Tracy

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Tracy sued defendants for libel, libel per se, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging defendants published defamatory statements on a Utah public water district website and made additional defamatory statements to others. He

1 The defendants are: Cohne Kinghorn P.C., Simplifi Company, Jeremy Rand Cook, Eric Hawkes, Jennifer Hawkes, Michael Scott Hughes, David Bradford, Kem Crosby Gardner, Walter J. Plumb III, David Bennion, R. Steve Creamer, Paul Brown, and Gary Bowen. Brown is the only party to the current appeal. 2 Unspecified statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. had previously brought suit against various defendants in Utah federal court based on allegations that a Utah-based law firm, acting on behalf of the Utah public water district and private land developers, fraudulently retired and misappropriated water rights for a private luxury development (FCA lawsuit). The FCA lawsuit was dismissed after multiple appeals. In the complaint underlying this appeal, Tracy alleged defendants shared the defamatory statements to obtain payment from California property owners in furtherance of their…