NEW MEXICO
The New Mexican
Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
The New Mexico Supreme Court has made the grounds more restrictive for defamation cases by ruling against an Episcopal priest who sued four parishioners for accusing him of pedophilia.
State District Court Judge Nan Nash dismissed the Rev. Walter F. Smith III’s lawsuit, ruling he had not demonstrated an injury to his reputation.
The state Court of Appeals in 2010 overturned Nash’s ruling, finding that “humiliation and mental anguish is sufficient to establish actual injury for liability purposes in a defamation action.”
But on Monday, the state Supreme Court unanimously reversed the appellate court, effectively upholding Nash’s decision.
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