slander againt court clerk

[courtcasedef]

What is the name of your state? ky

just wondering if i had a case, and the costs of pursing it. basically had been arrested for dui, which at the court dates plead not guilty. during a court appearance, while speaking with judge he asked if i had been drinking earlier in the day and i stated no, he ask me a series of quick questions, i suppose to observe my responses, which i easily answered, and that issue was dropped, and the hearing continued concerning the case.i own a store which i run full time. a few days after that court date, a person whom my wife is a coworker with, but rarely speaks to this individual, comes into my place of business. he says i hear your getting in trouble. and states that his exgirlfriend and another women ,who are both clerks in the district court, approached him to ask what kind of person i was. (he is in no position to answer that, he does not know me other that the fact my wife works with him) they stated to him i came to court drunk and thats why they wanted to know. im sure this violates courts code of ethics, but also stating to him i was drunk at court, which is totally false, do i have a case for slander?

 

[quincy]

I'm curious: Is there some reason why so many people in court the day you appeared thought you might have been drunk in court?

Also, you said you pled "not guilty" to the DUI charge. Has your case been decided yet? A finding of "not guilty" by the judge can have an impact on any defamation action you may consider.

As for bringing a defamation action against the court clerk(s), it is always possible to sue, but you may have some difficulty winning such a suit.

Defamation actions require a showing of reputational injury. Reputational injury can be shown in different ways - through an economic loss of some sort, perhaps, or maybe through a "shunning" by others in your community. If people are avoiding your business, which has resulted in a loss of sales and income, then that could indicate reputational injury caused by the comments made. If people you know start avoiding contact with you, then that could indicate reputational injury caused by the comments made. Being ridiculed or hated can be an indication of reputational injury, as well.

Without demonstrable reputational injury, you would not be able to bring a successful slander suit against anyone.

However, even if you can show reputational injury, you may have some difficulty proving the reputational injury was caused by the slanderous comments made. This is because you appeared in court on a DUI charge. Any reputational injury could potentially be from the DUI arrest alone and not necessarily from comments made about you by the clerks. This would be especially true if your DUI was covered by the media in some way.

In addition to reputational injury, slander suits require testimony from someone who heard the comments made - otherwise it is a he-said/she-said matter and that is generally not enough to support a winning lawsuit. You would need, in other words, for your wife's co-worker to testify to what the clerks said. His testimony would be important, especially if he had been unaware of your DUI prior to speaking with the clerks.

The other proofs needed are a showing of "fault" on the part of the clerks (that they said what they said without due care, or with negligence) and actual injury (your monetary loss or damage to your social standing, etc).

At any rate, you could potentially bring a defamation action, but it will not necessarily be an easy one to win. I would sit down with an attorney to carefully review all of the facts of your situation to see what he/she thinks.

Defamation actions can cost multi-thousands of dollars and take a long time to run their course in court. Legal aid clinics can offer some low or no-cost legal assistance, if you qualify, which can eliminate much of the expense.