DeLong v. Yu Enterprises, Inc.

The issue in this defamation case is whether a report of an alleged crime to police is subject to a defense of qualified privilege or absolute privilege. The trial court held that the report to the police at issue here enjoyed only a qualified privilege. The Court of Appeals disagreed and held that an absolute privilege applied. DeLong v. Yu Enterprises, Inc., 170 Or App 609, 13 P3d 1012 (2000). We allowed review and now conclude that only a qualified privilege applies to the kind of informal report that was made to the police in this case. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the Court of…