Libel Slander Grounds

Maid accuses tabloid of libel

NEW YORK — The hotel maid at the center of the now-teetering sex assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn filed a libel lawsuit Tuesday against the New York Post after the tabloid reported she was a prostitute.

The woman's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, filed the claim in Bronx state Supreme Court after the Post , relying on anonymous sources, referred to the 32-year-old as a "prostitute" and a "hooker." The paper also reported that she "traded sex for money," including at a Brooklyn hotel while she was being housed by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

All of those statements are false, according to the lawsuit, and have subjected the woman to humiliation and ridicule.

A Post spokeswoman said the paper stands by its reporting.

The Post 's claims came in a series of articles published after a special hearing Friday in which Strauss-Kahn, the 62-year-old former head of the International Monetary Fund, was released without bail after prosecutors conceded that new information about the woman's life had forced them to reconsider.

The Post has not named the woman. But her attorney said it is clear to whom they are referring, because there is only one hotel maid accusing Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape.

In arguing libel, it is not necessary for the maid to prove the general public knows her and was affected by the possibly defamatory statements. At issue is whether people close to her would see the accusations and would know they refer to her, said David Heller of the nonprofit Media Law Research Center, which monitors First Amendment and libel issues.

The number of people potentially affected by the statements could mean larger damages awarded if the libel accusations were founded.

French w riter files charge of attempted rape

A young French author formally accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape on Tuesday and broke her long public silence with a dramatic account of the alleged attack. "He grabbed my hand, then my arm, I told him to let me go and that's when the fight started. He pulled me towards him, we fell down and fought on the ground for a few minutes," Tristane Banon, 31, told news magazine L'Express . Her legal action is expected to set off a lengthy preliminary investigation by prosecutors into whether there is enough evidence to pursue a case in France. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have labeled Banon's account "imaginary" and say they will file a criminal complaint of slander against her.

Libel, Slander and Fraud: Happy Father's Day Canada

Happy Glurg of July.  Wanna know what makes America great?  Yesterday.  Yesterday makes America the best thing ever. In chronological order, the day began with vegan pancakes (I put M&Ms) in mine.  I don't know if M&Ms are vegan but they ARE delicious.  Which is basically my dietary principle. I'm totally vegan unless something tastes good that isn't vegan. Then I eat the hell out of it.  Later yesterday, I returned the apartment in the East Village that I'm not technically supposed to be staying in as I haven't paid rent for it in the past two months; however, the woman I'm subletting from never came back from Mexico, I still have keys and there is no one there.  So I moved all my stuff out, but still use the place for escapes, naps, showers and Johnny Cash dance parties. SO, yesterday, while walking to that apartment in the rain I noticed a tiny bag on the ground. Kicked it around a bit... and sure enough some poor, unfortunate soul had misplaced their cocaine in a dirty puddle on Essex.  Continuing on my walk, I looked up to wonder at a large, unattractive man in his boxers leaning off his 2nd story fire escape.  While I was watching, he threw something on the ground.  I stopped with my fellow sidewalkers to ponder this action, only to discover that he had thrown a fully grown, dead rat off the fire escape on to the sidewalk. Then I found an Ice Age size, dead cockroach in my apartment. But no really, I love America.  We invented National Parks, the light bulb, the internet and the cotton gin.  Thanks Eli Whitney. Speaking of National Parks, a shout out to my boy in the mesas of Colorado enjoying actual changes in elevation that don't involve elevators, my jealous pants are on fire.  But I'm looking forward to rooftop fireworks and grilled meat in Greenpoint.  Delicious, non-vegan meat.  Yum, dead animals make for the best entrees. "Dearest Jameson, Things on the farm have not been the same since you were enlisted.  Mama's got gout and Papa has TB, a broken leg, Typhoid and Lockjaw.  I hear the fighting is progressing in the North.  Fact, some are even saying you boys might be home for Christmas.  I've spent most of everyday for the past 8 months  killing pigs and making lard.   Wishing you health and a safe return to us soon.

The law of slander and libel, including the practice, pleading, and evidence, civil and criminal, with forms and precedents : also contempts of court and the procedure in libel by indictment and criminal information : also an appendix of statutes

Libel, slander, and related problems

Atlantic reporter

Defamation--libel and slander

A treatise on the wrongs called slander and libel, and on the remedy by civil action for those wrongs, together with a chapter on malicious prosecution