Subject: Re: it's not opinion if the opinion is that certain facts are true
Author:
Mary
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Date Posted:09/ 6/04 4:17pm In reply to:
FLB
's message, "OPINION grounds for LAWSUIT?????" on 09/ 6/04 2:36pm
You can't avoid liability by attributing characteristics or behavior to a person and then couching it as opinion. Otherwise, there would be no protections from defamation as you could make the most heinous statements about another person by simply inserting the words "in my opinion."
If you said that your opinion was that the rape charges against WKS in 1991 were true, you might not be liable because criminal charges were filed by a prosecutor, and it would not be unreasonable to infer from the filing of those charges that a rape had in fact occurred.
But if a former president of CIR were to say that it was her opinion that WKS had raped Audra, she would be in a heap of trouble and could be sued for defamation. Note that in her defense of Hamilton and Hughes, Sutter said only that the two women did not throw thesemlves at WKS and made no allegatinos of improper conduct by WKS with respect to Audra or anyone else.
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