A form of publication which tends to cause one to lose the esteem of the community is defamation. This is injury to reputation. A person can be held liable for the defamation of another. In order to prove defamation, the plaintiff must prove:
- that a statement was made about the plaintiff's reputation, honesty or integrity that is not true;
- publication to a third party (i.e., another person hears or reads the statement); and
- the plaintiff suffers damages as a result of the statement.
Slander is a form of defamation that consists of making false oral statements about a person which would damage that person's reputation. If one spreads a rumor that his neighbor has been in jail and this is not true, the person making such false statements could be held liable for slander.
Defamation which occurs by written statements is known as libel. Libel also may result from a picture or visual representation. Truth is an absolute defense to slander or libel.
Some statements, while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander. The best example is statements made in a court of law. An untrue statement made about a person in court which damages that person's reputation will generally not cause liability to the speaker as far as slander is concerned. However, if the statement is untrue, the person making it may be liable for criminal perjury.
If a communication is made in good faith on a subject in which the party communicating it has a legitimate right or interest in communicating it, this communication may be exempt from slander liability due to a qualified privileged.
The following form letter demands that someone cease making libelous or slanderous statements, or appropriate legal action will be taken.
Slander Character With Malicious Intent In Virginia
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Malicious falsehood is defined as a false statement that is made maliciously (intentionally with knowledge of its falsehood, or with reckless disregard for the truth). When malicious falsehood occurs, it can give rise to a civil lawsuit for either libel or slander.
To be successful with defamation claims under Virginia Law, plaintiffs need to show the following elements: Factual assertion: The statement should be a claim of fact, not an opinion, a joke, or a hyperbole. False: It should be a false statement. It is not slander if the statement is the truth or substantially true.
Is it hard to win a defamation case? Defamation lawsuits are challenging because they require a lot of fact-finding. It may require experts to testify on your behalf about the psychological and emotional harm you've suffered. Unless your lawyer is working on a contingency basis, it can also be quite costly.
Truth, or substantial truth, is a complete defense to a claim of defamation.
Shooting, stabbing, etc., with intent to maim, , etc. If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, or wound any person or by any means cause him bodily injury, with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or , he shall, except where it is otherwise provided, be guilty of a Class 3 felony.
Your reputation must suffer harm — The false and defamatory statement at issue must actually damage the reputation of the subject of the statement to support a lawsuit for defamation. The burden is on the plaintiff (the person bringing the lawsuit) to prove such damage — often a difficult task.
With the exception of punitive damages, there is no set limit on damages in Virginia defamation cases.
Similarly, if the statement is true, it cannot be defamatory, even if it harms your reputation. In Virginia, you have one year from the date of publication of the defamatory statement to file a lawsuit for libel or slander. If you wait too long, you may lose your right to pursue legal action.
