El-Khoury v. Kheir

OPINION

Sherry RADACK, Chief Justice.

This defamation case arises from a dispute between private individuals. Appel-lee, Benjamine Kheir claimed that appellant, John El-Khoury, defamed him by accusing him of not paying a debt. Both parties disputed the underlying debt at trial. A jury found that El-Khoury defamed Kheir, that Kheir incurred $25,000 in actual damages for his mental anguish, and that El-Khoury acted with malice that entitled Kheir to $147,000 in punitive damages. The jury also rejected the parties’ cross-actions on the claimed debt and awarded attorney’s fees to Kheir for trial…