CAIN V. HEARST CORPORATION
878 S.W.2d 577 (1994)
NATURE OF THE CASE: The Court certified the questions of whether Texas recognized the
tort of false light invasion of privacy, and if so, what statute of limitations governed.
FACTS: Cain (P) is a prison inmate serving a life sentence for murder. P sued Hearst (D)
claiming that a newspaper article invaded his privacy by placing him in a false light. The
article referred to P as a burglar, thief, pimp, and killer. D printed that P is believed to
have killed as many as eight people; P killed one of his lawyers in 1973 and married the
lawyer's widow a few months later; P killed a 67 year old man in 1977; in 1983 he 'bought' a
prostitute from a friend to help finance his activities; P persuaded the prostitute to marry
a trailer park owner named Anderson, so that P could kill Anderson and share the
prostitute's inheritance from Anderson; when the prostitute balked, P threatened to kill her
5 year old daughter and 'deliver her daughter's head in a wastepaper basket'; the prostitute
married Anderson 3 days later, and on January 5, 1985 P killed Anderson. P's sole complaint
is that the article printed false information that he was a member of the 'Dixie Mafia' and
that he had killed as many as eight people. P asserted that these statements put him in a
false light with the public. Suit was filed in state court one and one-half years after the
article was published. D removed the case to federal court and the court granted D's motion
for dismissal on the grounds that P's action lies in libel, and held that the one-year
limitations period expired before P brought the suit. P appealed and the court certified
questions.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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