State v. Powell
New Mexico Court of Appeals
839 P.2d 139 (1992)
David William Powell (defendant), a university teacher, was convicted of criminal libel in magistrate court after publicly accusing the university's acting academic vice-president of misconduct in his official capacity. On appeal to district court, where he was entitled to a new trial, Powell moved to dismiss on the ground that the state's criminal libel statute was unconstitutional on its face and as applied to him. The district court agreed and dismissed the complaint, and the State appealed.
Whether a defamatory statement about a public official's official conduct, made with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity, is stripped of qualified constitutional privilege, such that criminal libel liability may attach only when actual malice is shown.