Innocent Bystander caught in crossfire

Anthony Rich

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
My GF and her ex best friend have been at each others throats since she quit and opened up a harrassment lawsuit against the company they both worked for. Both acting like teenagers back and forth which I opted to have no part of, until just recently. My GFs old friend has opened up a restraining order process against my GF, but named me in the process. Her and her boyfriend are stating that I have called them and left threatening voicmails promising violence and death threats and that I have been arrested on multiple accounts for drug related crimes. I have not taken a drugs besides alcohol in over 20 years and have certainly never called and made any threats. I consider their statement against me be a defamation tort (libel) and if they stick to it at the hearing slanderous as well as perjury. I can easily disprove their statements with phone records and criminal background check. What should I do?
 
I do know that is an option. I wanted professional legal opinions because there is a grey area when slander is used in court due to some bullshit witness protection laws. I want to know if since it is not in a criminal trial I can proceed, because courts offer protection against witnesses in criminal proceeding for some odd reason. My girlfriend already has an atourney and I was wondering if I should hire them or my own to and start my own suit. It has also come to my attention that my Girl friends ex friend did not even file the restraining order. Her ex boss she is suing for harassment filled out the paper work (positive match on handrwriting) and had the girl sign it. I assume we can bury them now. So Im not even worried.
 
My suggestion is you ignore it. Get out of the way. You'll get nowhere trying to meddle (legal or otherwise) in this situation.
 
A court filing has immunity against defamation claims.
 
[QUOTE="Anthony Rich, post: 293566, member: 126354"I consider their statement against me be a defamation tort (libel) and if they stick to it at the hearing slanderous as well as perjury. I can easily disprove their statements with phone records and criminal background check. What should I do?[/QUOTE]

If those statements were made only in the court filings then there is no defamation claim to pursue since allegations made in court filings are generally privileged and thus cannot be the basis for a defamation claim. If you were named as a party to the restraining order then you'll need to defend against that order. If the action is just against your girlfriend then there is nothing for you do about this.

If they made defamatory statements outside of court you may sue them for that, but just be aware that suing for defamation can have the effect of giving their statements even more exposure and in the end do you more harm than good. Also, pursuing these claims can be quite expensive. Those two factors are why you don't see a whole lot of defamation claims pursued in court. So be careful about how you choose to proceed. Discuss all the pros and cons of this with a civil litigation attorney experienced in defamation lawsuits.
 
I can easily disprove their statements with phone records and criminal background check.

Your phone records aren't going to disprove anything. Just because you didn't make any calls from phone number X doesn't mean you didn't make then from phone number Y or Z.

What should I do?

If someone is seeking a restraining order against you, you are free to oppose it.

That's it. Statement made in the context of judicial proceedings are almost never actionable as defamation.

ignore it. Get out of the way. You'll get nowhere trying to meddle (legal or otherwise) in this situation.

I'd agree, but the original post indicates that the OP has been dragged into this as a target of the restraining order proceedings. Defending oneself against false allegations is nor "meddling."
 
You would also have to prove some degree of harm as a result of defamatory statements. You have not indicated anything that suggests anyone other than the people involved are even aware of the statements. It is likely best to simply defend against the restraining order and not try to make it into something bigger.

As for one person filling out papers and another person signing them, that is not an issue. It actually happens all the time.
 
I'd agree, but the original post indicates that the OP has been dragged into this as a target of the restraining order proceedings. Defending oneself against false allegations is nor "meddling."
If he is a named "target" of the proceedings (i.e., he is the one being restrained by the order), then I'd agree, he needs an attorney to address it.

That didn't sound like what happened. It sounds like they mentioned him in the affidavit for the RO on someone else. If that is the case, he has no status in that. He's not a party nor is any misstatements about him actionable on his initiative.
 
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