Satz

Section 48.7 of the Civil Code prevents a person charged with child abuse from suing the child, its parent or any witness for defamation arising from statements made by the child, its parent or any witness until after the criminal charges are resolved. We issued an alternative writ to consider whether the reference to “any witness” in section 48.7 could conceivably apply to a newscaster sued for defamation based upon his allegedly defamatory broadcasts about an ongoing child abuse investigation. Our conclusion is that it could not.

Facts

On May 29, 1986, Virginia McMartin and Peggy Ann Buckey (Plaintiffs) filed suit against a number of entities and individuals, including Wayne T. Satz, a broadcast journalist employed by ABC Television, Inc. Reduced to its essential allegations, the original complaint asserted that the now infamous investigation of the McMartin Preschool was conducted without a reasonable factual basis and that each of the named defendants, by various acts, caused damage to Plaintiffs. Satz’s demurrers were sustained without leave to amend and in July 1987 Satz was dismissed from the action. Plaintiffs appealed and we reversed the order of dismissal in…