Jury awards $5M in libel lawsuit against The Pilot

CHESAPEAKE

The Virginian-Pilot libeled a Great Bridge High School student when it reported that he bullied a schoolmate, a Circuit Court jury decided Friday. The jury awarded Kevin Webb, now 19, $5 million in damages plus interest.

Webb asserted that the newspaper falsely accused him of the bullying in a Dec. 18, 2009, report by staff writer Louis Hansen. The story was about Webb's sentencing for misdemeanor assault and trespass convictions involving the schoolmate's father. Webb further contended that The Pilot distorted the truth by leaving out negative information about the other student.

The newspaper denied the allegations and stood behind the story.

The seven-member jury deliberated for just more than two hours on the seventh day of the trial.

Webb's lawyer, Jeremiah Denton III, argued Friday that the bullying allegations were added to the story to help it get onto the front page. He asked the jury for millions to compensate Webb for having his reputation ruined.

The schoolmate "wasn't being bullied," Denton said. "That's flat-out false."

Conrad Shumadine, representing The Virginian-Pilot, countered that the article was accurate. He said Hansen carefully reported it from interviews and court records, including asking the Webbs for interviews at the sentencing but was rebuffed.

Shumadine said the bullying aspect was a smaller, explanatory part of a story about an assault conviction. Any damage to Webb's reputation came from that conviction, he argued.

A similar lawsuit by Webb's father, Phillip Webb, is pending.