LAKE COUNTY — A visiting judge Friday dismissed a libel lawsuit against Lake County Publishing – the parent company of the Lake County Record-Bee – Publisher Gary Dickson, Managing Editor Rick Kennedy and former reporter Elizabeth Wilson.
Dr. Camille Keene, a Lakeport neurologist, filed the lawsuit in May.
The lawsuit alleged that a Record-Bee article erroneously reported in April that Dr. Keene misdiagnosed radio personality Eric Patrick last year with Lou Gehrig”s disease, and that the use of the word “misdiagnosed” in the article and in the headline damaged her reputation.
“The article itself demonstrated that what was said was substantially true overall, at the time and under the circumstances,” Judge J. Michael Byrne said.
Byrne granted a motion to strike the suit under California”s anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) law, which protects the right to freedom of speech. Record-Bee attorney Rachel Matteo-Boehm said that in addition to the article being substantially true, the suit was a trade libel suit. Matteo-Boehm said the plaintiff failed to meet her burden of proof that actual malice existed.
“For actual malice to exist, you either have to know that the information was false or have substantial doubts about its truth,” Matteo-Boehm said.
Dr. Keene”s Santa Rosa lawyer, John Borba, told the court that Dr. Keene had never diagnosed Patrick with Lou Gehrig”s disease. Borba said the article in question should have stated that Dr. Keene suspected Patrick had the disease and needed more testing to make a final determination.
“Instead it was written in the context of trying to paint a picture that this local neurologist – the only one in town – was incompetent,” Borba said.
Dickson said the article in question, “Getting his life back ” was written on his first day as publisher.
“We are extraordinarily pleased that it turned out as it did. The article was intended to be a good news story, and there was no intent to hurt anybody,” Dickson said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
