DALLAS TIMES HERALD
April 20,1991
Channel 8 loses libel lawsuit
Ex-Waco D.A. wins record $58 million
By Bill Muller
of the Times Herald Staff
Vic Feazell, the former Waco prosecutor who debunked the multiple murder confessions of Henry Lee Lucas, on Friday was awarded the largest libel judgment in the nation’s history, $58million, in a suit against Dallas’ WFAA-Channel 8
The former McLennan County district attorney charged that former WFAA reporter Charles Duncan libeled him in an 11-part series aired in 1985 that raised questions about Feazell’s handling of drunken-driving and drug-possession cases.
I want to thank God. God led us, God preserved us, God gave us the victory,” Feazell, 39, said at a victory party shortly after the verdict.
Feazell, who drew the ire of state law enforcement officials in 1985 by asserting the Lucas’ confessions were a hoax, maintained that Duncan’s series ruined his reputation and led to an FBI investigation. The probe led to Feazell’s indictment on racketeering charges, but a federal court jury acquitted him in 1987.
“This whole thing was an orchestrated retaliation against me for exposing the Henry Lee Lucas confession hoax,” Feazell said Friday.
A.H. Belo Corp., which owns the television station and The Dallas Morning News, will challenge the judgment, officials said.
“The company believes there is absolutely no factual basis to support this jury verdict, which involves a public official," said Mike McCarthy, senior vice president and. general counsel of Belo."
“We will obviously pursue all available post-trial motions and, if necessary, appeal.”
Neither Duncan nor his lawyers would comment on the outcome.
Before Friday’s $58 million award was announced, the largest libel judgment was Philadelphia lawyer Richard Sprague”s $34 million award won last May for a 1973 story in The Philadelphia Inquirer that criticized his handling of a homicide case when he was an assistant district attorney.
The next-largest award is $19.3 million awarded to entertainer Wayne Newton by a Las Vegas jury in 1987 for NBC’s October 1980 telecast that said the government was investigating possible mob ties in Newton’s purchase of the Aladdin Hotel and Casino.
A federal judge later reduced the award to $5.2 million and an appeals court last August dismissed Newton’s suit, finding a lack of evidence that the newscast was either deliberately or recklessly false.
Feazell has said his troubles began in 1984, when he began to doubt the story of Lucas, a derelict, with an IQ of 84 who had confessed to hundreds of unsolved murders. The prosecutor-along with stories in
The Dallas Times Herald-played a key role in showing that Lucas’ confessions were a hoax.
The revelations humiliated the Texas Rangers, the lead agency in the Lucas case. Lucas remains on Death Row for the killing of an unidentified woman known only as “Orange Socks.”
After a lengthy investigation, Feazell was indicted in 1986 on racketeering charges and accused of bribery and extortion in exchange for favorable treatment in criminal cases.
He resigned as McLennan county district attorney in 1988 and is in private practice in Waco.
Feazell filed the lawsuit in 1986 against Duncan, Belo Broadcasting Corp. and A.H. Belo Corp. The lawsuit alleged that the series was malicious and filled with inaccuracies and defamatory statements.
A.H. Belo was dismissed from the lawsuit last month after WFAA’s attorneys proved that Duncan never worked for the parent company.
Belo attorneys said Duncan started his series after the inception of the federal investigation and said it was fair comment on the performance of a public official.
Feazell said he was confident while waiting for the jury’s decision.
“I have a very special thanks for 24 special people-the 12 people in Austin who found me not guilty in 1987 and the 12 people today,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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