PUBLISH
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Filed 8/27/96
TENTH CIRCUIT
ROBERT G. TILTON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. No. 95-5152
CAPITAL CITIES/ABC, INC., a New
York corporation; AMERICAN
BROADCASTING COMPANIES,
INC., a Delaware corporation; ABC
NEWS, INC., a Delaware corporation;
DIANE SAWYER; ROBBIE
GORDON; KELLY SUTHERLAND,
Defendants - Appellees.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
(D. Ct. No. 92-C-1032-BU)
J.C. Joyce, Joyce and Pollard, Tulsa, Oklahoma, appearing for the Appellant.
Floyd Abrams, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, New York, New York (Susan Buckley
and David G. Januszewski, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, New York, New York, and
Clyde A. Muchmore, Crowe & Dunlevy, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with him on
the brief) appearing for the Appellees.
Before TACHA, BRISCOE, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
TACHA, Circuit Judge.
Robert G. Tilton sued Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., American Broadcasting
Companies, Inc., ABC News, Inc., and several employees of American Broadcasting
Companies, Inc., for libel and false invasion of privacy arising out of the broadcast
of two television programs in 1991 and 1992. All defendants moved for summary
judgment on the merits of Tilton’s claims, and corporate defendants Capital
Cities/ABC, Inc., and ABC News, Inc., separately moved for summary judgment on
the additional ground that Tilton could not establish a basis for imputing liability to
them.
During the course of the proceedings, the district court denied Tilton’s motion
to compel defendants to disclose the identity of confidential sources. In addition, the
court granted both the defendants’ motion in limine concerning the newsperson’s
privilege and their motion to exclude the testimony of Tilton’s expert linguist. On
May 24, 1995, the district court granted the motion of defendants Capital
Cities/ABC, Inc., and ABC News, Inc., on the ground that neither entity had been
involved in the preparation or broadcast of the programs. On June 19, 1995, the
district court granted summary judgment to the remaining defendants.
Tilton appeals, arguing that the district court erred by (1) granting summary
judgment to defendants on the merits of his claims, (2) granting defendants’ motion
asserting the newsperson’s privilege, and (3) excluding the testimony of his expert
-2-
linguist. After careful review of the record, we adopt the analysis of the district
court. Accordingly, we AFFIRM for substantially the reasons given by the district
court and ORDER that the court’s orders of June 19, 1995 (concerning the merits),
May 24, 1995 (concerning defendants’ motion in limine), and May 26, 1995
(concerning the testimony of the expert linguist) be published.
-3-