Dalton v. Meister

On November 27, 1967, LeRoy L. Dalton commenced this defamation action against Howard J. Meister, alleging acts of libel and
slander. The defense is the statements are true and within the range of fair comment of a public official. The case was tried
to a jury which returned a verdict in favor of Dalton, assessing $75,000 compensatory damages and $200,000 punitive damages.
The trial court affirmed the compensatory damages but applied the Powers rule 1 and reduced the punitive damages to $75,000.
Meister appeals and Dalton seeks a review of the trial court's order reducing the amount of punitive damages. Meister raises two issues on this appeal: (1) That he was prejudiced by the rulings of the trial court which excluded evidence
of the details of a John Doe and a grand jury proceedings; and (2) that the damages awarded by the jury and approved by the
trial court are excessive. We think there is no merit in either contention.