Pettengill v. Booth Newspapers, Inc.

Plaintiff filed this libel action against defendant, seeking judgment for actual and exemplary damages that he allegedly suffered when an item inserted in the classified advertising section of the July 21, 1974, Flint Journal, one of defendant’s publications, referred to him by name in a scurrilous and insulting manner. It is undisputed that the item could only have been inserted by one of the employees in the Journal’s composing department, but defendant’s subsequent investigation was unable to identify the person responsible. During the pendency of the action, defendant filed two motions…