Mark & Galusha, LLC are Lawyers who specialize in Defamation and Malicious Prosecution claims, representing clients throughout Bergen County, New Jersey.
As you may have become aware, Social Media is the hot topic of the day. In fact, "anonymous" and "not anonymous" message boards have become the source of many civil actions in the New Jersey Court's System. The people who post on these message boards often open themselves up for defamation claims. The comments often are called into question, and are used as "electronic evidence" pointing directly at you.
In the matter of Anthony R. Saurez v. Michael Mecca, the mayor of Ridgefield sued a local resident as a result of a message posted on the municipality's forum. The message stated that based off of an anonymous tip that Mr. Mecca owned an illegal apartment, Mr. Saurez, a councilman and police officers arrived at Mr. Mecca's residence at 6:00 a.m. The post went on to indicate that the parties advised Mr. Mecca they had "made a mistake."
As a result of this post, the Mayor filed suit, claiming defamation. In order for a party to produce suitable evidence regarding libel or slander, they must fulfill four requirements: (1) the defaming remarks must be communicated to someone else, a nonessential third party, (2) the statements must be harmful to the reputation of the person the statement refers to, (3) they must be knowingly false (or malicious), and (4) you must have suffered provable damages.
In considering the evidence produced, the Court dismissed Mayor Saurez's Complaint as the Court did not find that the Mayor was capable of proving damages, even if the posts had been created in malice. The Mayor was unable to provide evidence supporting the claims that these posts had been harmful to his reputation.
Michael Mecca in turn filed a Complaint claiming malicious prosecution. In the matter of Michael Mecca v. Anthony Saurez, Mr. Mecca claims that the Mayor acted with malice when he instituted the initial suit. This matter was heard by the Appellate Division after being dismissed in trial court and the Appellate Court found that the judge had not erred when dismissing the matter. Again, the Trial Court and Appellate Court concurred that the certain documentation created during the initial suit did not need to be considered as evidence (a decision we take exception to). As such, the Appellate Division agreed that the matter was properly heard and that the jury verdict was accurate.
Navigating the Court system can be difficult, particularly during a review of the matter by the Appellate Division. If you feel that your case has been improperly dismissed by the trial court or that you are the victim of malicious prosecution or defamation, please do not hesitate to contact Mark & Galusha, LLC. We will review your matter using our legal experience to advise you if we believe an appeal is beneficial to you, or a waste of your time and money.
We can be reached at (908) 626-1001 or 973-440-2311, or simply tell us your story by clicking the "contact us" page. Mark & Galusha, LLC, are experienced lawyers serving Alpine, Lodi and all of Bergen County, New Jersey.
