Guitarist for rock band Boston lacked basis for defamation suits, top state court says
After years of litigation, a top state court has definitively ended consolidated defamation cases by Boston guitarist Tom Scholz against the Boston Herald and the ex-wife of the rock band’s late frontman, Brad Delp.
Scholz said news coverage in the Herald implied that he was to blame for Delp’s 2007 suicide. But in a Wednesday decision (PDF), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts said Micki Delp’s comments reported by the Herald were her opinions and hence not actionable, since a defamation suit requires a false statement of fact.
Scholz argued the Herald coverage had suggested that undisclosed, defamatory facts were the basis for Micki Delp’s comments. However, the court said the nature of suicide, which can only rarely be attributed to a specific, known cause, undercuts this argument and helps makes clear that Delp’s statements were her opinions.
“[O]rdinarily, ascertaining the reason or reasons a person has committed suicide would require speculation; although a view might be expressed as to the cause, rarely will it be the case that even those who were close to the individual will know what he or she was thinking and feeling when that final decision was made,” the court wrote.
The Associated Press and Courthouse News have stories.
Boston is perhaps best known for its hit song “More Than a Feeling,” which was featured on the band’s spectacularly successful 1976 debut album.
Related coverage:
Boston Globe (2011): “When, suddenly, the sun was gone”
Boston Globe (2012): “Singer’s last days detailed in court papers”
Boston Globe (2013): “Tom Scholz loses suit against Boston Herald”
