Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Defamation of character, Libel/Slander
How can i sue someone for filing a legal court document full of lies, and then giving that information to various other people via email, by fax, or verbal?My so called best friend filed for guardianship of my child based on all lies I HAVE PROOF she sent paperwork to my childs dental office, she spoke about it to friends via MYSPACE. Neither her of her attorney followed the local court rules in providing me with information in a timely manner, and because I am a registered member in The Cherokee Nation, the attorney did not follow ICWA rules. I was not properly served and in fact the process server physically attacked my neighbor and caused property damage to our residence, IN FRONT OF MY LANDLORD! Her attorney continues to degrade me and I am just sick and tired of all the stress, emotionally, mentally, and physically I can not take it anymore.
Can I file a lawsuit for emotional distress, defamation, pain and suffering?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Defamation of character, Libel/Slander
Probably not, though I would need to know more about the facts before I could be confident about my answer. Statements made in court proceedings are legally privileged and cannot support a judgment for defamation (of which libel and slander are the two most common forms). Similar statements made to third parties might be defamatory, but merely giving them copies of the court proceedings probably was not. Statements made in relation to the lawsuit probably fall within the privilege.
I should add that I am no expert on tribal law or how it interacts with other areas of the law. It is possible that someone more knowledgeable about such things could offer you more reason for optimism.
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