In a June 23 decision, U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee granted the Gannett' Corp.'s motion for summary judgment on whether Robert Pierce can join a lawsuit filed by Frank Melton for breach of contract, finding that there was no enforceable contract between Melton and The Clarion-Ledger.
Pierce brought the case after Melton sued The Clarion-Ledger for breach of contract on April 18, a story that the JFP broke on its Web site. In his suit, Melton contended he had a verbal contract with Clarion-Ledger reporter Ana Radelat, such that although he was leaking an internal Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics memo to her, she would verify its contents before printing any story on it. The memo in question turned out to contain numerous inaccuracies, and Melton has already lost a suit brought by former MBN officials, including Pierce, for libel. Melton lost the case when the judge found that he had repeatedly lied in depositions when he claimed he was not the source of the memo.
Now, Judge Lee has ruled against Pierce, and in doing so has made Melton's suit for breach of contract moot.
Lee cites precedent arguing that no contract existed: "We are not persuaded that in the special milieu of media newsgathering a source and a reporter ordinarily believe they are engaged in making a legally binding contract. They are not thinking of offers and acceptances in any commercial or business sense. ... In other words, contract law seems an ill fit for a promise of news source confidentiality."
There might be a "moral obligation" between a reporter and her source, Lee argues, but this is not sufficient to constitute a contract. As a consequence, Pierce cannot join the case as a third-party beneficiary of the contract, and Melton's case against The Clarion-Ledger is dead in the water.
The penalty hearing of the defamation case against Melton is scheduled for Oct. 2, 2006.
Previous Comments
- ID
- 80140
- Comment
Melton's been in office for a year, and it feels like 100. I'm sick of drama.
- Author
- LatashaWillis
- Date
- 2006-06-28T18:45:26-06:00
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