## Facts

- Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to an emergency call at Dave and Brownie Miller’s apartment after Dave suffered a heart attack.
- An NBC camera crew accompanying the paramedics entered the Millers’ apartment without the Millers’ consent and filmed in the bedroom while paramedics attempted resuscitation.
- Dave Miller was not revived and died later that evening at a hospital.
- NBC broadcast portions of the footage on a nightly news program without obtaining consent.
- After Brownie Miller and her daughter, Marlene Miller Belloni, complained to NBC, NBC later used portions of the footage in promotional commercials for a program about paramedics.
- Brownie Miller and Marlene sued NBC and an NBC producer for trespass, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).
- The trial court granted summary judgment for defendants, finding no triable issues of fact, and plaintiffs appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the media crew’s unconsented entry into Brownie Miller’s apartment constituted actionable trespass.
2. Whether filming and later broadcasting from inside the home during a medical emergency could constitute intrusion upon seclusion as to Brownie Miller.
3. Whether defendants’ conduct could support Brownie Miller’s IIED claim.
4. Whether the daughter could state independent claims for invasion of privacy and IIED based on the filming and broadcasts.
5. Whether First Amendment protections for newsgathering and reporting barred tort liability on these facts.

## Decision

- The court affirmed in part and reversed in part.
- As to Brownie Miller, the court reversed summary judgment and held triable issues existed on:
  - trespass,
  - intrusion upon seclusion, and
  - IIED.
- As to Marlene Miller Belloni, the court affirmed summary judgment, holding she failed to state viable claims for:
  - invasion of privacy (the right is personal and not enforceable derivatively based on a decedent), and
  - IIED under the applicable standards.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings on Brownie Miller’s surviving claims.

## Legal Principles

- Trespass may be established by an intentional, unauthorized physical entry onto another’s property; emergency responders’ authority to enter does not automatically extend to accompanying media.
- Intrusion upon seclusion may occur when a defendant intentionally intrudes into a private place or matter in a way a reasonable person could find highly offensive; the home and a family medical crisis are settings with strong privacy expectations.
- IIED may be submitted to a jury when conduct could be found extreme and outrageous and undertaken with intent to cause distress or with reckless disregard of the probability of causing distress; continued use after complaints may support recklessness.
- In California, privacy rights are personal; relatives generally cannot sue for invasion of a decedent’s privacy based solely on their relationship to the decedent, absent a direct intrusion into the relative’s own privacy.
- The First Amendment does not create a general privilege to commit torts in the course of newsgathering; newsworthiness does not immunize trespass or intrusive acquisition methods.

## Conclusion

The court held that a broadcaster’s entry into a private home without consent to film a medical emergency can expose it to tort liability for trespass, intrusion, and IIED as to the occupant, while rejecting derivative privacy and emotional-distress claims by a relative who was not directly subjected to the intrusion.


Miller v. Nat'l Broad. Co., 187 Cal. App. 3d 1463 (Ct. App. 1986)