Dye v. Wallace

Angie Dye, individually and as next friend and legal guardian of Lauren Licklider, a minor, filed suit against appellees, reporter Jim Wallace and his employer, McDuffie County Newspapers, Inc., which operates a weekly newspaper in Thomson. Dye sought damages for invasion of privacy by unlawful publication arising out of an article written by Wallace and printed in the newspaper reporting the statutory rape and child molestation of Licklider by Bromekis Hudson at a business owned and operated by Dye. The trial court granted appellees’ motion for summary judgment declaring OCGA § 16-6-23, the Rape Confidentiality statute, to be unconstitutional. Because OCGA § 16-6-23 is indistinguishable from the Florida statute struck down as violative of the First Amendment by the United States Supreme Court in Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524 109 SC 2603, 105 LE2d 443 1989, we affirm the trial court’s ruling.

It is uncontroverted that the criminal assault on Licklider was a matter of legitimate public concern, see Macon Telegraph Publishing Co. v. Tatum, 263 Ga. 678, 679 2, 436 SE2d 655 1993, and that appellees lawfully obtained the information about the assault from a police report generated during the investigation of the crime and made available to the public. It is further uncontroverted that the published article accurately reflected the information contained in the police report. Nevertheless, appellant seeks to impose civil liability on appellees pursuant to OCGA § 16-6-23 a. That statute provides: