National Enquirer Report on Casey Anthony Motion to Admit Circumstantial Evidence of Meter Reader’s Guilt Privileged and Not Defamatory

In Kronk v. Am. Media, Inc., Case No. 5D15-1529, 2016 WL 3570466 (Fla. 5th DCA June 28, 2016), Deanna Shullman and Rachel Fugate successfully defended American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, from claims brought by a meter reader who found the remains of Caylee Anthony. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, was prosecuted for the child’s murder and acquitted. The meter reader, Roy Kronk, claimed the National Enquirer’s reporting on a motion filed by Casey Anthony in connection with her prosecution and the circumstances of Kronk’s discovery of Caylee’s body was defamatory. The trial and appellate courts disagreed, finding that the reports were either protected by Florida’s fair report privilege or were not defamatory.