Legality of picketing/distributing flyers about an individual

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darkhamsterlord

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
8
OK. So a little background info.

I started dating my gf (Chloe) in November of '05. I moved into her house in December of '06. We lived in this house along with her grandparents (who raised her) her uncle (who helps financially as the grandparents are retired) and her dad (who's been in and out of jail her entire life). So they're a great family, welcomed me from the beginning. I love these people, they ARE my family.

So everythings fine and dandy up until February of '07 when her grandpa dies. Two months later her grandma decides to refinance the house, she wants to maybe sell it and purchase a smaller and less expensive house and save the rest of the money just in case anything unexpected happens again.

Well it turns out Uncle Todd has refinanced the house already. Not only that but he took out a loan and used it to buy his new house.

You see, when they first bought the house it was under Todd's name. The grandparents (his mom and dad) paid all the house payments to him, and he in turn sent them off to the bank or whatever.

Grandma hires a lawyer and attempts to take him to court. Only to realize she really has no case. By law, it's Todd's house. Everything is under his name. He claims its his and he was renting it out to his parents all these years. The only chance they had was to get Todd's ex wife to testify against him. She knew what he was trying to do the whole time, which was to be the sole proprietor of the house once his parents had died. We know this because she is still in contact with grandma. Everything was fine and we had this lawsuit in the bag up until Todd threatened to make his ex wifes a living hell if she testified against him. Whatever her reasons were, she decided she wouldn't testify. And thus, we had no case.

Grandma said she at least wanted to try to fight for it her house. All those years and Todd didn't put one cent into this house.

So this leads me to my question. What are the laws for picketing or passing out flyers about some douchebag like this? I know for public businesses you'd have to get a permit. All we want to do is tell this story and let his neighbors know what kind of asshole this dude is. It would be different in this case because it's private property?

I know this is long but its for a good cause. Thanks for your time.
 
I'm pretty sure that if it's not true, then you would be committing libel. Now, I believe you, but apparently you can't prove it. So, in the eyes of the court - it's not true.

Oh, and he's a dirtbag.
 
Is there anything you are actually trying to accomplish by publicizing his poor character with fliers or actively demonstrating? It what way will ruining his image or reputation (assuming that’s the goal) help your case, and not just satisfy revenge? Unless you wanting to do this to gain support for whatever reason, it has little purpose and would cost YOU money and time better spent elsewhere.

Technically your lawyer is right… you need the testimony of the ex under oath, since there was no written agreement. Everything belongs to him, legally, so without a written agreement he can be an asshole if he wants to be.

What you need to do IMO, is picket and send fliers to that ex. It seems apparent that he fears her testimony by threatening her if she goes to the stand. The Ex should not submit to his intimidation if she is a witness to a verbal agreement, or has information that would stand as evidence of an agreement. It is to the court that you petition his discredit of character.
 
The uncle will probably sue you for defamation. In this case defamation can include libel, as Yippee Skippy mentioned, slander (telling lies about a person orally, as opposed to in print), and public disclosure of private facts. Assuming he's not a famous person, there are things about his private life that you may not be allowed to make public in this manner. It would be difficult and expensive to defend yourself. If you lost and did not have enough assets to pay the damages, he could garnish your wages until the claim was satisfied.

Plus, if you are not careful about what you say, or if the flyers resulted in a rock through his window, you could be facing a criminal charge of making terroristic threats.

I would not recommend this approach.
 
^ As leverage for what?

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DO THIS: You find something on the uncle that, if known by the police or another government agency, could result in criminal charges being filed against him. You then go to him and say, "Lay off Grandma's house or the cops will find out all about ____________ and you'll go to jail." That's extortion, also known as blackmail, and it is a felony. You cannot threaten someone with criminal charges in order to get them to give you money or anything else in the civil (i.e., non-criminal) arena--such as a deed to a house.

So JUST IN CASE that's what you meant, magicalchem, or that's what the OP might consider if he runs across the right information, remember that it's extortion and is not available as a means to the end you seek.
 
No I meant he could go directly to the police without blackmailing him as uttering threats is an offense

The ex wife could then maybe get a restraining order and she can then testify without fearing the uncle.
 
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