The Wrong Son, The Wrong Car

The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed the denial of a defendant’s motion to dismiss a defamation claim

On June 22, 2021, the plaintiff, Ashland City police officer Jeremy Wayne Long, conducted a traffic stop at a “Sonic” restaurant, the subject of which was country music singer Ryan Upchurch. As the traffic stop continued, Mr. Upchurch began to record his interaction with Officer Long as a “livestream” on his Facebook page. During the livestream, numerous individuals commented on Mr. Upchurch’s Facebook page in reaction to the livestream video. One such individual was Candice O’Brien Beasley, defendant in the underlying lawsuit and a resident of Ashland City, who posted the following comments during the livestream:

Long is known for planting drugs.

The same cop harassed me more than 19 times when [B.B.] and [P.B.] were little now here he is harassing them and searching vehicles claiming to smell weed each time. He broke panels and all kinds of s*** in [B.B.’s] Tahoe.

Chris Beasley, Ms. Beasley’s husband, also posted a comment on Mr. Upchurch’s Facebook page, stating:

I know that dirty cop well. He had to leave [Ashland City(?)Police Department] back in the day because he stalked women, and would plant drugs in peoples cars to make busts. He just got hired back and is pulling over everyone to build his quota up.

According to Officer Long, he became aware of these and other comments that had been posted to Mr. Upchurch’s Facebook page when, three weeks later, a man approached him and stated: “You’re that cop that is known for planting drugs and stalking women. I don’t need to talk to you.”

He sued the Beasleys for defamation.

Dismissal

As Officer Long correctly avers, and as discussed above, Ms. Beasley admitted that it was not B.B.’s Tahoe, as she had inaccurately posted on Mr. Upchurch’s Facebook page, but rather it was P.B.’s Escalade that she believed had been damaged by Officer Long. Thus, taking the deposition testimony in the light most favorable to Officer Long, we conclude that Ms. Beasley posted her comment about the wrong son and the wrong vehicle at least with reckless disregard for the truth of those details.

However, as with the above-reviewed discrepancy regarding whether Officer Long had conducted a traffic stop or interacted with B.B., we determine that although Ms. Beasley posted the statement including the wrong son’s name and the wrong type of vehicle, the statement was not defamatory because the statement’s effect on the reader would have remained the same had she correctly posted that it was P.B.’s Escalade, not B.B.’s Tahoe, that Officer Long had damaged. See SmileDirectClub, 2024 WL 423949, at *12. This is because the potentially damaging words in the post were not in the details of which son, or which vehicle, was damaged, but in Ms. Beasley’s assertion that Officer Long “harassed” one of her sons by “breaking panels” and other items in his vehicle. See Revis, 31 S.W.3d at 253. Ms. Beasley articulated in her deposition that she believed that Officer Long’s behavior in damaging P.B.’s vehicle was an instance of harassment. Thus, the “sting” of Ms. Beasley’s statement (that Officer Long “harassed” her son and “broke” parts of his vehicle) remained true. See Stones River Motors, 651 S.W.2d at 719. We therefore determine Ms. Beasley’s misstatement regarding which son and which vehicle to be immaterial to the question of whether the posted statement was defamatory.

Upon our de novo review, we determine that the record contains no evidence indicating that Ms. Beasley did not believe that Officer Long had damaged her son’s vehicle. Accordingly, Officer Long has not presented sufficient proof in the record to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that Ms. Beasley made the statement with actual malice relative to the alleged defamatory portions of the statement.

We conclude that Officer Long failed to establish a prima facie case of defamation against either Mr. or Ms. Beasley and that the trial court should have granted the Beasleys’ TPPA petition and dismissed the case.

The artist whose Facebook post got this ball rolling is chronicled in the Floyd County Chronicle

Ryan Upchurch exploded onto the music scene in 2014 with his own style of country and hip hop. A few years later, he has nearly 1 billion video views on YouTube alone, four #1 Billboard hits, two gold records, a co-sign from Elton John, and over 13 million combined social media followers. Ryan has accomplished all this while remaining an independent artist; outspoken and uncensored with unwavering passion in every project he releases.

(Mike Frisch)