Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Defamation of character by slander

I am 55 years old, have ms and am having a problem that I need to get handled. There is a person who is telling other people that I am involved in illegal activity that she is involved in and I have nothing to do with it other than she used my name. It is quite complex but from what I understand I can file something to stop her from doing this as this is not her opinion she is saying; it is to hurt me. I also want to get a restraining order against this person. How do I go about filing a suit, complaint or whatever by myself. I may be able for some type of help from AARP as I am disabled and retired because of the disability. How do I get her to stop. She has told more than one person. Is it handled in small claims court? Just some direction here would help; I can get the forms and have this source to help me but I dont know where to start. What I have is enough in my possession to put her into jail just on that if I wanted to. It has to do with forged checks to me and fake ids made up which were all her idea and I didnt know about until recently so now she wants to say I helped her.


Asked on 1/03/00, 5:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Defamation of character by slander

It is extremely unlikely that you could have her jailed for the defamation, although you might be able to initiate a prosecution for her other illegal activity if you really want to. You will have to do this on your own, as no (ethical) attorney will threaten such action.

You can file a civil suit against this person, and can seek a temporary injunction while the case is proceeding oif you can prove that she is causing irreparable harm to you. This cannot be done in a small claims court; you will have to go to a regular court where you would be much better off with the services of a lawyer.

The AARP, I believe, has a network of attorneys nationwide who will represent its members at discounted rates; contact the AARP for more info on this program. I'm not a part of their program, but I would be pleased to discuss this with you if you wish.

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Answered on 1/03/00, 6:56 pm


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