowing people would find out he, like Jerry Fallwell before him, had sex with his own mother while drunk in an outhouse.
Only the 5 dead hookers Craig James had in his trunk were drugged and held against their will.
Upvote
0
1. "recklessly not knowing": I'd say simply making such extreme accusations based solely on the word of the accuser without any subsequent checks whatsoever would constitute recklessly not knowing.
2. "meaning he didn't care what was true or not, he just threw it up there": His statement that he would not have even published the accusation had it been anyone other than Meyer pretty much shows that he has a vendetta against Meyer.
Upvote
0
Nigel Tufnel
Choking on vomit
And in the end there isn’t likely anything to be done about it. Very few people, outside of Buckeye fans, are calling for this guy’s job.
Upvote
0
pianobuck46
pianobuck46
Sorry to tell you, but it's all the same shit.........ESPN, CNN, ad nauseum. Everybody should know that by now.
Upvote
0