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Defamation -trying to ruin my business.

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underdogged

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?NC
I have been charged with a crime that I have plead not guilty to. It has been a nightmare dealing with a corrupt Police Department. Someone who thinks I am guilty of this charge is e-mailing mug shots of me & saying inflammatory things about me to my vendors & clients. One of my vendors have withdrew & asked to be removed off of my website. I am losing business & money because of this & my name is being drug through the mud. Am I not innocent till proven guilty? Can I not sue this person for trying to ruin my only source of income? What can I do to put an end to this? Can I sue for lible or defamation of character? I am being convicted before even going to trial!
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
underdogged said:
What is the name of your state?NC
I have been charged with a crime that I have plead not guilty to. It has been a nightmare dealing with a corrupt Police Department. Someone who thinks I am guilty of this charge is e-mailing mug shots of me & saying inflammatory things about me to my vendors & clients. One of my vendors have withdrew & asked to be removed off of my website. I am losing business & money because of this & my name is being drug through the mud. Am I not innocent till proven guilty? Can I not sue this person for trying to ruin my only source of income? What can I do to put an end to this? Can I sue for lible or defamation of character? I am being convicted before even going to trial!
What defamatory information is being spread about you?
 

underdogged

Junior Member
Charges

The comments are regarding the criminal charges against me. They are saying how can you do business with this man. Sending mug shots of me & convicting me to them before being tried. I dont think its right to try & ruin me, its bad enough I am charged but for someone to take my income away is another thing.........If its not defamation than what is it? What can I do to sue?
 
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seniorjudge

Senior Member
underdogged said:
The comments are regarding the criminal charges against me. They are saying how can you do business with this man. Sending mug shots of me & convicting me to them before being tried. I dont think its right to try & ruin me, its bad enough I am charged but for someone to take my income away is another thing.........If its not defamation than what is it? What can I do to sue?
There is nothing defamatory in here.
 

saw192837

Junior Member
[The following brief response is for educational use and is not legal advice. You will need to contact a licensed attorney for that.]

There are insufficient facts to evaluate your case on whether there is defamation, intrusion, or interference with contract. However here is an explanation of possible claims you might make.

To make a successful claim at defamation you must show someone knowingly, recklessly, or negligently spread false information. If this false information were defamatory per se, (easily provable or disprovable, such as a direct accusation of a crime) you could win a substantial judgment for any presumed damages. If it were not per se, but instead regular defamation, you would have to show special damages (loss of a business contract, e.g.).

Since you were actually arrested and indicted upon an offense, it would be defamation only if it went beyond merely sharing that information. If the communique was false, such as accusing you of a more serious crime, or of being found guilty and convicted of the crime, it may be libel. However you did not state so and your original statement implied the messages against you simply reporting your own existing criminal record.

I would need to know the contents of the actual communique you claim has hurt your reputation. It appears if it is defamatory, it would probably be 'per se' as it is accusing you of a crime you have not been convicted of.

Assuming the communication in question is still truthful, there may be a claim for intrusion (invasion of privacy).

Intrusion can be one of four categories: 1) Assumption of your identity, 2) Disclosure of personal information, 3) Actual Intrusion (spying), 4) False light (exaggerating your plight negatively in a movie about you without your permission). In your case Disclosure and False light might apply.

Disclosure would generally not apply to public records, no matter how degrading the information (even rape victims cannot prevent this). Since your arrest is public record there is no disclosure offense. False light may be an option however it is not very common of a claim. It must be done with malice and be highly offensive. Both may exist here.

There is a third potential cause of action, the doctrine of interference with contract. It is a tort to intentionally interfere with a contract. This concept is still controversial in its application.

You would have to prove that someone willfully attempted to and successfully broke your business contract. If so, you could recover the lost money involved in your contract (and possibly other damages as well). However spreading information, even exaggerated, doesn't automatically prove someone willfully tried to break your contract. It also remains to be seen whether the actual loss of $ is significant enough to pursue the case.

Finally, all of these remedies may make your case sound more potent than it is. Once you give sufficient details the true issue and cause of action, if any, (and chances thereof) can be better known.
 

underdogged

Junior Member
The loss to me is that I have been removed from doing business with an arena where I can lose alot of money from not being able to do shows there any more. This person doing this has a record a mile long & destroyed a business in seatlle. The FBI was looking for her a while back & if I could just find out who & what the name of the business was I could turn her name into the FBI & tell them where she lives..............any advice on that?
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
underdogged said:
The loss to me is that I have been removed from doing business with an arena where I can lose alot of money from not being able to do shows there any more. This person doing this has a record a mile long & destroyed a business in seatlle. The FBI was looking for her a while back & if I could just find out who & what the name of the business was I could turn her name into the FBI & tell them where she lives..............any advice on that?
If you know she is wanted by the FBI, then why do you need to know anything else about her? Turn her in.
 

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