JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - The parents of a young man whose death drew national attention including podcasts and a $47 million defamation suit can’t sue the man who obtained investigative records from the state before they did and published them on his personal website, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled.
Todd and Rae Andreachhio sued Joel “Frankie” Wagner and Marvin Sanders, a Mississippi assistant attorney general, after Sanders shared a jump drive with files on the death of their son Christian with Wagner. Christian died in 2014 of a gunshot wound to the head that police said was suicide, but which his parents maintain was a homicide.
The dispute over Christian’s death spawned extensive discussion on the Internet; a popular podcast, “Culpable,” which included a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his killer; and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by two people who claim the podcast unfairly implicated them in his death. Christian reportedly died after fighting with his girlfriend, who is Wagner’s niece.
The Andreachhios accused Wagner of illegally obtaining the investigative report, which included photos of the death scene. But Sanders said he released the information at Wagner’s request, shortly before he gave the same files to the Andreachhios.
As a legal public record, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled, Wagner had every right to publish the information. The Andreacchios lost a similar case in Tennessee, the court noted.
“Sanders for whatever reason decided to give it to him,” the court ruled. “It is certainly understandable that the Andreacchios are upset that Wagner received more information more quickly than they did. But that does not mean Wagner acted unlawfully.”
Justice Kenny Griffis dissented, saying the case shouldn’t be dismissed until a court determines the truth of the Andreacchios’ claim that Wagner obtained the file illegally.
“The record does not include what steps, if any, Wagner took to obtain the investigative file, nor does it include whether Wagner followed the proper procedures in order to obtain the file,” he wrote.