OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned a libel judgment involving the Ottawa Citizen newspaper and a former police officer and ordered a new trial.
Today's decision clears the way for a new libel defence which allows for errors as long as journalists act responsibly while pursuing a story in the public interest.
Danno Cusson, a former member of the Ontario Provincial Police, travelled to New York City with his dog after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The newspaper produced three articles which cast his activities in a negative light.
Some of the details and quotes in the articles were deemed defamatory, and Cusson was awarded $125,000 in a verdict upheld by the provincial appeal court.
The Supreme Court case was being watched closely as a test of the new libel defence.
