false accusation of felony constitutes slander...right?

[alexandertg6]

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

A former friend and I had a problem over a girl (I know sounds childish...) she was practically my girlfriend but he kept trying to cheat on his girlfriend with her and she pushed him away, so he got mad. But anyways.. he found out that I was going to be in Paris at the same time she was and sent me a message saying that there was no way that would happen and "over my dead body". This all happened on the 18th. On the 22nd I got a call from his mother saying that on the 19th a briefcase had been broken into and 500-800 dollars was stolen, and that she had strong evidence I was there. She said someone who she wouldn't name in the family said they saw me coming out of her room when it happened, which is impossible because I hadn't been in the house since the night of the 18th. Of course she had no more evidence than that. On top of all that he started telling people that I had for sure stolen the money, and he told them that they had mountains of evidence against me even up to surveillance cameras catching me on tape, and every time he told the story it got more and more outrageous. Last I had heard I had apparently stolen 6,000 dollars out of a safe in his mothers room, along with even more evidence that they supposedly had against me but I know for sure they don't have. Of course all this has damaged my reputation as one of my other friends parents heard about this and even said that I was not to associate with him because of this. I looked up slander law and it seems like I would have a strong case for slander...right?

PS we are both 18, so neither of us is a minor if that matters...

 

[quincy]

Being accused of a crime you did not commit is, indeed, defamation. Not all slanderous statements can result in successful defamation suits, however.

If you decided to sue this "friend" and/or his mother for telling others you stole money from the mother's room, you would need to demonstrate the reputational injury you have suffered. If the injury is one that has harmed your reputation in the community (and has not resulted in any monetary injury, such as the loss of a job), the proofs are definitely harder. It is not easy to show that attitudes toward you have changed or that you are being shunned as a result of comments made (although some reputational injury would be assumed).

You also must show that the report of the theft, and the linking of you to it, was done with negligence and not a true belief that you were, in fact, the thief. If there is any sort of evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that shows you are the likely suspect, the friend and mother would use this as a defense to any slander claims against them. It would not be as solid a defense as actual evidence (ie. surveillance tapes), but it could be enough to thwart a slander suit against them.

Was any police report ever filed? Were you ever interviewed by the police about the theft? If there has been no police report made of the incident, then that strengthens your claim that the story was invented.

I think your best course of action is to sit down with an attorney in North Carolina and review the entire situation with him/her. Defamation actions are very expensive to bring, and there is never a guarantee of a win, so you will want to weigh the odds of a successful action carefully.

Good luck.

 

[alexandertg6]

To my knowledge no police report was ever filed, but if there was I was never questioned. When his mother informed me of the theft I asked her to have it investigated and the briefcase dusted for fingerprints and volunteered to come over and give mine. She refused this stating that "a lot of people have touched the briefcase", even though I told her I was not one of them, and the friend sent me a message after that saying "get a lawyer" and "good luck getting into UNC when they find out you are a filthy thief..." blah blah blah. She also called me again but would not give me a chance to tell her that I was with other people all day on the day this supposedly happened, she just wanted to talk to my father whom she tried to convince that I had stolen the money, so I feel like she didn't make a reasonable effort to give me a chance to prove my innocence.

Also wouldn't the message saying "good luck getting into UNC when they find out you are a filthy thief" be proof of intent to ruin my reputation? would that matter? And would my friends parents saying that he isn't to associate with me anymore be fairly solid proof of reputation damage?

And lastly the reason I thought I would have more of a solid case was not that his mom thought I had taken the money, but rather that he had told people things about the theft and me that were completely untrue and I can prove untrue. The video tape thing, he told them my fingerprints were all over everything, which as I mentioned before, his mother refused to get my fingerprints, there was also mention of text messages I supposedly sent to him on the 19th asking if he was home, if the door was open, and if I could go in the house to retrieve a shirt I had left there the night before, to which he claims to have replied he was not home, but the door was unlocked. But those can probably be subpoenaed if need be...right?

And thank you very much for the reply, I greatly appreciate the advice

 

[quincy]

The message your friend sent is an indication that he believes you stole the money only. It could indicate his intent to ruin your reputation - but "intent" to ruin a reputation and an actual reputational injury are two different things.

The comment made by the parents of your other friend does show an indication of reputational injury - they are forming an opinion of you based on the lies told. Their testimony would be important in the event you take this matter to court.

I would check to see if there was ever a police report filed. If there was no theft report, the fact that money was stolen at all is questionable and the accusations against you less believeable. The lack of any police report would be helpful to you should you decide to go ahead with any defamation action.

You do not necessarily have to prove the "untruth" of the statements made against you, by the way. Being called a thief is slanderous and is assumed to be false. Your friend would have to prove the truth, or believed truth, of his statements that you are a thief to defend against any defamation suit. Without some evidence that has led him to accuse you and to support his comments about you, he is definitely at risk of losing a slander suit filed against him.

Your difficulties will be proving a reputational injury severe enough to warrant damages being awarded - with slander suits the damages awarded are often not worth the costs of bringing a suit in the first place, as the injury from words spoken are generally not considered as damaging as words written - and showing that your friend's "truth" defense is unreasonable as there is no evidence (circumstantial or otherwise) to support his belief that you are the thief.

Again, I would go over all that you have with a lawyer in your area, to get an idea of what your odds are of winning a suit, and to get an idea of what you will be spending to bring a defamation action, and to get a clearer idea of what you could potentially be awarded should you win such a suit. Oftentimes, when people work out the numbers, they discover a slander action is not worth pursuing. It is certainly an expensive action for any 18-year-old to bring.

 

[alexandertg6]

ok, thank you very much. I would honestly much rather not bring this to court. I would be completely happy with an apology and a statement of: "I lied about Alex" to the people who have been told these things so they know the truth.

I am not after monetary compensation, I just want this all to stop, and if there is the possibility that I may have a case should this go to court, maybe it will be enough to make them tell the truth, or at the very least think twice before they lie about me to another person.

 

[quincy]

Trying to work out a solution outside of a courtroom is always preferable and I will hope that that is possible for you in this situation.

Perhaps you can see about having an attorney draft a cease-and-desist letter to this fellow and/or his mom. This letter would give them notice that continuing to falsely accuse you of theft is defamatory and could result in court action. That may be all it takes to get an apology and to get them to back off.

Good luck, alexander.