Boston Herald Is Fined $2 Million in Libel Case

BOSTON, Feb. 18 -- A jury here awarded more than $2 million to a state judge Friday, after finding that the Boston Herald and one of its reporters committed libel by publishing several highly critical articles in 2002 and promoting them on television.

The penalty included $350,000 stemming from a March 7, 2002, appearance by reporter Dave Wedge on the Fox News program "The O'Reilly Factor." Legal experts, including Sandra Baron, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center, which tracks libel cases, said they believe it marks the first time a jury has punished a print reporter for comments made on television.

The award, which with two years of accrued interest amounts to about $2.6 million, plaintiffs' attorneys said, stemmed from a string of articles and statements portraying New Bedford, Mass., Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy, 61, as soft on criminals and unsympathetic to their victims.

Several times he was quoted as saying of a 14-year-old rape victim, "Tell her to get over it," a comment he denied making.

"I am feeling, obviously, very, very elated and gratified by what's happened so far," said Murphy, who testified emotionally about the heavy toll the articles had taken on his health and his family. He embraced his family outside the courtroom after the verdict was read and raised his attorneys' arms in victory.

The Herald, in a written statement from Publisher Patrick J. Purcell, said it will fight the ruling.

"We believe the First Amendment allows news organizations to provide uninhibited coverage of government and public figures and we will continue to cover them vigorously," Purcell said. "We have complete faith in our reporter David Wedge, and we are confident this decision will be reversed on appeal."

The six-man, six-woman jury was asked to consider 61 statements about Murphy made in print or on television, and awarded damages for 22 in which they determined that the Herald and Wedge had shown "reckless disregard" for the truth.

"They said he said, 'Tell her to get over it,' but I don't think they made an effort to find out if that quote was true or not," juror Amidu Barrie, 42, a Boston taxi driver, said in a telephone interview. "Most newspapers get careless sometimes, but they just kept using the quote over and over."

A second reporter named in the case, Jules Crittenden, was not found to have libeled Murphy.