Is this defamation or libel?

[flexman101]

What is the name of your state? TX

I sent an e-mail to a group of my father's friends notifying them of his domestic violence past. He uses these friends as an excuse not to admit to the deeds. It was proven in court during the divorce, with sadly many hospital records. If the allegation I made about him is true and can be proven beyond a resonable doubt, does this constitute defamation or libel? I sent this information out to inform them of my father's excuses and to raise awareness about domestic violence. They all knew he had this problem, just avoided seeing this in writing.

 

[moburkes]

What is the name of your state? TX

I sent an e-mail to a group of my father's friends notifying them of his domestic violence past. He uses these friends as an excuse not to admit to the deeds. It was proven in court during the divorce, with sadly many hospital records. If the allegation I made about him is true and can be proven beyond a resonable doubt, does this constitute defamation or libel? I sent this information out to inform them of my father's excuses and to raise awareness about domestic violence. They all knew he had this problem, just avoided seeing this in writing.

Not libel, maybe defamation. However, it will cost you a lot of money in court for legal fees.

 

[flexman101]

Re:

For defamation, doesn't the statement have to be false? I have read that truth is absolute defense in a defamation case. What issues will be considered when the case is presented and what state does the case actually go to court, the defendants?

 

[quincy]

Defamation

Libel is a form of defamation - it is damaging a person's reputation by publishing something about a person that damages his reputation or exposes him to public ridicule (slander is the oral equivalent). There is only one complete and unconditional defense to a civil action for libel and that is that the facts stated are PROVABLY TRUE. The important thing is to be able to satisfy a jury that the libelous statement is substantially correct. A second defense to libel is PRIVILEGE. There is absolute privilege and qualified privilege. Absolute privilege means that certain people in some circumstances can state, without fear of prosecution, material which may be false, malicious and damaging. Privilege is generally used by the media to report on items of public interest - although they must report material fairly and accurately, the material itself may not be fair and/or accurate.
That said, courts can consider if libelous material is malicious or not - even when the material is true. Since reputation is often essential to ones ability to earn a living, courts can consider whether the sole motive in libeling someone was to hurt them.
Even when you have truth as your defense, you can spend a lot of money in court if someone sues you for libel.

 

[quincy]

Libel in court

Sorry - I should have added this in my post.
During court proceedings, and especially in divorce cases, libelous statements are often made. These statements, made in court as they are, are considered privileged, and you cannot sue someone for saying something false in these circumstances. For instance, you can accuse your spouse of adultery and your spouse cannot sue you for libel, even if the statement is false. With qualified privilege, a journalist could report that you accused your spouse of adultery, again even if this statement is false, if the journalist is accurately reporting the court hearing. However, if you step outside the courtroom and say your spouse is an adulterer and it is a false statement, they can sue you for libel. If the statement is true, THEN you can use your "truth as an absolute defense".
That's it.

 

[lizjimbo]

Sounds like you still hate daddy

Revenge is a very poor motivation. I don't really believe you were doing it as a public service to bring in to the open "domestic violence". This sounds like payback which could cause you problems, especially if the only intention was to cause harm. When you want the "truth" to be known, there usually isn't malice included with the action. Domestic violence is as old as civilization itself, it is part of the human experience. Most people do not suffer domestic violence during their lifetimes, however, for those of us that have, yes I had a violent daddy too, there comes a time to move on, and that is where you find yourself. This hatred you have for your father is going to consume you if you don't let it go. Your father is never going to own his actions, that is why he committed them in the first place. Pity the old man, that should be all you have for him, not malice.