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This would be the most fascinating defamation case ever…
By Steven | December 10, 2007
In her book and in media interviews, Louise Nicholas calls Clint Rickards a rapist. He calls her a liar who needs help.
If one of them were to sue the other for defamation, it would be a hell of a bunfight.
The criminal case hasn’t put these issues to bed. A defamation lawsuit would be decided on proof on balance of probabilities, and material that was inadmissible in the criminal case may be admissible in a civil one.
Incidentally, if either decided to sue, they could line up some media defendants as well (including – because of this post – me).
Does this show that we need to embrace the emerging doctrine of neutral reportage, in which the media are protected if they are merely reporting conflicting allegations, without taking sides, where the fact of the allegations themselves is newsworthy?
Topics: Defamation | Comments Off on This would be the most fascinating defamation case ever…