during for defamation and slander

[bibi.licea]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Nearly a year ago, my ex-boyfriends (exwife) started harassing me to the point where she stalked me and chased me onto our neighbors property and threatened me by blocking my entry from the neighbors property along with all the threatning comments she was yelling at me. I made a call to the police office only to get transferred to several dispatchers since our neighbors property is on another county line and i did not know there adress the dispatcher took my adress and instructed me to attempt to go to my home until she dispatched an officer to my home. Apparently there was a mix up during that call because my exboyfriends exwife turned everything around and accused me of everything to the authorities from the other county. I was advised by the authorities in my county to hire a lawyer and fight this false claim... Note: the authorities on my county never came out to assistcme with my report instead they called 7hrs after the incident while the authorities of the other county came out 2hrs after the incident? Anyhow she did all she could to come between us she suceeded when she proceeded with a ridiculous claim falsely accusing my mother and I of attempting to kill her...
My mother and I have suffered tremendous stress with this ordeal along with monetary losses. That lady has went to the extreme of distributing copies of the police report amongs my coworkers and my exhusband. I was forced to resign from a management position and recently lost my job, in addition to that my exhusband has threatened to take full custody of our son and also has a copy of the police report. I have a witness who can state that the exwife intentionally distributed copies of the police report to create harm against me. The criminal trial is currently in process and my attorney has assured me that everything will be dismissed. Based off this...are my mother and i able to sue this person?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[quincy]

What did your attorney say when you asked him that question?

California has a one year statute of limitations for defamation suits, so if the statements were made by the ex-wife nearly a year ago, you do not have much time left to file a suit. But I am not seeing, from what you have posted here, that you have much chance of succeeding with a suit against her.

Trying to use a police report as the basis for a defamation suit is rarely successful. A vital element in defamation suits is that the statements communicated to others must be false. What is said in a police report is considered neither true nor false - it takes an investigation into what was reported to determine if what was reported has merit. If after investigation the claims are shown to have some merit, it is up to a prosecutor to file charges and a court to make a decision. Only then can it be said that what was reported was true or false.

In addition, statements made in a police report are considered privileged and can generally not spawn a lawsuit. It would take proof that the report was filed with actual malice (knowledge of the falsity of what was reported with a deliberate and malicious intent to cause harm) in order to overcome this privilege and have any legal action to consider.

Police reports are also (generally) public records obtainable and publishable by anyone.

Speak with your attorney. He will know better whether there is any suit you can pursue or that is worth pursuing.

Good luck.

 

[bibi.licea]

I haven't consulted this with any attorney since it will be a civil case, I'm basically waiting for the criminal proceedings to get dismissed so that, that ca be my ultimate proof that the ex-wife intentionally falsely accused my mother and I. I have three witnesses who can testify that she stated that she would have me incarcerated and falsely accuse me to seperate me from her ex husband. When I informed my criminal attorney about her distributing the police report he stated that although the trial was in process those documents were "confidential" and would only be released to the parties involved, so I called the sherrifs dept and spoke to an officer who also reconfirmed what my attorney stated, those are confidential documents that are not public record they are released to the parties involved only (note: all of the copies that gave been distributed have an official stamp " released to" and have her signature....
Honestly, once this case gets dismissed I'd like to get comensated she's done a pretty great job of ruining my life...I'm a teacher who can't even practice because i was booked my substitute permit has been revocked. This completely sucks..... It's been quite an ordeal or shall I say nightmare so much stress and loss of money

 

[quincy]

I suggest you speak to your attorney (or an attorney) about a defamation suit, and keep in mind the one year time limit within which you must file. You may need to initiate the action before the criminal case is decided.

I am surprised to hear that the police report is being considered "confidential." It does not seem to fall into one of California's public record exceptions, unless it is felt that the release of the report could jeopardize the current proceedings (?).

 

[bibi.licea]

Thank you so much for your advise. The date that this incident happened was 6/8/09...could I still attempt to sue? I have another question... Along with this criminal proceeding she also went the whole nine yards and had a restraining order put on my mom and I and the attorney whom we hired stated that since we could not give a declaration bec the criminal trial was in process it would be wise to allow them to place the restraining order on us and deal with it after the criminal case was dismissed? Honestly I was unhappy with his decision to not give a declaration and let that happen...doesn't that mean I'm incriminating myself??? My other question is once this is dismissed and all charges are dropped can I have both cases "sealed" and if so, nobody will know that this ever happened right? I'm concerned that this will jeaporadize my career???

 

[quincy]

You needed to file a defamation suit on or before June 8, 2010, if the defamatory statements were made on June 8, 2009.

There may be other legal actions besides defamation to pursue against the woman, however, once a decision is made in your criminal case. You can explore the possibilities with your attorney at that point.

I won't second guess your attorney's advice on the restraining order.

If the criminal charges are dismissed or if the criminal case is decided in your favor, you can file a petition with the court to have all records pertaining to the case (including police records and reports) sealed or expunged.

Sealed or expunged records will still need to be reported on teacher applications, however. I don't know what effect this will have on your teaching career.

Once the criminal case is concluded, and once all records have been sealed or expunged, it would be wise for you to do an internet search on yourself and a background check on yourself, to see what about the case (if anything) still shows up. You will want to get any misinformation corrected and any records that have been sealed or expunged deleted from any background check company databases that may have mined the records prior to the final disposition of the case and expungement order.

I wish you luck, bibi.licea.

 

[bibi.licea]

Why is it that you'd still have to inform employers during the application process although the documents can be sealed if by sealing them it's as if it never happened? Secondly, what woud be the proper way to document it on an application? You know I'm scared that nobodys going to want to hire me any longer...I even thought about a career change.

Thank you soooo much

 

[quincy]

Sealed and expunged records do not totally disappear. A non-public record of them still exists. This non-public record allows for limited access by law enforcement agencies.

With a sealed or an expunged record, you are under no legal obligation to report the record on most job applications. It will be as if the arrest, charges, conviction never happened. However for some fields, the record must be reported (education, medical, law, government).

A question is asked on these applications about whether you have ever had a record sealed or expunged. You must answer this question honestly, as to lie about it can get your application tossed. The fact that a record has been sealed or expunged will show up on the enhanced background checks done for these fields (although the actual crime for which the sealing or expungement was granted does not appear and will not be disclosed absent a court order).

Generally the fact that you were arrested and charged with a crime will be important only when you are convicted of the crime. A dismissed charge, or a court finding in your favor on the charge, will probably not affect your long-term ability to get a job in the teaching field, although having pending charges will affect you in the short-term.

Again, consult with your attorney on this. He can help you through the expungement process once the trial is over.