4th Circuit Holds Ex-Coal Baron and Political Candidate Failed to Show 'Malice' in Defamation Suit
“Some of the statements may have been the product of carelessness and substandard journalistic methods,” stated Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory. “But at the end of the day, the record does not contain evidence that the commentators and journalists responsible for the statements were anything more than confused about how to describe a person who served a year in prison for a federal offense.”