Friday, November 21, 2003

City councilman wins defamation case against private citizen

As reported here in the Richmond paper, a city councilman has won a jury award of compensatory and punitive damages against a private citizen who took out false newspaper ads against the councilman shortly before an election.

The article says in part:

"A Circuit Court jury yesterday ruled in favor of a Colonial Heights City Council member who sued a private citizen for libel in a case that may be a first for Virginia.

After about 4½ hours of deliberation in Chesterfield County Circuit Court, the seven-member jury awarded J. Chris Kollman III, a 26-year council member, $75,000 in compensatory damages and $125,000 in punitive damages. The suit was brought against Claude E. Jordan.

Kollman's lawyer, Thomas E. Albro, . . .said he thinks the libel suit filed by a public official against a private citizen is a first for Virginia."

No comments: