messy divorce and malicious reporting

[icposse]

What is the name of your state?California

Hi-

I'm posting this question based on a situation that a friend of mine is going through.

Background: My friend had been married for approximately 2 years. Unfortunately, he made a number of mistakes along the way, including (a) getting married to this person in the first place and (b) not leaving when the situation had deteriorated substantially. Unfortunately, the situation culminated in a fight between my friend and his wife in which he physically grabbed her and threw her out of the house. Needless to say, she called the police and he spent several days in jail. He was eventually convicted of simple battery and they are now in the middle of an extremely hostile divorce.

Current situation: Right now, my friend is concerned b/c his wife (soon to be ex-wife) has threatened to contact a friend of hers who is a writer for a speciality paper/newsletter which is distributed to other people in his profession. She has told my friend that she intends to have her friend write an article that identifies him as a felon and also identifies the company he works for (in an attempt to make it difficult for them to keep him as an employee). This may be an empty threat, but based upon recent actions, I believe she intends to follow through with this. I recognize that this does not fit easily into the category of defamation/slander/libel, since the allegation that he is a felon is in fact TRUE. However, it seems to me (although I am clearly not a lawyer) that there should be some sort of defense against this kind of malicious, career-ruining statement. It seems to me that the court has already decided upon a penalty for his behavior and that her actions constitute a form of 'double-jeopardy' (again, I'm not a lawyer) in which she is essentially imposing further penalties upon him.

OK...sorry about the long post. Please note that I am not in any way condoning my friend's behavior in this situation...I think he was absolutely, completely, and utterly wrong in his actions and I only wish he had had the foresight to have left the situation earlier.

 

[meganproser]

Is simple battery a felony in CA????

 

[icposse]

OK...turns out in the plea bargain he ended up with a misdemeanor, not a felony. Sorry...my mistake. I assume that if an article was published saying he was a felon, that would clearly be untrue and would therefore be libel. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if there would be any course of action if the article referred to him as a 'criminal' rather than a 'felon'? I think it would be in poor taste for a journalist to publish a malicious/spiteful article that was motivated from a divorce...but is it illegal or would the person have any course of action?

 

[meganproser]

This man is obviously familiar with the newsletter. Has he EVER seen a story of this nature in it? I can’t imagine he has, as the publication would lose all credibility as a professional newsletter.

On the other hand, if this “newsletter” is more of a gossip/rag sheet for this particular group, perhaps he will be next week’s headline.

If the story appears in print and sticks to the true facts it will not qualify as libel.

 

[msincognito]

Having worked as a reporter for both trade publications and general-circulation newspapers, I can back up what Megan is saying. No "real" trade publication will have any interest in a minor criminal charge committed by someone unless it has very significant business repercussions (for example, a magazine targeted at beauty salon owners might be interested if the owner of the region's largest beauty-supply distribution firm was convicted of selling counterfeit products.)