CHARLESTON – A man is suing WSAZ after he claims it defamed him.
On April 13, 2013, Leonard Darrell Harris claims WSAZ broadcast that he was waking up in jail when he was actually at home watching the news broadcast, according to a complaint filed Feb. 27 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Harris claims the incident is one of the factors that has made it hard for him to re-establish his career.
All the report had to do was make a simple phone call and she would have known Harris was at home and not in jail, according to the suit.
Harris is seeking compensatory damages. He is representing himself.
Harris was accused of hurting a 6-year-old student who was misbehaving in class. Harris allegedly forced the boy to do push-ups until he could not do anymore and then pushed his face into the floor, causing his nose to bleed.
Harris maintained that he did not put his hands on the child and that his nose was bleeding because he was doing push-ups in the wrong position and he was trying to correct him, according to WSAZ.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge James C. Stucky.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 15-C-426