Sagaille v Carrega (2021 NY Slip Op 01369) Sagaille v Carrega 2021 NY Slip Op 01369 Decided on March 09, 2021 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided and Entered: March 09, 2021 SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION First Judicial Department Sallie Manzanet-Daniels Barbara R. Kapnick Tanya R. Kennedy Martin Shulman Index No. 154010/18 Appeal No. 13314 Case No. 2020-02369 [*1]Chrismy Sagaille, Plaintiff-Respondent, vChristina Carrega, Defendant-Appellant, New York Daily News Company, et al., Defendants. _ National Women's Law Center, A Better Balance, American Association of University Women (AAUW), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO(AFSCME), Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, Clearinghouse on Women's Issues, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Desiree Alliance, Equal Rights Advocates, Feminist Majority Foundation, Gender Justice, Girls Inc., Konidaris Law PLLC, KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change, Legal Aid at Work, Legal Voice, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Association of Women Lawyers, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Consumers League, National Council of Jewish Women, National Crittenton, National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project (NIWAP, Inc.), National Network to End Domestic Violence, National Organization for Women Foundation, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women's Political Caucus,Partnership for Working Families, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Sister Love, Inc., The Women's Law Center of Maryland,Transgender Law Center, Women Lawyers On Guard Inc., Women of Reform Judaism, Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia,Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, and Women's Law Project, Amici Curiae. Plaintiff appeals from the order of the Supreme Court, New York County (Francis A. Khan III, J.), entered September 9, 2019, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, denied defendants' motion to dismiss the claims for libel per se and defamation as against defendant Christina Carrega based upon statements she made to the New York Police Department (NYPD). Eric Smith Dennis, New York, and Loeb & Loeb, LLP, New York (Sarah Levitan Perry and Christian D. Carbone of counsel), for appellant. Metcalf & Metcalf, P.C., New York (Nanette Ida Metcalf of counsel), for respondent. Kirkland & Ellis LLP, New York (Yosey J. Riemer, Joseph M. Sanderson and Pratik K. Ghosh of counsel), for amici curiae. Manzanet-Daniels, J. This appeal raises the issue of whether a sexual assault victim may be subject to a defamation suit based solely on her report to the police of the incident. The lower court held that the making of such a complaint in and of itself amounted to malice sufficient to overcome the qualified privilege attaching to the making of police complaints, finding that reports of sexual assault by their very nature are presumptively malicious. The lower court's ruling rings of the outdated assumptions that have plagued sexual assault victims over time—namely, that women are likely to …
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