From yesterday's opinion in McGillvary v. Rolling Stone, LLC, by Judges Richard Wesley, Richard Sullivan, and Steven Menashi:
McGillvary alleges that Rolling Stone defamed him in a 2023 article, "DARK TALE: A Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker Went Viral. Then He Killed Someone," that, by way of reviewing a forthcoming television documentary, described his involvement in thwarting a high-profile attack in 2013 (for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing) and in committing a later unrelated murder for which he was convicted and is now serving a fifty-seven-year sentence….
McGillvary contends that the article contained four libelous statements: (i) "[t]hose who knew [McGillvary] describe [him] as prone to fits of rage" (the "fits of rage" statement); (ii) "[McGillvary] tried to start a fire in the family home and was subsequently sent into foster care at the age of 13" (the "fire starter" statement); (iii) "[McGillvary] began bragging to Fresno locals that he'd handed [McBride] a joint laced with a number of drugs" (the "laced-joint" statement); and (iv) McGillvary told McBride "that they were both ghosts" and encouraged him to drive his truck into a crowd of people "right now" since "nobody could see us" (the "ghosts" statement). We address each statement in turn.
