What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? General
In another post, Tranquility made this interesting comment:
A false accusation of a crime is defamation per se.
I say "interesting" because it got me thinking about an actual situation I found myself in. For the sake of discussion, I'll simply describe it as follows:
Suppose Neighbor B is miffed at Neighbor A and dials 911 as a ruse to complain to local police that Neighbor A was doing X,Y & Z. The police then visit Neighbor A and state that Neighbor B made those complaints - all of which Neighbor A finds preposterous because they never happened (and, btw, no evidence whatsoever was even proffered).
The first thing that comes to mind for Neighbor A is something called filing a false police report (formally, False reports to law enforcement authorities), something part of most state's statutes and which can amount to (in at least some cases) a 4th degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Now Tranquility comes along and mentions defamation in this very context - something I hadn't thought of. Is it possible that Neighbor A may be in a position to complain along both lines for this event: filing false police report and defamation? From a practical standpoint, is it common that both would be pursued jointly in a case like this, or would one be more common/easier to pursue vs. the other?
I'm mainly just curious about this, thanks to Tranquility's comment.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
In another post, Tranquility made this interesting comment:
A false accusation of a crime is defamation per se.
I say "interesting" because it got me thinking about an actual situation I found myself in. For the sake of discussion, I'll simply describe it as follows:
Suppose Neighbor B is miffed at Neighbor A and dials 911 as a ruse to complain to local police that Neighbor A was doing X,Y & Z. The police then visit Neighbor A and state that Neighbor B made those complaints - all of which Neighbor A finds preposterous because they never happened (and, btw, no evidence whatsoever was even proffered).
The first thing that comes to mind for Neighbor A is something called filing a false police report (formally, False reports to law enforcement authorities), something part of most state's statutes and which can amount to (in at least some cases) a 4th degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Now Tranquility comes along and mentions defamation in this very context - something I hadn't thought of. Is it possible that Neighbor A may be in a position to complain along both lines for this event: filing false police report and defamation? From a practical standpoint, is it common that both would be pursued jointly in a case like this, or would one be more common/easier to pursue vs. the other?
I'm mainly just curious about this, thanks to Tranquility's comment.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
