Shafer v. Lamar Pub. Co., Inc.

TURNAGE, Judge.

Gregg Shafer and his wife Glenna brought suit against the Lamar Publishing Company for libel flowing from an article published in the Democrat, a newspaper circulated in Barton County. Upon a jury being waived, the cause was tried by the court. The court entered judgment for the newspaper and Shafer and his wife appeal.

The Shafers contend that he was not a public official by reason of his position as a police officer; that the article was concerned with a controversy over the police chief in which Shafer was not involved; the libelous words related to Shafer in his private…