USCA1 Opinion

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

United States Court of Appeals

For the First Circuit
____________________

No. 96-1497

ABIGAIL MOJICA-ESCOBAR,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

GASPAR ROCA, ET AL.,

Defendants - Appellees.

____________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Juan M. P rez-Gim nez, U.S. District Judge]

___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge,

___________

Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,

____________________

and Selya, Circuit Judge.

_____________

_____________________

Nicol s Nogueras, Jr. for appellant.

_____________________
Juan R. Marchand-Quintero,
___________________________

with

whom

Marchand Quintero was on brief for appellees.

_________________

Rivera Cestero &

__________________

____________________

May 7, 1997
____________________

Per Curiam.
Per Curiam.
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Plaintiff-appellant contends that summary

judgment was improvidently granted to the defendant newspaper, El

Vocero de Puerto Rico,

invasion

careful

of

and its publisher in this

privacy suit

consideration

of

arguments in this case,

summary

judgment to

governed by

the

Puerto

record,

defamation and

Rico law.

appellate

briefs,

we affirm the district court's

the defendants

and

grant of

for substantially

reasons provided in its Opinion and Order.

Upon

the same

See Mojica Escobar v.

___ ______________

Roca, 926 F. Supp. 30 (D. P.R. 1996).

____

Regardless

political

prominence was

public figure,

was

of

a necessary

sustain relief

whether

sufficient to

the falsity of the

element

under

the

render the

spouse's

appellant a

alleged defamatory statements

appellant had

Puerto Rico

appellant's

to

prove in

defamation law.

order

See
___

to

Ayala______

Gerena
______

v. Bristol Myers-Squibb Co.,

_________________________

1996).

Appellant,

anything

95 F.3d

the non-movant, failed

86, 98

(1st Cir.

to come forward

with

other than the most conclusory and vague allegations of

falsity, and thus fell far short of establishing the existence of

a "genuine

issue for trial"

with regard

to the falsity

newspaper articles, making summary judgment appropriate.

of the

LeBlanc
_______

v. Great American Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841-42 (1st Cir. 1993).
_______________________

We

are

unmoved

defendants' failure

her

from coming

appellant's

to respond to a

forward

summary judgment motion.

appellant's

by

defamation

argument

the

discovery request prevented

with concrete

evidence

to rebut

The newspaper articles giving

claims

that

were

published

and

the

rise to

widely

distributed, and it is impossible to imagine that for want of the

information

sought

in

her

unanswered

discovery

request,1

appellant was unable to proffer any competent evidence tending to

show that any of

the fact

defendants' statements were false, in

that, after

appellant's

(and

her

all, the

light of

statements mainly concerned

husband's)

finances

--

appellant should be in a fine position to address.

appellant failed to come forward with

matters

the

which

For example,

any proof that defendants'

statements

regarding the financing of the purchase of a house in

Orlando, Florida,

that

were false,

appellant possesses

when it

is reasonable

records regarding

to assume

that purchase

-- a

purchase which she claims she herself made.

With regard

to appellant's invasion

we note that the right to privacy

and 10

of

important

Article II

right that

Supreme Court case law.

D.P.R.

573

photograph of

of

is

(1982) (finding

the

is

under Puerto

an

Rico

e.g., Col n v. Romero Barcel , 112

____ _____
______________

violation

murdered relative

has stated,

Rico Constitution

firmly safeguarded

crime-prevention advertisement).

court

as set forth in sections 1, 8,

the Puerto

See,
___

of privacy claim,

of

privacy right

was publicized for

purposes of

Nevertheless, as the

photograph of

where

district

appellant's house,

which

appellant does not deny was taken

from a public area outside

of

the house, does not constitute an actionable invasion of privacy,

____________________

In

length

the unanswered
in

her

appellate

information as
about

needed

to how
___

obtaining

circumstances
to

discovery request

prove

the

appellant

case,

about

the

statements.

-3-

of

the

requests

reporters went

appellant.

however, such

falsity

reproduced at

mainly

the defendant newspaper's

information

of this

brief,

that is

In

the

information is

not

newspaper's

published

for

it

is

not

"unreasonably

intrusive."

Dopp
____

v.

Fairfax
_______

Consultants, Ltd., 771 F. Supp. 494, 497 (D. P.R. 1990) (applying
_________________

Puerto Rico's constitutional privacy

no legal

support for

guarantees).

appellant's claim

There is also

of invasion of

privacy

based on the receipt of a single telephone call from an El Vocero

reporter.

Affirmed.
Affirmed.
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Costs on appeal are granted to appellees.

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