Key v. City of Cullman11/16/2001
Annette L. Key ("Key"), individually and on behalf of her two minor sons, Jeffery P. Parker and Brian Parker (hereinafter together referred to as the "plaintiffs"), sued The City of Cullman (hereinafter the "City"); Lieutenant Max Bartlett (hereinafter "Bartlett"); Compass Bank, Inc.; and The Cullman Times n/k/a APAC-95 Alabama Holdings, Inc. In their complaint, the plaintiffs sought damages for claims alleging negligence, libel, slander, "false light," wrongful intrusion into their privacy, violation of their rights to privacy, and the tort of outrage.
The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of the City and Bartlett on all of the plaintiffs' claims. On April 30, 2001, the trial court certified that partial summary judgment as final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. The plaintiffs appealed, and the Supreme Court of Alabama transferred the appeal to this court, pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala. Code 1975.
A motion for summary judgment is properly granted where no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56, Ala. R. Civ. P.; Bussey v. John Deere Co., 531 So. 2d 860 (Ala. 1988). After the moving party makes its prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So. 2d 794 (Ala. 1989). To carry that burden, the nonmoving party is required to present substantial evidence, i.e., "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So. 2d 870, 871 (Ala. 1989). In reviewing a summary judgment, this court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and must resolve all reasonable doubts concerning the existence of a genuine issue of material fact in favor of the non-movant. Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So. 2d 412 (Ala. 1990).
The facts are essentially undisputed. In June 1998, Jennifer Lindley, a college student, reported to the police that a blank check had been stolen from her automobile. On June 2, 1998, that stolen check, containing a forgery of Lindley's signature, was cashed at the main branch of Compass Bank (hereinafter "Compass"); the amount of that forged check was $100.
Also on June 2, 1998, the plaintiffs went to Compass so that Key, who had a Compass Bank checking account, could cash a personal check. Key wrote a check for $100, and the bank teller gave her that amount in cash. Key's two teen-aged sons accompanied her while she conducted that banking transaction. While they were in the lobby of the Compass bank, the plaintiffs were videotaped by Compass's surveillance cameras.
On June 30, 1998, a photograph of the plaintiffs taken from the surveillance videotape was published in The Cullman Times, a newspaper of general publication in the community. The caption under the photograph stated, " his bank surveillance photo shows three suspects the Cullman Police Department are looking for in connection with a forgery case." The article, in its entirety, read as follows:
"Cullman Police Department on Trail of Forgery Suspects."
"The Cullman Police Department is asking for help in catching a forgery suspect and two possible accomplices.
"On June 2, two white males and a white female cashed a stolen check at the main branch of Compass Bank.
"Lt. Max Bartlett of the police department said the checkbook had been reportedly stolen from a vehicle p
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