Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You have not provided enough information for us to be able to answer your question. Assuming the person is not a public figure, if a newspaper publishes something false and could have found out that it was false [negligent], then there would be a basis for a libel suit. You do not indicate whether or not they could have found out before printing the story that it was false. You also do not state if they reported the incident as being one of fact or someone's belief; if they have "John Smith claims that X illegally took money" , if Smith believes that or they have no reason to doubt that he does, then the story is true because it does not say X did the illegal act, merely that Smith belives X did the illegal act.

I assume you are referring to the paper printing a retraction of the article. If they were not negligent initially, the refusal to print a retraction probably does not create liability in itself. Even if you can show liability, you then must then prove your damages, which normally is very hard to do. Can you show that anyone you knows you developed a negative attitude toward you becasue of what was printed and how did that hurt you?

If the information is defamatory, then yes. Defamatory information is that which imputes criminal acts or moral turputude to the plaintiff. Contact me directly 619 379-6400.