Rollenhagen

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment non obstante veredicto (NOV) and conditional grant of a new trial after a trial by jury where he had recovered verdicts against Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) and Elizabeth Mazur in a defamation action. Defendant City of Orange had been dismissed by the trial court at the commencement of the trial on a motion by the city for judgment on. the pleadings. A notice of appeal was filed by plaintiff on this judgment but nothing more has been done, and it is not mentioned in plaintiff’s brief. Therefore, that judgment is affirmed.

As to the judgment with respect to CBS and Mazur, plaintiff raises a number of issues.

First, he argues that because the court denied the motions of these two defendants for nonsuit and for directed verdict, it should likewise have denied their motion under Code of Civil Procedure section 629— the judgment notwithstanding the verdict section. The simple answer to this contention is that the court clearly stated: “The Court, in this instance, should have granted the motion made for a directed verdict and the case should not have gone to the jury.”

There is some question raised by defendants that the trial…