On October 1, 1892, the United Press and the American Press Association telegraphed their subscribers a story about how Tyndale Palmer and Joao Francisco de Freitas had stolen $440,000 from a Philadelphia lighting company in a business transaction in Brazil. At least 150 newspapers published the story, which was entirely false. The two men proceeded to bring libel suits against about 125 newspapers around the country, including 7 in Minnesota.
Daily reports of the trial in Palmer's suit against the St. Paul Dispatch in Ramsey County District Court were published in the Globe. His suit against the Pioneer Press received little press coverage. In both cases, the jury's award to Palmer was erased when the trial judge granted the defendant's motion for a new trial. His suit against the Dispatch was eventually dismissed and in the retrial against the P.P. he was awarded $50. Palmer's libel suits against other Minnesota newspapers were dismissed. Unlike his actions in other jurisdictions, no case in Minnesota was appealed.
Newspaper reports of the three day trial in Palmer's libel suit against the Dispatch in late January 1895 are posted here. Press accounts of the proceedings in the other cases are posted in the Appendix.
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