TV Station Defamed Politician, Jury Says

An unsuccessful Houston mayoral candidate won $5.5 million in damages from a television station and its reporter for a 1991 story that he blamed for his defeat. The jury found that Sylvester Turner, now a member of the Texas Legislature, had been defamed when KTRK-TV linked him to an alleged 1986 insurance scam in which a former client had faked his own death. Turner denied the story, aired shortly before the vote, and alleged it turned the tide in Mayor Bob Lanier’s favor. Reporter Wayne Dolcefino was ordered to pay $500,000 and the station $5 million. Dolcefino had no comment, but the station said it would appeal.