Heggy v. Grutzner

David Heggy appeals from dismissal of his defamation action against Edward Grutzner. The issues are whether: (1) Grutzner was absolutely privileged to make a defamatory statement to a law enforcement officer; (2) the trial court properly applied "issue preclusion" when it (a) precluded Heggy from contesting findings of fact in an earlier action which resulted in a default judgment against Heggy; (b) admitted in evidence a "finding" from the earlier action based in part on the trial judge's opinion; and (c) directed the jury to "believe" the findings in the earlier action; and (3) the court…