In a few weeks, Prince Harry’s lawsuit against News Group Newspapers moves to trial. NGN is the Murdoch family’s British media arm, which publishes the Times of London and The Sun, although the hacking claims against NGN put News of the World out of business more than a decade ago. While gossip blogs have been covering the ins and outs of Harry’s lawsuits for years, it’s worth remembering that pretty much all of the American and British media will be watching this trial closely. I didn’t know this, but it’s the first time someone has accused NGN of hacking and unlawful activity and taken it all the way to trial. Hundreds of hacking victims have sued NGN, and NGN has managed to settle with them before their cases have gone to trial. According to Puck News, the Murdochs have spent hundreds of millions of dollars/pounds settling these cases. Puck News spoke to a British lawyer, Mark Stephens, about what to expect from Harry’s trial, and I found all of this fascinating. You can read the full Puck piece here. Some highlights:
What is Harry’s legal claim? “The claim is essentially that there was an unlawful acquisition of information by the newspaper—sometimes by hacking, but sometimes by deception. Given that in previous cases, judges have made findings about particular journalists being involved with particular private detectives who got information unlawfully, the question is: How did they get information [about Harry] which wasn’t in the public domain? And the inability to demonstrate where the information comes from creates an inference of hacking.”
A deal with Prince William: “The first question is whether this is time-barred, and here there is an additional layer of complexity because it’s asserted that [Murdoch’s company] did a deal with Buckingham Palace to give Prince William good publicity. And as a consequence of that, members of the royal family—William and Harry—[agreed they] wouldn’t sue. So there becomes the question of first, did Harry know about the claim, and second, did he know about the compromise of the claim?
An alleged secret deal: “The trial is going to delve into some of the backroom deals that Harry says were done, and are probably more embarrassing, both for the newspaper and the palace. Was there a secret deal for the newspaper to give good publicity to the royal family, and in return, they undertook not to sue? The judge has to make that determination first. If the newspaper loses the time-bar issue, I think it’s almost certain that Harry will win at least some of the unlawful acquisition of information claims. The time-bar issue is really important, which is why the newspaper is bringing in a very eminent king’s counsel to cross-examine Harry.
Harry’s four-day cross-examination: “They’re going to try and destroy him in cross-examination, because Harry’s case is pretty straightforward. Harry says, “There may have been people in the palace who knew about this unlawful intrusion, but I didn’t know, and therefore I wasn’t able to exercise my rights.” The newspaper, on the other hand, says, “Well, of course you knew, and you had every opportunity to bring your claim, and you just missed the time.”
What kind of damages Harry needs to win: “I think the answer is that this is not an economic case. Harry has made it clear that he’s not in it to either cover or make his cost. He wants accountability. He feels that his life has been intruded upon, that it’s had an impact on his relationships with others. And then you layer on top of that, the way in which the media treated Princess Diana, his mother. And of course, you start to understand why this is such an issue of principle for Harry.
The Will Lewis issue: “Here, it’s the position from claimants—not just Harry, but all of them—that Will Lewis oversaw the hiding of information, the deletion of emails. That’s part of the discomfort he’s been experiencing these last few months….There’s basically three phases of what happened you can categorize. First, pretty much industrial-level unlawful newsgathering. Then, the stage when they decided to stop it. Finally, what they did about evidence of past wrongdoings. And that’s where Harry says they deleted internal emails in a way that was non-retrievable. Not only deleted them off the local servers, but also backup servers. And you’ll understand just how unusual that is. That is going to be an interesting area at this trial, because, of course, when you’re dealing with an inferential case where there’s no smoking gun, you’re having to piece information together. So the question becomes: Is that the action of an entirely innocent news organization that they delete all historic emails from particular mailboxes? The judge will have to make an assessment.
Whether Will Lewis will testify: “I don’t think he will be testifying, but he will be mentioned in the dispatches, in the evidence. And the allegations made against him—that he oversaw a cover-up or a clean-up, whatever you call it—is something, whether the newspaper wins or loses, that’s going to raise more questions after the trial.
When a decision/verdict might come: “I would think it’s going to take a while, because it’s an inferential case, so the judgment will be reserved. [Ed. note: The trial is scheduled to last two months, and the outcome won’t come immediately.] It’s going to be quite a long case, and so I would think it’ll take a month or so before the judge gives his judgment.”
The thing that struck me, as I read this, is that Harry and his lawyers have spent years getting their ducks in a row, and once they prove that there’s no statute of limitations on his claims, it’s pretty likely that he’ll win at least part of his case. The fact that Harry seemingly doesn’t care about the money is interesting too – I mean, we knew that, and we knew that even if he wins, it’s likely he won’t even break even financially. He really is standing on principle, and even more than that, he wants to burn the whole thing down and expose the rot within Britain’s tabloid media and the compromised royal institution. The thing is, say he wins or has a partial win here, but the damages don’t even come close to ensuring that he breaks even. THAT is how it will be reported in the British media and probably the American media too – they’ll be focused on the money, not necessarily the legal victory.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
