The Dawson News recently published a story covering the arrest of multiple people in Dawson County following an undercover sting operation.
According to the article, Thomas Goodwin and Claire Blehr were arrested and "charged with assisted suicide, tampering with evidence and violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations."
Their alleged role in the death of a local man prompted the sting, which revealed that the two were associated with a nonprofit organization, Final Exit Network, the article said.
On the organization's Web site, "[serving] people who are suffering intolerably from an irreversible condition which has become more than they can bear," is listed as one of their main goals.
A GBI officer posed as a pancreatic cancer patient during the undercover investigation to gain the suspects' trust, according to the article.
John Cagle, commander of the sheriff's criminal investigations division, "said the undercover sting revealed that helium inhalation was the method the group uses to assist in the suicides."
The arrests resulted in further investigation into the Final Exit Network and alleged members across seven states.
In dealing with crime stories, reporters must pay careful attention to how they phrase certain statements to avoid libel suits. In this article, I think Michele Hester did a fair job in reporting the accuracies of the charges and arrests associated with the case.
Some things I think are possible libel problems surrounding this story are that the organization is now associated with the term "assisted suicide" and the investigation links the group with the arrested persons charges with multiple crimes.
In order for a libel suit to be successful, one must prove defamation. So has this organization been defamed by this article, now that it has been associated with "assisted suicide?"
I think in some instances, this article skirts on some statements that could possibly be scrutinized.
The following statement was made without any attribution: "The member is then instructed to buy two helium tanks and a specific type of hood as an 'exit bag.' On the day of the event, the member is visited by the 'exit guide' and a 'senior exit guide.'"
In this article, I think it's incredibly important to cite all of your sources when making a statement that refers to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Overall, I believe Hester did a fair job reporting on this unusual story (especially unusual in Dawson County). I don't think a libel suit will be a problem for the Dawson News in regard to this article.
-Tahni Segars
Tahni,
ReplyDeleteThese are good observations. The article does seem pretty safe. There are a lot more pre-trial details than you would usually expect to come from law enforcement, but they must feel pretty confident since their evidence came from a sting operation. It's pretty clear throughout that the story is reporting official allegations, not making allegations on its own.