"A Greene County man can soon expect his day in court after two years of what he describes as the tooth-breaking anguish he has suffered at the hands of Virginia¹s self-described 'most powerful' TV station. Jesse Sheckler has filed a defamation suit for $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against the Virginia Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of local NBC affiliate station WVIR-TV 29.

In the suit, filed on March 21, 2002 in Charlottesville Circuit Court, plaintiff Sheckler cites news reports on April 6 and 7, 2001, and again on October 29 and 30 of that year, that falsely claimed he possessed cocaine. WVIR reported, 'DEA and JADE forces had confiscated 50 grams of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder cocaine in a March 2001 raid on the home and business of Jesse Sheckler.' Sheckler was arrested in March 2001 after a Federal grand jury indicted him on one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Novice WVIR reporter Melinda Semadeni covered news of the indictment on April 6. According to court filings from plaintiff's counsel, Semadeni spoke to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Pagel whom she claims supplied her with news of the confiscation. Pagel denies the allegation and asserts that Semadeni never requested a copy of the original indictment. Semadeni kept no notes or record of her interview with Pagel.

According to court documents, the 11 pm newscast on April 6 displayed a photo captioned 'Drug Bust,' which showed two armed officers handcuffing a white male in front of a house. In court documents, plaintiff's counsel notes that Sheckler's arrest occurred in a public space in Greene County and contends the image was neither of Sheckler nor his home. Sheckler's attorney at the time, Denise Lunsford, left voice-mail messages at the WVIR newsroom that were not returned.

Although the drug weights were included in the indictment, U.S. Attorney Pagel tells C-VILLE that such data 'does not mean that that amount was seized and it doesn't mean that it was seized from a particular defendant. It doesn't mean that it was seized at all.'

Covering Sheckler's trial on October 29, 2001, reporter Pedro Echevarria included the cocaine confiscation in his report, after consulting archived material from Semadeni's story. Sheckler was acquitted on November 1.

Matthew Murray, Sheckler's current attorney, said news of the confiscation 'was absolutely false. He was never charged with any possession. They [WVIR] were asked to retract it, and they did not.' Discussing his damages in court filings, Sheckler claims the incident left him with stress, acid discharge, teeth breaking and a root canal, among other problems. Sheckler also claims 'I cry in my heart,' when thinking about WVIR's assertion.

'For a private plaintiff to win punitive damages,' according to Tom Spahn, author of the book The Law of Defamation in Virginia and a partner in local law firm McGuire Woods, a person has to prove actual malice, defined as the defendant¹s knowing falsity and reckless disregard for truth. 'To win compensatory damages, he must prove negligence,' defined as deviating from a common standard of practice.

Thomas Albro, attorney for the Virginia Broadcasting Corporation, would not comment.

The case is slated for trial late next month." (Aaron Carico, C-Ville Weekly, April 22, 2003)