Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Internet Posting

In August of 2008,

The Supervisor of the Bronx Legal

Aid, came to me and told me that

he was personally involved in

the capture and execution of

Che Guevara. I had a book of

That he coordinated those efforts,

departing from Cuba with Che with

the intention of surrending him

to the authorities.

I posted what he told me online,

in the soc.culture.cuba newsgroup.

He became very angry, when he

found out about and demanded

that I remove the posting.

I contacted Google and hotmail

and they indeed did remove the

post.

The post is no longer there,

but two responses to the post are.

On 2/19/2009, nearly 6 months later, he reported the incident

to the Captain of the Court Officers.

The Captain came to me and said

that the lawyer had lodged a complaint against me and that

he would have to notifiy Internal

Affairs.

The next day, the lawyer, got in

reported me to my supervisors

in the NYPD.

I work as a civilian for NYPD since

1981.

Their concern was that I used

a job computer to post.

I did not, never have used a computer on my job to post

anything that is not job related.

Everything was done from my home

computer.

Now he wants to file a civilian

complaint against me.

What can I do to protect myself?


Asked on 2/20/09, 2:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Reuland Law Offices of Robert C. Reuland, P.C.

Re: Internet Posting

If you were reporting what he told you accurately, I'm wondering what liability you may have. Whether he told you the truth or was lying to you, if you simply reported was he said then that's his problem. There can be no defamation action, unless you lied. The side issue, unrelated to defamation, is whether the PD can take action against you on the job, but that would relate to misuse of city property and not to your exercise of free speech. This is just my quick take -- you should get a lawyer if this turns into something.

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Answered on 2/20/09, 6:43 pm


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