Miami Herald is victorious in libel suit filed by former corrections officers

A judge on Friday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against the Miami Herald for its coverage of the 2014 death of a female prison inmate and the state’s ensuing investigation.

The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County, was brought by former Lowell Correctional Institution officers Patrick Lee Quercioli and Dustin Thrasher, whose attorney raised nine causes of action for defamation and defamation by implication.

In his ruling, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M de la O said the lawsuit, first filed in September 2016, was “without merit” and brought “primarily because” the Herald exercised its free speech rights in connection with a public issue.

The judge also awarded the Herald attorneys’ fees, an unusual result for a libel case, according to Herald attorney Sandy Bohrer.

Bohrer, a partner at Holland & Knight, said the judge’s ruling should “serve as a deterrent to those who are thinking of suing the Herald.” He said the case marks the first time in his memory that his clients were awarded their attorneys’ fees in a libel case.

He said the burden was on the Herald to prove that the former prison guards were attempting to stop the Herald from writing any more about them by filing a SLAPP suit, or a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

“We are pleased to see the judge vindicated the First Amendment rights of the Herald and its journalist, Julie K. Brown, whose award-winning series on Florida’s prisons opened the eyes of people all over Florida to some of the appalling conditions in our prisons,” he said. “The judge’s ruling not only confirms the terrific reporting job of our clients and dismisses all the claims, but also awards us attorneys’ fees as well.”

The former corrections officers’ complaints focused on a series of articles the Herald published between October 2014 and December 2015 about the death of Latandra Tynese Ellington, an inmate at the Ocala women’s prison who died with a “potentially toxic level” of blood pressure medicine in her system.

Ellington, nicknamed “Tan” by her friends and “Tangerine” by her mother, feared for her life in the time leading up to her death. A month before she was found dead, Ellington wrote to her aunt that a correctional officer “was threatening to kill her.” The state concluded that Ellington’s death was the result of “natural causes” and that no foul play was involved.

The Herald’s reporting on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigation into Ellington’s death detailed potential breaches of procedure at the prison, including the alleged exchanging of sexual favors for tobacco products and the failure to include in Ellington’s autopsy the high levels of Amlodipine in her blood.

Ellington claimed to have seen Quercioli “having sex with an inmate,” and another officer suspected Thrasher and the burly guard known as “Sgt. Q” of receiving sex from inmates in exchange for cigarettes. Quercioli was not on duty at thee time of Ellington’s death, the stories noted; Thrasher was.

“[The] statements in the context of the [article] as a whole falsely accused Quercioli of engaging in sex with an inmate and having involvement in the inmate’s death,” Quercioli’s attorney argued in court.

The former prison guards said Brown held “some kind of inherent malice toward plaintiffs that drove Brown to write the articles” and that her reporting implied the guards were somehow involved in Ellington’s death, according to the court filing.

The judge concluded that Brown was not acting with malice or with reckless disregard as to the truthfulness of her reporting. Her information — details about Quercioli’s past criminal history, accusations against him and the wide-ranging investigation into Ellington’s death — came from official sources, such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, prisoners themselves and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, where he once worked.

“The burden of proving ‘actual malice’ requires the plaintiff to demonstrate with clear and convincing evidence that the defendant realized that his statement was false or that he subjectively entertained serious doubt as to the truth of his statement,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Miami Herald Executive Editor Aminda Marqués Gonzalez said the Herald’s victory in court was encouraging.

“The Miami Herald is proud of its role in exposing abusive treatment in the Florida prison system, which has led to reforms,” she said. “We are guided by the truth and grateful that the judge saw our fidelity to the facts.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 7:00 PM.