Sudbury Lawyer Wins Defamation Suit Versus Boston Herald

A Sudbury lawyer was victorious in his case against the Boston Herald as he helped a Boston woman receive half a million dollar in damages in the case involving a 2009 newspaper article.

Sudbury's David H. Rich represented Joanna Marinova, who sued the Boston Herald and its reporter, Jessica Van Sack, for defamation.

Van Sack wrote a story on May 28, 2009, during which it was falsely reported that Marinova had been written up by Old Colony Prison officials for having sex with a convicted murderer, according to the Boston Globe.

The Globe reported that a Suffolk Superior Court jury deliberated for about 15 hours late last week and eventually found three parts of the case were false but two parts of the story did indeed defame Marinova.

As a result, the Boston woman was awarded a total of $563,052.

"The jury’s verdict informs the public that the Herald and its reporter knowingly published false and damaging statements about Ms. Marinova," said Rich in a statement. "I hope that the jury’s verdict today serves to remedy the injustice that was done to Joanna Marinova on May 28, 2009, and to begin to restore her reputation."

In a statement last week on its website, the Boston Herald stuck by its story and reporter.

"The article was not only excellent, but important, leading as it did to a Department of Corrections investigation and certain reform measures," said the Herald. "Lawsuits like the one filed here are serious threats not only to the rights of a free and robust press, but to the rights of the citizenry that expects, and depends upon, that free and robust press. The Herald fully expects to ultimately prevail in this matter."