Judge strikes defamation lawsuit against San Diego journalist over data center reporting

VISTA, Calif. (CN) — A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled in favor of a broadcast journalist on Friday on defamation claims arising from a plan to build a nearly 1-million-square-foot data center in Imperial County.

Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland granted an anti-SLAPP motion filed by KPBS and reporter Kori Suzuki to strike a complaint filed by Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing over statements made in news articles published in December and January.

Sebastian Rucci, the data center project’s developer, engineer and attorney, sued Suzuki and San Diego State University, which owns KPBS, in February. According to Rucci, KPBS omitted crucial information from its news reporting that cast him and the proposed data center in a negative light.

But Freeland was skeptical from the start, telling Rucci that none of the information in the news articles was incorrect.

If built, the data center would be the largest in California.

Much of Rucci’s argument was based on Suzuki’s reporting that the data center would consume an estimated 750,000 gallons of water per day in an area that already suffers from water supply issues. The developer has claimed the water will be reclaimed water, rather than potable water.

Freeland ultimately confirmed her tentative ruling, writing the lawsuit targeted protected speech on a matter of public interest. Further, it was apparent that Suzuki’s reporting, when taken altogether, was fair and his reporting was not malicious or intentionally misleading to the public, Freehand said.

“Plaintiffs have not provided evidence that Suzuki published a false statement,” she wrote. “At best, Rucci declares that he sent Suzuki ‘written commitments and engineering materials documenting that the project is designed to use 100% tertiary-treated reclaimed water rather than potable supply.’”

“Whether the project was designed to use reclaimed water does not alter the true reporting by Suzuki — the project would require 750,000 gallons of water per day,” the judge continued. “Plaintiffs fail to demonstrate the other surrounding statements made the true statement as to water usage defamatory. Even if readers logically could assume the water usage would not be reclaimed water, Suzuki could not confirm reclaimed water would be used, such that making such a claim would have been misleading.”

Rucci also challenged Suzuki’s reporting that suggested he was attempting to avoid California’s environmental review process, as well as the reporter’s portrayal of his past criminal charges, which he argued was misleading.

“All of these things give it a defamatory sting,” Rucci told the court during arguments, adding the project would provide a major economic boon to the region.

Attorney Jeff Michalowski argued the defamation cases at hand don’t allow causes of action over the dissatisfaction of narratives.

“The reason KPBS reports on this is because it’s so contested and so thorny and so difficult,” he said. “That’s what the public needs, is someone to sift through that information and to identify what the facts are. And this is precisely why the defamation standards are so protective of media defendants who are reporting on areas of public concern like this, because they are necessarily going to be fraught and there are always going to be stakeholders dissatisfied with the narratives.”

Suzuki, who has continued to report on Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, was present in the courtroom with his attorneys.

The Imperial Valley Data Center Campus is part of a broader effort across the country to develop the infrastructurefor artificial intelligence. According to its website, the project is expected to generate about $29 million in local tax dollars every year and more than 100 permanent jobs, as well as 2,500 jobs during its construction and a $72.5 million one-time sales tax.

The anti-SLAPP motion (or strategic lawsuits against public participation) that Suzuki and KPBS filed is a legal procedure designed to quickly dismiss lawsuits that target constitutionally protected free speech or petitioning activity.

Rucci has also filed lawsuits on behalf of Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing in Imperial County Superior Court seeking access to additional water sources for the data center.