Utah drops criminal defamation charge against boy for online comments


© 2003 Student Press Law Center

January 14, 2003

UTAH — Criminal defamation charges were dropped against a former Milford High School student last week, ending the case brought against him for derogatory comments he posted online about classmates and his principal.

The Beaver County Attorney closed its case against Ian Lake, now 19, on the heals of a Utah Supreme Court decision last fall that cleared the boy of criminal libel under a 126-year-old statute, which subsequently was ruled unconstitutional.

Lake, now a resident of California, was arrested and charged for criminal libel, slander and defamation after commenting on a friend's Web site in 2000 about several students' sexual history and accusing his high school principal of being the "town drunk." Lake spent seven days in a juvenile detention facility.

The slander charge was quickly dropped. And, in November the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the criminal libel statute that Lake was prosecuted under was unconstitutional because it did not apply the "actual malice" standard, which requires a person accused of libel either knew the challenged statement was false or was reckless in verifying its accuracy.

However, the misdemeanor criminal defamation of character charge was still being pursued until Fifth District Juvenile Court Judge Hans Chamberlain dropped the class B misdemeanor on Jan. 7.

If found guilty, Lake could have faced six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Recently sworn-in Beaver County Attorney Von Christiansen asked the court to dismiss the charge during the court proceeding.

"Considering the Supreme Court ruling, we cannot see how justice is being pursued with these [defamation] charges," Christiansen said in an Associated Press article.

His predecessor Leo Kanell, now an assistant county attorney, filed the charges against Lake and remains adamant that, if pursued, the defamation charges would have passed constitutional muster. Kanell, however, said he agreed with the dismissal because many involved have since moved from the area.

The Lakes are left with $50,000 of legal bills, although Ian was represented by court-appointed attorneys. David Lake, Ian's father, told the AP that Kanell "wasted a lot of tax money in his personal pursuit of my son."

Kanell blames the media over the demise of the case.

"The media [were] a stumbling block by all the attention they gave this," Kanell said in an AP story. "They never felt sorry for those who were deeply hurt [by Ian Lake's actions] and how he affected their decisions to leave or retire from the school district."

The Student Press Law Center, along with other free-press advocate groups, sent a letter to Christiansen in November to urge him to drop the remaining criminal defamation charge against Lake.

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For More Information: Read previous coverage

• Utah youth now faces criminal defamation for online comments News Flash, 12/20/2002
  
• Utah court rejects criminal libel statute; says 'actual malice,' falsity necessary The Report, Winter 2002-03
  
• Utah Supreme Court throws out criminal libel law News Flash, 11/21/2002
  
• Court to decide on criminal defamation The Report, Fall 2001
  
• Student, principal drop dueling lawsuits News Flash 3/29/2001
  
• Judge refuses to dismiss case against student charged with criminal libel for Web site News Flash, 12/6/2000
  
• Libel Lessons The Report, Winter 2000-01
  
• High school student faces criminal libel charges for Web site remarks The Report, Fall 2000
  
• Student charged with criminal libel for Web site comments spends 7 days in jail News Flash, 6/5/2000