Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Carolina
The phone call never took place. This person just told the magistrate that I called him threating him with bodily injury and property damage. They served me with a criminal summons. I went and got a copy of what he actually said in the actual document and this person said I said " you better watch out, Im going to blow the place up." The phone records prove I did not make the call nor have I made any calls to this person. We do have another law suit going on that I have won in small claims court and he has appealed to district court. I want to know what laws he may have broken by falsely accusing of a bomb threat.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Accusing you of a crime may be both libel and slander per se, assuming it is not true. The slander may have occured if he verbally told anyone you comitted a crime (ie. the magistrate) and also possibly libel if he made a written statement to that effect. However, these are civil issues and not criminal. I can not think of any crimes this person may have comitted other than possibly perjury since you are under oath when you swear out a warrent. However, there may be some other criminal liability for this person - possibly along the lines of filing a false report which is akin to the perjury. Clearly, you need to consult with an experienced criminal attorney regarding the charge of communicating a threat and also with regard to the possibility of filing a civil suit for libel and/or slander. It sounds like you have basically gotten yourself into a good old fashion pissing match with this other person - regardless, I would encourage you to not have any contact with this person whatsoever until these matters are resolved.
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