defamation law – who win

Identify what plaintiff must prove, and evaluate whether she will be able to prove these things.
Six weeks ago, Dateline NBC ran an episode about the unsolved murder of Devorah Drassle. Drassle was 21 when her body was found in a park near Newhouse State College in 2006, and fifteen years later, her murder is still unsolved. The case made national headlines as the police focused on her boyfriend and college sweetheart, Barton Smythe, as the primary suspect. But Barton was never charged with the crime, and the case eventually went cold as investigators failed to turn up evidence and other possible leads. Barton’s family also received some media attention because they refused to cooperate with the police investigation. In fact, they hired an attorney to speak on behalf of the family and refused to even answer questions from the detectives about their son, his whereabouts during and after the crime, or anything at all. Drassle’s murder is still unsolved.
The recently aired Dateline episode included interviews from the investigators on the case, witnesses to suspicious activity the night Drassle was murdered, and her close friends and family. It included a tour of the home Drassle grew up in, and the house where she lived at Newhouse State College. It also showed footage that was taken in 2006 outside the Smythe home of investigators trying to reach the Smythe family, and the family closing the door and refusing to speak. It also showed Barton’s mother, Marilla Smythe, getting in and out of her car and shielding her face from cameras.
During the portion of the Dateline episode where the chief detective from the case, Detective Holyoke, speaks to Dateline host Lester Holt, Holyoke describes how the Smythe family really held up the investigation:
“Yes, Barton was a primary suspect in the case, and although we came close to arresting him, we never had quite enough evidence to charge him with the murder.”
“Barton’s alibi for the time of the murder was his mother—he claimed that he returned home to his parents’ house the night of the murder, had dinner with his mother and watched a movie with her. She corroborated this story. Despite the fact that her credit card was used to purchase gas at 8pm that evening, and traffic cameras caught pictures of her car across town between the hours of 7pm and 11pm that evening at three different locations across town. Things just didn’t add up. But she wasn’t very willing to answer our questions, or explain her whereabouts further.”
“In all of my years as a detective, I’ve never seen a family less willing to cooperate with the police. Both parents are lawyers, they should know better. It’s almost as if they had something to hide.”
As the Dateline episode fades out of the interview with Holyoke, it once again shows the video footage taken outside the Smythe home of investigators trying to reach the Smythe family, and the family closing the door and refusing to speak, and Marilla Smythe getting in and out of her car and shielding her face from cameras. The narrator says: Perhaps the key figuring out the murder of Devorah Drassle lies with Marilla Smythe. A mother who would seemingly do anything—even lie to investigators—to protect her son.
The Smythe family is furious about the Dateline episode. Marilla Smythe in particular is fired up, and decides to sue NBC (producer of Dateline) for defamation. It just so happens that Marilla, who has been an attorney for Newhouse City for the past 25 years, announced eight weeks ago (two weeks before the Dateline episode aired) that she is running for U.S. Congress. Since the episode aired, she has lost the endorsement of several prominent politicians and business leaders, and two fundraising events have raised far less than anticipated.
Marilla claims this is because she has been defamed by Dateline NBC, particularly because of the statements made by the narrator. She claims she was cast in a way to make it seem that she helped cover up the murder of Drassle.
What must Marilla prove to win a defamation claim against NBC, and what do you think the outcome of this lawsuit will be? (Be sure to identify all of the elements Marilla would need to prove to win her case, and apply the above facts to each of those elements. Remember: show your work/analysis! Don’t just offer conclusions.)

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