Federal judge dismisses $12M defamation suit for Katie Couric’s ‘Under the Gun’

By Chris Eger

Gun rights advocates claimed filmmakers used deceptive editing to cast them as inept in a crucial “gotcha” moment, an argument that the court rejected. (Photo: Atlas Films)
A federal court found Wednesday that a Second Amendment group interviewed for the film could not prove filmmakers intentionally manipulated footage to defame them.
U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr, in his 11-page ruling, held that Katie Couric, director Stephanie Soechtig, production company Atlas Films and distributor Epix, did not damage the reputation of the members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League in the film Under the Gun.
At the heart of the suit, filed last September, VCDL members claimed filmmakers used deceptive editing to cast them as inept.
The suit centered on footage contained in the final version of the film showing an interview with VCDL members “sitting silently, stumped, and avoiding eye contact for nearly nine seconds after Couric asked, ‘if there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?’”
Attorneys for the group claimed filmmakers took license and — instead of the six minutes of responses that the VCDL members had provided — inserted awkward silent footage taken during a “calibration check” in which

Source: Guns.com