Bitsie Ex Rel. Bitsie v. Walston

OPINION

WOOD, Chief Judge.

The trial court directed a verdict for defendants on plaintiffs’ claim for invasion of privacy. Prior to trial, summary judgment had been granted to defendants on plaintiffs’ claim for libel. This appeal challenges the correctness of both rulings.

At the State Fair in 1970, Walston took a photograph of La Verne Bitsie, a Navajo child, then approximately 18 months old. The photograph was taken with the consent of her father, Oscar Bitsie. Walston prepared a sketch of La Verne and sent it to the father in February, 1971.

“The Arts” section of the Albuquerque Journal on…