I live in a small community where the local paper only comes out twice a week. About a month ago a friend of mine became ill in a local pub. She is 23 and was with her mother who is 44. The 23 yr old was in a near fatal car accident almost a year ago and takes a lot of medication. That particular night she quit breathing and here mom gave her mouth to mouth and a life squad was called. In yesterdays paper the following was printed: "Possession of Drugs. Jane Doe of Elm St. was found to be under the influence of alcohol and cocaine after a medical emergency". This was printed along with 6 other little snippets like....John Smith was cited for possession of drugs after marijuana was found in his car" ....etc....typical small town stuff. Anyway, this friend of mine has not been charged with anything but yet the paper gives the indication that she has been charged with Possession of Drugs.
2006-10-24 10:26:53 · 14 answers · asked by JRandy 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The newspaper is responsible, not the PD. Sounds defamatory to me, if she is not charged.
2006-10-24 10:29:58 · answer #1 · answered by LoneStar 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I am no lawyer but based up what you gave I think that the paper printed a lie. Whether or not they knew it was a lie is a different story. If you can claim that there were damages from it it is possible so sue the paper and win.
Here is a link to a current trial about a news outlet that reported the name of a suspect in the BTK murders.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301043.html?nav=rss_nation
This is is a little different because the man involved was a suspect but was never charged. He claims that the news report of him being a suspect caused him harm. He won this case. It may be knocked down in higher court though.
You may want to contact a lawyer and see what can be done. You may also want to contact the paper and ask them to retract that statement. They may have just made a mistake and will correct it if you give them the chance.
One more thing, someone has postulated that cocaine was found but there were no charges filed. If that were the case, the newspaper would still have to prove cocaine was found in order to avoid a libel case. Without mention of it in a police report evidence may be hard to come by. If it is mentioned in the police report then why was the person not arrested?
2006-10-24 10:35:26 · answer #2 · answered by A.Mercer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would think the paper is most defiantly in the wrong!! I'm not 100% sure but that kind of information sure seems to be defamation of character witch is not law full. She might want to contact a lawyer to explore her options. The paper should be held accountable for there false accusations and at very least a retraction and apology should be printed... That kind of press can have serious repercussions now and down the line. Good luck!
2006-10-24 10:35:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes most cities do that most put the person name and what they did in a certain area of the paper. but not where they live. they would have to have proof that she had cocaine in her system inorder to print that in the paper or she can sue for slander and damages to her as a person just to start with if it is not true i would sue. The only thing is that she has to prove that she did not have that in her system.
2006-10-24 10:38:58 · answer #4 · answered by CHAEI 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are asking if there is some law against a police department publishing something in the newspaper, I would say NO. If you are asking if the Police Dept can publish true statements about your friend, I would say, YES. If you are asking if the Police can publish false information about your friend, I would say, NO, that is called libel. Your friend should seek the advice of a lawyer in your area.
2006-10-24 10:35:39 · answer #5 · answered by www.lvtrafficticketguy.com 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have had worse printed about me
they will print one line buried in a future issue saying that the info was incorrect on such n such date page 2 coulomb 3
sorry for the inconvenience...
no one will know what they are talking about
but they are protected from law suits
in my case i was running for city council
they ran a half page saying i had been arrested on 14 felony's
with my photo
they printed the retraction in the obituaries the day after the election
2006-10-24 10:40:31 · answer #6 · answered by the bad seed 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
how were her medical records retrieved to be used in the paper and by whom? if she was found to have cocaine in her system but was not arrested for possession/use then I would ask where the info came from if not her medical records-which are supposed to be PRIVATE.
IF she had been arrested and charged by law enforcement then it is a matter of record(her arrest and for what) but if not then I would definitely get a lawyer.
2006-10-24 10:48:24 · answer #7 · answered by rwl_is_taken 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she has not been charged, they are guilty of libel only if you can prove the paper was negligent (didn't do a reasonable job in fact checking).
2006-10-24 10:38:00 · answer #8 · answered by Jess 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it's not true she (or most likely you) is sitting on a gold mine having been slandered and libeled. If however it is true and they simply did not press charges you don't want to open that can of worms.
2006-10-24 10:32:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's how small town newspapers are, they do it to try and sell more papers. The same thing is done here where I live. I know it sux but that's how it is.
2006-10-24 10:31:24 · answer #10 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's possible that the police know a bit more than you do. They don't usually mention a drug unless there was evidence of it.
2006-10-24 10:29:38 · answer #11 · answered by Bad Kitty! 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋