Seley-Radtke v. Hosmane

Katherine Seley-Radtke v. Ramachandra S. Hosmane, No. 19, September Term, 2016 PURELY PRIVATE DEFAMATION – STANDARD OF PROOF TO OVERCOME COMMON LAW CONDITIONAL PRIVILEGE – PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE – Court of Appeals held that standard of proof required to overcome common law conditional privilege in purely private defamation action is preponderance of evidence; clear and convincing evidence is not required to overcome conditional privilege based in common law and not in First Amendment. Court of Appeals concluded that important State interest of protecting private individuals from defamation…