A court in Samoa has dismissed a lawsuit for defamation against a local TV station.
The plaintifs - a priest, a pastor and a relative - were suing TV1 over a public notice from one of their family that was broadcast on the station three years ago.
The purpose of the notice was to stop the plaintiffs from using the Stowers family name because they are not connected in blood or by adoption.
Father Muli'au Matulino, Tupa'i Farani Mulitalo Poe and Afa Mulitalo Poe, through their lawyer argued they were descendants of the family name and that the broadcast notice defamed them.
They presented copies of records from the office for deaths, marriage and births as well as documents from the Catholic Church in Samoa to support it.
However the presiding judge, Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala Warren, found the plaintiffs are not descendants of the family name.
