Former sheriff's deputy files suit against Times

Stories about Daniel Brock's handling of DUI arrests are at the center of the libel lawsuit.

By TIMES STAFF
Published August 7, 2007

TAMPA - A former Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy who was fired in May over questions about his handling of DUI arrests has sued the St. Petersburg Times' parent company over coverage of his dismissal.

The 22-page, 16-count libel lawsuit was filed late last month in Hillsborough Circuit Court against the Times Publishing Co. It focuses on stories that ran June 15 and 16 about the firing of Daniel Brock, and headlines that accompanied them, in the Times and the free daily tbt*/Tampa Bay Times. Both are published by Times Publishing Co.

The suit says Times Publishing made several errors in reporting the circumstances of Brock's termination and published other claims that were not attributed, creating a "false impression" of him.

Further, the suit claims Times Publishing either did not correct errors, or did so inadequately.

The Times published a clarification of details of both stories on June 22 after questions were raised by Brock's Tampa attorney, Jeffrey A. Blau, who could not be reached late Monday. On June 20, tbt*/Tampa Bay Times published a correction regarding a headline accompanying one of the stories.

Brock was fired on May 24 after an internal investigation showed that he arrested 58 people with blood-alcohol content below the legal threshold, often without evidence of suspicious driving behavior, positive urine samples or video to back his accusations of impairment.

George Rahdert, an attorney for the Times, said the newspaper stands by its reports and plans to defend them vigorously.

"Anybody who is a part of the government complaining about a story concerning their discharge of public power has to prove that anything that was incorrect was the result of malice," Rahdert said. "I feel the gist of the stories was correct.

"If we clarified a couple of matters, it was consistent with our journalistic standards to do so, and not out of any legal concern."

[Last modified August 7, 2007, 00:01:09]