Is this defamation, invasion of privacy ect?

[jamiemoran]

washington.. My dad was wanted for murder was on the run ran into a guy who ended up traveling with him... The guy ended up writing a book saying all sorts of horrible things about my dad , including my dads picture in the book and more... Cant i sue the guy for that? the book is (title removed)

 

[quincy]

washington.. My dad was wanted for murder was on the run ran into a guy who ended up traveling with him... The guy ended up writing a book saying all sorts of horrible things about my dad , including my dads picture in the book and more... Cant i sue the guy for that? [title of book removed]

Your dad might have a legal action to pursue against the author. Whether you have a legal action to pursue depends on the book’s content.

Your post was reported for moderator review. Real names should not be used on this forum.

 

[jamiemoran]

Your dad might have a legal action to pursue against the author. Whether you have a legal action to pursue depends on the book’s content.

Your post was reported for moderator review. Real names should not be used on this forum.

my dad comitted suicide then after the guy got out of prison he wrote the book

 

[quincy]

my dad comitted suicide then after the guy got out of prison he wrote the book

Truth is a defense to claims of defamation. If the author told the facts of his personal time with your dad, there would have been little to support a defamation lawsuit filed by your dad if he were alive, and no defamation claim for you to pursue.

As the son of a well-known criminal, you are in a tough position. You lost some of your rights to privacy because of your dad’s criminal activity and notoriety.

You can take a copy of the book to an attorney in your area for an opinion on your chances of mounting a successful lawsuit. I am thinking you don’t have a legal action to pursue but an attorney who has the chance to read the book and go over the facts of your dad’s life can judge this better.

By the way, if you are upset about the book’s content, you would be smart not to advertise it by publishing the name of the book or the author’s name on a public forum. That works to increase the potential harm to you and your family.

 

[jamiemoran]

i see what u mean.... but he even put a picture of my dad in his book i thought maybe that was not ok to do.. he trashes my dad left and right even with untrue statments.. just wish i could do something about this. he is making money off our tragedy and making my dad out to be a monster and him a angel...thank you

 

[quincy]

The author should not be profiting off his role in the crime by writing a book about it and your father. But I don’t know if the proceeds from sales of the book are going to help the addicts he now lectures. If so, at least that could be a positive.

I have not read the book - and don’t intend to - but, although I understand it might be written by the author putting himself in the best light possible, the fact is he helped your father murder people and he went to prison for doing so. It is impossible to clean that up.

The bottom line is that the murders were covered widely by the media and your father was featured on national TV and your father was one of America’s Most Wanted. Family and friends of your father are naturally going to be affected by their relationship to him.

I’m sorry. You were awfully young at the time of your dad’s crimes and subsequent suicide. I am sure it was not easy growing up and the book’s release a few years ago had to add to the pain.

But I do not see a legal action for you to pursue. You can speak to an attorney in your area, however, to see if he sees a legal action I can’t.

Good luck.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I don't see where the guy is profiting from his own crime.

 

[quincy]

I don't see where the guy is profiting from his own crime.

By writing a book and selling it.

 

[Zigner]

By writing a book and selling it.

He didn't write a book about his own crime.

 

[quincy]

He didn't write a book about his own crime.

Yes. The author did. The book was about his time with the father and the murders, including his role in the murders. But he also wrote about his time in prison and his recovery from heroin addiction. The author now speaks to addicts about his experiences.

But it is difficult to defame a murderer (they do not have much of a reputation to injure), it is nearly impossible to defame a dead person (although some states have laws about blackening the memory of the deceased, diluting the value of estate-rights), and the family members of criminals only rarely can succeed with either a defamation claim or an invasion of privacy claim.

 

[Zigner]

Yes. The author did. The book was about his time with the father and the murders, including his role in the murders. But he also wrote about his time in prison and his recovery from heroin addiction. The author now speaks to addicts about his experiences.

But it is difficult to defame a murderer (they do not have much of a reputation to injure), it is nearly impossible to defame a dead person (although some states have laws about blackening the memory of the deceased, diluting the value of estate-rights), and the family members of criminals only rarely can succeed with either a defamation claim or an invasion of privacy claim.

I didn't see the book

 

[quincy]

I didn't see the book

I know.

Having the book’s name and author in Jamie’s post seemed to work against him and his concerns about defamation and privacy.

The murders were many years ago and the book was published after the author was released from prison, also several years ago. I doubt too many people are searching to read an older self-published book.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

@quincy you had way more info on the book than we.

But the SCOTUS ruled the Son of Sam laws unconstitutional based on the first amendment. Many of the states that had such a law changed the law so that the family of the victims could sue for the profits for the books.

 

[quincy]

@quincy you had way more info on the book than we.

But the SCOTUS ruled the Son of Sam laws unconstitutional based on the first amendment. Many of the states that had such a law changed the law so that the family of the victims could sue for the profits for the books.

Yes, I know I have more information than you do. It was to protect Jamie that the book title and author were removed from his post. It does not benefit him to have more people pointed in the direction of stories about his father.

I do not know where the proceeds from the sales of the book are going, if there are any profits at all. It is an older self-published book. There was also a co-author.

Jamie can review facts with an attorney in his area but I do not see a legal action for him to pursue.

 

[not2cleverRed]

i see what u mean.... but he even put a picture of my dad in his book i thought maybe that was not ok to do.. he trashes my dad left and right even with untrue statments.. just wish i could do something about this. he is making money off our tragedy and making my dad out to be a monster and him a angel...thank you

You Dad killed your grandparents and nonchalantly walked out of the house with you, waving at your great-grandparents, saying, "Just some fire crackers. No harm done." He was not a nice person.

No one thinks the recovering heroin addict is an angel. It's a self published book.