Morrone v. The Journal News [1]

On November 19, 2007, James Morrone accidentally shot a friend who was hunting with him. The friend, who was shot in the leg, survived the shooting and recovered. The Journal News published an article about the shooting with the headline: "Purchase Man Charged with Felony in Hunting Death" on its online news and communty website, www.lohud.com.

Mr. Morrone sued the Journal News and its parent company, Gannett Satellite Information Network, on November 20, 2008 in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Mr. Morrone sought $500,000 in damages for defamation, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress for the allegedly false statement that there was a "Hunting Death." (Compl. 2)

Gannett argued that the average reader would understand from reading the article as a whole that the friend did not die. Gannett also argued that if liability is based solely on the headline, the "'gist' or ‘sting' of the article—Morrone's felony charge for first-degree reckless endangerment, which included accidentally shooting his friend in the leg—is substantially true." (Reply Mem. 2)

The case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 10, 2009.