Slander

[Justwanttoknow]

I was falsely accused of a crime publically by the Manager of a restaurant. The manager called the Police and after all parties were questioned, I was charged with disorderly conduct. (a far lesser charge than I originally accused of) I fought the disorderly conduct charge in court and received a not guilty verdict without going to trial. Can I sue the Manager of the restaurant for defamation of character to recover my legal expenses? I obtained a copy of the Police report and in it the Manager claims someone else made the original accusations and left before the Police arrived. The Manager called the police and told them the false story though. Does this protect the manager from a defamation of character suit?

 

[Justwanttoknow]

This happened in DuPage county Illinois. I'm sorry I failed to mention that.

 

[JETX]

If the manager made the erroneous statement as if a fact, then they might be liable. However, if they manager says something like "I didn't see the incident, but I was told that ....... ", then they are probably not liable.

I would assume that the police would not have initiated an arrest based purely on 'hearsay' of a non-witness, so have to believe that there is more to this than we are being told.