A judge added income to insult this week in awarding nearly all the attorney fees to The Park Record in the wake of dismissing a tennis coach’s defamation suit in January.
Bogdan Badiu, a tennis instructor in Park City from Romania, filed a defamation suit against the paper, KPCW and Town Lift in July 2025, nine months after criminal charges of alleged sexual exploitation of a minor were dismissed. Park City Police had arrested him on July 23, 2024, after officers discovered dozens of images of a child, later determined to be appropriate photos of his daughter.
The Park Record and others covered the case from police and court records, along with his attorney’s comments emphasizing his innocence.
Nonetheless, Badiu’s attorney, Steve S. Christensen, argued in his complaint that the local news media had defamed the tennis coach even with accurate accounts of his case.
Third District Judge Matthew Bates dismissed the lawsuit immediately following oral arguments in court and indicated he would consider awarding the full attorneys’ costs to The Park Record. He also ruled the case cannot be refiled.
“The only thing the news organizations are vaguely alleged to have done ‘wrong’ is to disseminate news of these charges,” Salt Lake City firm Burbidge/Mitchell’s motion to dismiss the case stated.
The judge awarded $34,300 of the $36,600 in attorney fees sought by The Record after considering arguments that included Christensen’s contention that “reasonable” fees would amount to $5,000.
“Even at their own rates, The Park Record is contending that their motion to dismiss a meritless defamation complaint was equivalent to the price of at least two days of trial and four days of trial preparation. This is not reasonable,” he argued.
The judge didn’t see it that way.
While he struck out some fees accrued while researching for the case, he said in his order: “In this case, Plaintiff attacked a local newspaper for truthfully and accurately reporting on the activities of local government officials. Such a lawsuit threatens the critical transparency that news media provide between the government and its people. … The instant fee award thus stands as an important deterrent to attacks on the press.”
“If plaintiffs like Mr. Badiu can bring meritless defamation suits over accurate reporting about criminal charges, force newspapers to incur substantial anti-SLAPP defense costs, and then face only a token fee award if they lose, the practical effect will be to encourage more such suits and, ultimately, to jeopardize the viability of local journalism,” Burbidge/Mitchell argued. “The Park Record had a powerful interest not only in defeating this particular complaint, but in securing a definitive ruling and fee award that signals to other would-be plaintiffs that baseless lawsuits aimed at punishing news reporting will carry real financial consequences — as intended by the Utah Legislature.”
The Park Record co-owner Matthew Prince said the paper is considering whether to pursue payment.
“What happened to Bogdan Badiu was a tragedy. But The Park Record reported only the facts, including being the first to report when he was exonerated,” he said. “I’m happy that the court realized this was a case entirely without merit and awarded our attorneys’ fees. We are still considering whether to pursue collection of them, understanding this is an emotionally fraught case for Mr. Badiu, but also not wanting to set a precedent for other litigants who may baselessly attack the local newspaper of record.”