Judge Rules TV Station Did Not Defame Police Officer
On Wednesday, a Wisconsin judge ruled that a Madison television news report that mistakenly identified a former Milwaukee police officer by the wrong name was false but not defamatory. The report, by WKOW, claimed that former Milwaukee sergeant Mark Wagner was the same Mark Wagner who, while working as a special agent with the state Division of Criminal Investigation, shot and wounded Quadren Wilson during a traffic stop in Madison. However, the Mark Wagner who shot Wilson was actually Mark P. Wagner, while the Mark Wagner who was the subject of the lawsuit was Mark D. Wagner Jr.
Mark D. Wagner Jr. filed the lawsuit against WKOW in June, alleging that the station failed to use ordinary care in verifying the identity of "Mark Wagner" before running the story and that as a result, he "suffered humiliation, loss of reputation, and physical endangerment to him and his family entitling him to compensatory damages." WKOW argued that in order to recover damages, Mark D. Wagner Jr. would have to show that the station acted with actual malice, which is defined as either knowing that the report was false or recklessly disregarding whether it was false or not.
However, Circuit Judge Frank Remington ruled that the report, though false, was not defamatory as defined by law. Remington stated that "a reasonable person could not understand the broadcast to have harmed (Mark D.) Wagner’s reputation because any reasonable person would understand who the broadcast was about." In other words, despite using the wrong name and discussing Mark D. Wagner Jr.'s past actions, the broadcast was clearly about Mark P. Wagner and his actions. Remington also stated that no reasonable person would believe that the false statements made by WKOW accused Mark D. Wagner Jr. of doing anything at all.
Mark P. Wagner was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment in September for his role in shooting Wilson. His attorneys are seeking to have the charge dismissed and the Dane County District Attorney's Office removed from the prosecution of the case.