West v. Thomson Newspapers

DURHAM, Justice:

This case is before the court on a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals. Plaintiff, the mayor of a small, southern Utah town, claims that a local newspaper published defamatory statements about him in a series of three editorial columns. The columns criticized the mayor for changing his political position on an important local issue and for attempting to “manipulate the press.” The trial court dismissed the mayor’s claims prior to trial. The court dismissed the claims relating to the manipulation statement on the ground that the statement was not…