From Collins v. Waters, decided today by the California Court of Appeal, in an opinion by Justice John Wiley, joined by Justices Grimes and Viramontes:
In 2020, challenger Joe E. Collins III and incumbent Maxine Waters competed for a seat in Congress. During the campaign, Waters accused Collins of a dishonorable discharge from the Navy.
Collins shot back that he had not been dishonorably discharged. He showed Waters a document saying so. This document apparently was official. There was nothing suspicious about its appearance. The document, if genuine, would have established without doubt that Waters's charge was false.
Waters easily could have checked its authenticity, but did not. Her appellate briefing asserts that today, years later, she still does not know the truth about whether Collins's discharge was dishonorable.
This disinterest in a conclusive and easily-available fact could suggest willful blindness.
Collins sued Waters for defamation during the campaign, but Waters convinced the trial court to grant her special motion to strike his suit. We reverse that order. The preliminary posture of the case required the court to accept Collins's evidence as true. His evidence created a possible inference of Waters's willful blindness, which is probative of actual malice [i.e., reckless or knowing falsehood—ed.]. It was error to grant Waters's anti-SLAPP motion [a California state law motion that can be used to dismiss unfounded libel claims, but that doesn't block potentially viable claims—ed.]….
Free speech is vital in America, but truth has a place in the public square as well. Reckless disregard for the truth can create liability for defamation. When you face powerful documentary evidence your accusation is false, when checking is easy, and when you skip the checking but keep accusing, a jury could conclude you have crossed the line. It was error to end this suit at this early stage, for Collins established the minimal case needed to defeat Waters's special motion to strike.
