Downtown Lawyer

Whiteside v. Russellville Newspapers, Inc., No. 08-313.

For information about Ryan Whiteside’s infamy in Russellville, click here.

In January 2007, the Courier News in Russellville obtained a witness statement from the Russellville Police Department that a woman had been raped at the home of Whiteside and that Whiteside may have been involved in the rape.  Apparently, one person heard from someone else that a rape had occurred and reported it to the police.  The first person then told police that she did not see anything.  The Russellville Police Department usually did not release witness statements to the press.

The Courier News published articles about the rape and Whiteside’s involvement.  Whiteside sued for libel and defamation.  The newspaper moved for summary judgment based on the fair-report privilege, arguing that it had printed only what the police had provided.  The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment.

On appeal, the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed that information released from the police is considered to be a report of an official action and subject to the fair-report privilege.  The court further held that inadvertent disclosure of the information did not remove the privilege as the newspaper had no duty to determine what information could be published after it was released by the police.