LAS VEGAS — LAS VEGAS (AP) —
The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday ended a defamation lawsuit brought by casino mogul Steve Wynn against The Associated Press in 2018, rejecting his bid for a jury to hear his claim that he was defamed by an AP story about two women who alleged Wynn committed sexual misconduct.
The seven-member court upheld a February ruling by a three-judge panel that cited the state’s anti-SLAPP law, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation, that blocks lawsuits filed to intimidate or silence critics.
That ruling said anti-SLAPP statutes “were designed to limit precisely the type of claim at issue here, which involves a news organization publishing an article in a good faith effort to inform their readers regarding an issue of clear public interest.”
In what the unanimous full court said was an effort to clarify the law, Justice Ron Parraguirre wrote that Wynn, as a public figure, needed to show “clear and convincing evidence to reasonably infer that the publication was made with actual malice.”
“The public had an interest in understanding the history of misconduct alleged to have been committed by one of the most recognized figures in Nevada,” the opinion said, “and the article directly relates to that interest.”
Attorneys who represent Wynn personally and those who handled the case did not respond to email and telephone messages seeking comment.
“The Associated Press is very pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision,” Lauren Easton, AP vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement.
The AP plans to seek reimbursement for legal costs through a lower court.
Dominic Gentile, a veteran Nevada lawyer well-known for his work in First Amendment law, said the ruling “will make it even more difficult for a public figure to bring an action over expressive conduct.”
“In most cases, the standard is ‘a preponderance of evidence’ that a lawsuit is being brought to stifle speech,” he said. “This cas