Tilton v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.

                                      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.




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Tilton v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.

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