WELLS V. LIDDY
186 F.3d 505 (4th Cir. 1999)
NATURE OF THE CASE: This was a continuation in the Watergate saga. Wells (P) appealed
from a grant of summary judgment to Liddy (D) on P's defamation action that D had stated to
the media that P maintained photographs in her desk that were used to offer prostitution
services.
FACTS: D believed that the Watergate break in was related to the theory that some members
of the DNC were using a call girl ring as an asset to entertain visiting dignitaries. To
that end it was believed that they had a manila envelope that you could open or close by
wrapping a string around a wafer. And in that envelope were twelve photographs of an
assortment of the girls and then one group photograph of them. It was kept he said in that
desk of Ida Maxine Wells (P). P as well as others made these statements numerous times in
numerous venues.
By 1991, D had repeated the theories of various books that touted this theory at appearances
at JMU, on a cruise ship, over his radio show and on a web page. P sued D for defamation
because of the implication that she too was a participant in the scheme to secure
prostitutes. The trial judge granted summary judgment to D on all allegations. The court of
appeals upheld two of the events (the JMU and cruise ship) but concluded that the radio show
and the web page did not rise to defamatory status. The court then turned to the
constitutional issues relating to the two surviving charges. The district court concluded on
those charges that P was an involuntary public figure and had to prove actual malice before
she recovers any compensatory damages for actual injuries. D contends that the court's
conclusion was correct but that in the alternative P's participation in the Watergate
related dialogue was sufficient to qualify her as a voluntary limited purpose public figure.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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