Summary 2009 WY 100

Summary of Decision issued August 19, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Abromats v. Wood

Citation: 2009 WY 100

Docket Number: S-08-0195; S-08-0196

Appeal from the District Court of Big Horn County, the Honorable Steven R. Cranfill, Judge.

Representing Abromats: Philip E. Abromats of Philip E. Abromats, PC, Greybull, Wyoming.

Representing Wood: Bradley T. Cave of Holland & Hart LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming and Hadassah M. Reimer of Holland & Hart, Jackson, Wyoming.

Facts/Discussion: The Abromats requested relief from summary judgment to the Woods claiming the district court erred when it found that one allegedly defamatory statement contained in a victim impact statement was not libel per se and that the other allegedly defamatory statement was protected by qualified immunity as a statement concerning a common interest.

Published victim statements: The court’s need for evidence demands that all participants in the process of gathering evidence for use at trial be immune from any liability for damages. The Abromats argued that the Woods were not immune to a civil suit based on their publication of the victim impact statement to a crime victim service provider which is neither a court nor a prosecutor. However, Wyoming law creates a statutorily defined role for such providers and those providers are an important conduit for information between the State and the victim. Wyoming has a strong public policy of protecting victims of crimes from harassment. Therefore, the Woods’ publication of statements for submission to the court in an underlying criminal case cannot be used to support a civil suit for libel. The document was prepared for the purpose of submission to the court and was not published to anyone for any reason outside that purpose.

Conclusion: Statements made by the victim of a crime to a crime victim service provider for submission to the court, which were not published to anyone else for any other purpose, cannot support tort liability for libel because a victim has absolute immunity as a witness when making statements in the court of the judicial proceedings.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/kmbp5g

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