The libel suit filed against the Argus Leader by Dan Scott in November 2007 will be decided by a jury: "A libel lawsuit involving the Argus Leader and its top editor moved closer to being decided at a trial by jurors, rather than a judge, after a court ruling this week. Former Sioux Falls Development Foundation president Dan Scott’s case against the newspaper and Randell Beck, its executive editor, is best suited for a jury to decide, Minnehaha County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Caldwell ruled."
UPDATE: For the record, the transcript of Scott's remarks can be found here (PDF alert). The link above (or here) is the archive of Beck's column.
VIDEO: Scott's lawyer, Bill Janklow, says he's looking forward to the trial.
MORE: Here's a copy of the motion filed to the court (PDF alert), via SDWC.
YET MORE: Todd Epp writes: "My guess is that Gannett won’t be writing a check in this case. Scott is going to have to show actual malice as a public figure, which is really, really tough to prove. Janklow is an excellent lawyer but he isn’t exactly up against patsies on the other side either." That's a good point. Also recall that Janklow unsuccessfully sued both Newsweek and author Peter Mattiessen on libel charges.
STILL MORE: A commenter at SDWC has an opposite take on Epp's argument: "Republican or Democrat, this case may be death of the Argus unless they settle. the Argus needs to pray the 1st amendment will save them because jury likely will not. If a jury finds malice, any appeals court will be hard pressed to reverse a jury."
LAST UPDATE: The full Janklow interview has been posted. Money quote: "They say they’re a serious newspaper. They’re going to get a chance to prove. Because some people like me don’t think they are."
Recent Comments