News stories 2005 No. 170 December 12, 2005 Arthur Dent v Macquarie Radio Network Pty Ltd December 12, 2005 The trial of Arthur Dent's defamation action against 2GB proceeded under the wry eye of Justice Virginia Bell. The court heard some extraordinary testimony from the former skydiver. More... Mark McGaw v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd November 22, 2005 The second week of football legend Mark McGaw's trial has heard graphic evidence from Louise Boucheron, who said she had been his girlfriend and that "Sparkles" viciously assaulted her on several occasions. More... No. 168 November 15, 2005 Gregory Hodge v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd & Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd November 15, 2005 The third week of Greg Hodge's defamation trial has been characterised by "great antipathy" towards Channel Nine's key truth witness. Acting Justice Smart considered aborting the hearing after "nasty" cross-examination by Stuart Littlemore. More... Bennette v Cohen November 15, 2005 Byron Bay property developer Jerry Bennette loses his appeal against a s.7A jury finding. The verdict was not outside the range of the rational. "Mere vulgar abuse" also given a well deserved airing. More... Gregory Hodge v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd & Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd November 14, 2005 The second week of former Olympic swimming coach Greg Hodge's defamation action against Channel Nine saw aggressive cross-examination from both sides as well as torrid exchanges between counsel. More... Maurice Kriss v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd November 12, 2005 The second leg of bankrupt barrister Maurice Kriss' action against Fairfax opened with Justice Michael Adams calling The Sydney Morning Herald's campaign against bankrupt barristers "unjustified". Blackburn calls for a disqualification. More... Leonard Ainsworth v Leslie Burden November 2, 2005 Supreme Court jury finds for the defendant in pokie king Len Ainsworth's 10-year defamation battle against a former NSW police commander. The defamatory letter was unlikely to cause the plaintiff harm. More... Gregory Hodge v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd & Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd November 1, 2005 The second leg of former Olympic swimming coach Greg Hodge's defamation action against Channel Nine opened yesterday with Stuart Littlemore, for the plaintiff, decrying "the worst excesses of tabloid journalism". More... No. 167 October 25, 2005   Ainsworth v Burden October 25, 2005 First week of pokie entrepreneur Len Ainsworth's all-issues jury trial revealed a web of connections between NSW police, politicians and lawyers. Plenty of bar table biffo from old adversaries Evatt and Stitt. More... Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Sleeman October 20, 2005 The NSW Court of Appeal slashes the $400,000 damages awarded to a sports journalist over a defamatory item in Amanda Meade's column in The Australian. Trial judge David Levine's original figure was "manifestly excessive". $250,000 is more like it. More... Peter Mohammed v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd October 21, 2005 Section 7A trial. Financial adviser Peter Mohammed gets one out of 15 imputations up against Channel Seven's Today Tonight - the only imputation almost conceded by Seven's counsel Kieran Smark. More... Edward Obeid v Australian Broadcasting Corporation October 11, 2005 NSW Labor MP Eddie Obeid wins another s.7A over the Oasis development allegations, this time against the ABC. McClintock on a roll as District Court jury finds all three imputations pleaded by the plaintiff conveyed and defamatory. More… Favell v Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd October 7, 2005 Brisbane barrister has his day in the High Court and gets three imputations out of the 40 he originally pleaded sent for rehearing. Justice Kirby says judges should not hide behind the "ordinary reasonable reader". The fiction should be dropped. More... Jeremy Griffith & Ors v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd and David Millikan September 29, 2005 Self-styled prophet Jeremy Griffith and Everest mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape come to grief in a second s.7A trial, this time against The Sydney Morning Herald. Ten years after publication one imputation gets up. More... Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia v Chibo October 3, 2005 Justice Nicholas awards $175,000 to the defamed head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Bishop Zaia. David Chibo, publisher of the offending article, is nowhere to be seen. More... NSW Director of Public Prosecutions v Brown September 27, 2005 Supreme Court judge takes a swipe at the media for "interfering with the proper administration of justice". Nevertheless, he grants Karen Brown, the security guard charged with murder, access to the "tainted" money she was paid by The Daily Telegraph and Channel Seven. More... Channel Seven Perth Pty Ltd v "S" (a company) September 26, 2005 Application by Channel 7 Perth under the Surveillance Devices Act refused by Supreme Court. Broadcast of secretly taped footage about employee sacking might "have a chilling effect on private speech". More... Michael Megna & Russell Lloyd v David Marshall & Richard Tory September 14, 2005 Section 7A trial. Defendants denied publication of "political scandal sheets" attacking the mayor and general manager of a local council. Jury disbelieves the denials and finds that all 87 imputations pleaded from 17 circulars arose and are defamatory. Success for Molomby SC. More... Tucker v Echo Publications Pty Ltd September 7, 2005 Unexpected verdict and damages of $125,000 awarded to plaintiff in case concerning allegations of poor treatment of an employee. Acting judge rejects all evidence put by Byron Bay newspaper. More... Harvey v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd September 25, 2005 NSW Court Of Appeal enters a verdict for Fairfax instead of ordering a third s.7A trial. Acting Justice Hunt has had enough of revisiting "unreasonable verdicts". He suspects the problem might lie with "counsel who have not had the experience with juries which is necessary to communicate with them adequately". More... No. 166 September 1, 2005 APLA Ltd v Legal Services Commissioner of NSW September 1, 2005 Lange goes nowhere as High Court upholds the constitutional validity of the ban on lawyers' advertising. Judgment summary... Full judgment... John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Pat O'Shane August 31, 2005 Court of Appeal shaves $45,000 from original Pat O'Shane verdict of $220,000. O'Shane lost 50 percent of her imputations on appeal yet the reassessed damages arising from the Janet Albrechtsen article are only reduced by 20 percent.  More... Transcript of journalists' day in court August 29, 2005 Here it is. The transcript of the proceedings before chief judge Michael Rozenes in the County Court as two Melbourne Herald Sun journalists were cross-examination about the identity of their source for a story that helped blow-up the ministerial career of the hapless Danna Vale. More... Jerry Bennette v Ian Cohen August 19, 2005 Byron Bay property developer says defamation jury was perverse. It found that he did "illegal work which severely damaged the environment", but that this was not defamatory. Court of Appeal reserved.  More... Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Richard Sleeman August 16, 2005 The Australian wants the NSW Court of Appeal to consider "afresh" all the factual issues in the Sleeman case. Last October Justice Levine awarded damages of $400,000 to freelance sports writer Richard Sleeman. The newspaper failed to defend Amanda Meade's snippet in its Media section. More... Edward Obeid v John Fairfax Publications August 11, 2005 Story from the Gold Walkley winning Sydney Morning Herald series on the Oasis scandal defames Labor politician Eddie Obeid. Section 7A. More... John Zunter v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd August 8, 2005 Justice Simpson uses her special news judgment to once more send the s.22 defence packing. Damages of $100,000 awarded over Sydney Morning Herald bushfire story. The judge thinks that withholding names from a story does not affect its news value. More... Australian Broadcasting Corporation v Hodgkinson August 25, 2005 Elaborate discussion in the NSW Court of Appeal over whether a contextual imporation using the phrahse "fit and proper" could be pleaded. Defamation action against the ABC over allegations of misconduct against a university researcher made by radio presenter Norman Swan. More... Kaplan v Go Daddy Group Inc August 24, 2005 Claim of injurious falsehood over internet site that was rude about a car dealer. Balancing freedom of speech with protection of reputation is not a relevant considering in the world of injurious falsehood. Proprietary or economic interests prevail. More... Bernard Mandic v Special Broadcasting Corporation August 7, 2005 Broadcast by Johnny Warren on SBS's The World Game does not give rise to any of the imputations contended by the manager of  international soccer star Harry Kewell. Section 7A. More... Saffron v Gold Coast Publications July 28, 2005 Abe Saffron defamed by clues and solution in a newspaper crossword puzzle. "Sydney underworld figure" found to be defamatory, but "Mr Sin" is not. Section 7A. More... No. 165 July 27, 2005 Section 22 should not be the law of the land July 27, 2005 Veteran Queensland lawyer Doug Spence adds his voice to the call to stop the adoption of NSW's version of statutory qualified privilege in the proposed Uniform Defamation Act. That law would not have accomodated much of the reporting that lead to the Fitzgerald inquiry or the "Dr Death" commission. More... When reasonableness is unreasonable June 8, 2005 Why are the states and territories persisting with dragging NSW's useless version of statutory qualified privilege into the uniform Defamation Act? Peter Applegarth SC argues that the qualified privilege defence drafted by Sir Samuel Griffith in 1889 is a far more effective mechanism for media defendants and other participants in public affairs. More... John Zunter v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd July 26, 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald says its news report about a Shoalhaven bushfire was reasonable despite an interview being conducted by a photographer, not a journalist. More... Cameron Donald v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd June 21, 2005 Section 7A trial. BRW Young Rich entrant gets one out of 24 imputations up against Channel Nine's A Current Affair. Full-frontal attack in five broadcasts, but the jury thought it was not defamatory to call a Sydney property developer,  "a thief, crook and a scumbag". More... Rivera v Australian Broadcasting Corporation July 22, 2005 ABC documentary on a student legal centre gives rise to actions in misleading and deceptive conduct, breach of privacy, defamation and breach of confidence - all of which fail. More... Kamm v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd July 21, 2005 Convicted sex offender, known as "Little Pebble", fails to stop Today Tonight broadcasting an interview with one of his victims. A second jury trial in relation to a further alleged victim is likely to be held in December 2005. More ... History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving July 8, 2005 David Levine QC reviews Deborah Lipstadt's account of the defamation case brought against her and Penguin Books by the Holocaust denier David Irving. This is one of the great defamation trials of modern history, made all the memorable by the masterly destruction of the plaintiff. More... Abraham Gilbert Saffron v John Silvester, Andrew Rule & Ors June 30, 2005 Section 7A trial. Jury puts out of its mind what it thinks of Abe Saffron and finds that he's defamed by journalists in the book, TOUGH. 101 Australian Gangsters. More... Markisic v Middletons Lawyers July 13, 2005 Absolute privilege applies to witness statement prepared for separate defamation proceedings. The statement was distributed to lawyers, defendants and to a spouse. More... No 164 June 6, 2005 Defamation law reform June 6, 2006 The latest round in the defamation law reform negoitations between the Commonwealth and the states has produced another standoff. Attorney General Ruddock says he'll wait and see how close the states get to his position before deciding whether to legislate from Canberra. NSW Attorney General Bob Debus says he is urging his colleagues to implement their model "uniform" provisions. Letters... Ross Tucker v Echo Publications Pty Ltd and Fast Buck$ June 14, 2005 Part Three - Second leg trial of NSW north coast newspaper stoush continues. The Byron Shire Echo accused The Saturday Star of underpaying an employee. A co-proprietor of the Star claims financial hardship. More... Ross Tucker v Echo Publications Pty Ltd and Fast Buck$ May 30, 2005 Part Two - NSW Supreme Court trial of defences and damages. The Byron Bay newspaper wars continue as Ross Tucker proprietor of The Saturday Star comes under pressure from counsel for The Byron Shire Echo. More... Ross Tucker v Echo Publications Pty Ltd and Fast Buck$ May 25, 2005 Part One - Conservative newspaper publisher in Byron Shire sues the Echo (now part of Eric Beecher's stable) over "advertisement" by Fast Buck$. More... Gacic & Ciric v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd & Matthew Evans June 2, 2005 Section 7A verdict. Serbian restaurateurs unsuccessful in their action against The Sydney Morning Herald and Matthew Evans over scathing review of Coco Roco in "Good Living". "A dismal pyramid of sorbet." More... Zunter and John Fairfax Publications v State of NSW June 1, 2005 Latest developments. Cross-claim by Fairfax and plaintiff against the State of NSW settled following discharge of the jury. The Sydney Morning Herald sought contribution because it republished defamatory information authoried by a State government firefighter. More... John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v O'Shane May 25, 2005 Magistrate O'Shane's $220,000 damages award to be reassessed after NSW Court of Appeal finds that comment protects four defamatory imputations arising from attack piece by columnist Janet Albrechtsen. More... Thomas v Australian Broadcasting Corporation May 26, 2005 Section 7A trial. Jury finds only one imputation defamed former Taree police officer who was the subject of an investigation by Four Corners' Sally Neighbour. More... El Azzi v Nationwide News Pty Ltd May 31, 2005 Justice Levine's last judgment. Numerous fine points sink qualified privilege defence in "corrupt cop" defamation case - one of then being that Miranda Devine relied too heavily on the clippings. More... No. 163 May 5, 2005 James O'Neill v Australian Broadcasting Corporation & Ors May 5, 2005 Justice Crawford of the Supreme Court of Tasmania grants an injunction to James O'Neill, a convicted child killer, preventing the broadcast of an ABC documentary linking the plaintiff to other suspected murders. Still serving a life sentence Crawford J said the prisoner had a repution to protect and anyway it wasn't the media's job to convict him. More... David Levine April 25, 2005 David Levine gives a wide ranging interview to the Gazette of Law & Journalism. After nine years running the NSW Supreme Court defamation list he has some fascinating insights into the way plaintiffs and media defendants play the game. He talks of his most enjoyable and most dificult cases and the natural "predisposition" of judges to lean towards plaintiffs who take on large media corporations. He thinks corporations should be able to sue and the dead shouldn't. And he believes there's something in the public figure defence as it has developed in the US. More... Ainsworth v Burden April 15, 2005 Trial aborted after two weeks of legal argument. One of the last remaining old system full jury defamation trials in NSW will have to start again after three jury discharges and the late withdrawal of the truth defence. The Court of Appeal needs more time to consider the admissibility of evidence.  More... John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Obeid April 18, 2005 "Presumption of innocence" has a limited meaning in cases where imputations give rise to accusations of criminality. It cannot be presumed that the ordinary, reasonable reader is mindful of the presumption. The Sydney Morning Herald unsuccessful in appeal against discharge of section 7A jury in Eddie Obeid "bribery" case. More... John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v ACP Publishing Pty Ltd April 15, 2005 Kerry Packer and his companies have lost three of the four actions they launched in late 1999 against John Fairfax Publications and CEO Fred Hilmer. In the latest defeat the ACT Court of Appeal overturned findings that Whitlam J took over a year to produce. Last case yet to be tried. More... Mason v Doyle April 19, 2005 Damages of  $50,000 assessed for verbal allegation of rape made against Liberal candidate outside council polling booth. The attack was heard by nine to 10 bystanders. No evidence of actual damage to reputation. Action undefended. More... Romzi Ali v Nationwide News Pty Ltd April 15, 2005 Section 7A. Public Interest Advocacy Centre funds defamation case. Secretary of the Dee Why mosque defamed in three articles published in The Australian. More... Wen Yue He v Australian Chinese Newspapers Pty Ltd April 17, 2005 Non-violent Chinese student mistakenly accused of violent crime. Identification witnesses didn't believe the newspaper article referred to the plaintiff, yet the section 7A jury finds eleven of 19 imputations conveyed and defamatory. More... SMEC Holdings Ltd v Boniface April 17, 2005 Lengthy section 7A trial, mainly about publication. Ninety-six out of 100 imputations arising from a variety of publications, including emails, found to arise and to be defamatory. More... Gardiner v Horton Park Golf Club Maroochydore Inc and Hourigan April 19, 2005 Solicitor plaintiff's numerous imputations of extortion, bribery, unfitness and greed found not to arise from golf club newsletter and local newspaper. More... No 162 January 24, 2005 Hit or miss system for notifying suppression orders January 24, 2005 Because the onus is on the media to get it right and an honest mistake is no defence to a charge of contempt, by and large courts have persisted with sloppy methods of notifying suppression orders to news rooms and in-house legal advisers. More... Jones v Sutton January 18, 2005 NSW Court of Appeal says Judge Gibson's reasoning on the defence of unlikelihood of harm is "difficult to analyse". Trial judge applied the wrong test for the defence. Damages of $5,000 awarded for defamation by Warringah councillor. More... Burns v Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd & Ors January 17, 2005 Broadcast by Steve Price and John Laws on 2UE which mocked "poofs" and their "grubby activities" capable of inciting hatred towards homosexual men. Breach of Anti-Discrimination Act found by Administrative Decisions Tribunal. More... James Byrne v Paul Barry January 14, 2005 Use of AVOs not readily available to impede journalists seeking footage for a story. No reasonable ground to fear harassment. Costs order against Jim Byrne. More...