Case dismissed in Thomas Brown family defamation lawsuit

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – According to court documents from the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo, a defamation lawsuit filed by the family of Thomas Brown – a teenager from Canadian who went missing in 2016 and whose remains were found in 2019 – against multiple local individuals and companies was dismissed on Friday.

As noted in previous reports on MyHighPlains.com, Brown’s disappearance and subsequent cold case was the subject of widespread media attention as well as multiple independent, state and federal investigations. This included the case being discussed on radio shows and podcasts such as those involving Chris Samples and Chris Samples Broadcasting, Inc. and Private Investigator Michael Crain.

Court documents detailed that Samples, a Perryton radio host and podcaster, interviewed Crain in 2022 about theories surrounding Brown’s death. Crain’s theory was that Brown committed suicide but that his family members attempted to “cover it up,” which differed from the theory proposed by the family’s hired private investigator .

Family members of Brown – his mother Penny Meek, stepfather Chris Meek and brother Tucker Brown – filed suit against Samples, Crain, their related companies and attorney as well as others in 2023. Court documents noted that the lawsuit alleged that the defendants “collectively engaged in a conspiracy to defame them,” through their statements.

Several of the original defendants were dismissed from the case in June 2023, including The Canadian Record, Canadian Record Editor Laurie Brown and multiple social media page runners and posters. However, initial motions by Samples and Crain to be dismissed were denied.

In June 2024, court documents detailed that Samples, Crain and the other listed defendants would be dismissed in light of an appeal and motions filed under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), also known as an “anti-SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law.

The opinion by Justice Alex Yarbrough said that there was a lack of “clear and specific evidence” that Samples and Crain engaged in defamation against the Brown family nor that the defendants as a group engaged in a civil conspiracy to do so. While the court noted that statements made by Samples and Crain may have been “in poor taste,” they were “mere conjecture” when viewed in the full context of the show on which they were made.

Because of that, the court ruled to dismiss all claims against the defendants and remanded the matter for determination of any related attorney’s fees and sanctions.

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