Riley v. Harr
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
292 F.3d 282 (2002)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
Jonathan Harr wrote A Civil Action, a best-selling book about a litigation brought by residents of Woburn, Massachusetts (the residents), alleging that the residents’ well water was contaminated, in part, by trichloroethylene (TCE) dumped on 15 acres of land by a tannery operated by John Riley, Jr. The book was told from the perspective of Jan Schlichtmann, the attorney for the Woburn residents, and suggested that Riley’s denials that dumping had occurred were false. Riley and his wife (the Rileys) (plaintiffs) sued Harr and his publisher (collectively, Harr) (defendants) for defamation. Among the alleged defamatory statements was a description of Schlichtmann’s reaction to finding a document (1) indicating that tannery waste, which might or might not have contained TCE, had been dumped on the 15 acres; (2) pointing out that when Riley was deposed, he testified that he had never dumped anything on the 15 acres; and (3) stating, “Riley had lied then, and Schlichtmann—who didn’t need much convincing—believed that Riley was also lying about using TCE.” The district court granted summary judgment to Harr. The Rileys appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lipez, J.)
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