Mazetis v. Enterprise Publishing Co.

MacDonald, D. Lloyd, J.

Before the Court in this defamation case are two motions of the defendants for summary judgment, one as to liability generally and the second for partial relief as to the issue of the status of the plaintiff Charles Mazetis (“plaintiff’ or “Mazetis”) as a public official. Mazetis is a court officer. The question of the plaintiffs “public official” status must be addressed because under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279-83 (1964), the First Amendment requires that “actual malice” be proved if the subject of the alleged defamation is a public official. For…