To state a claim for defamation, a Plaintiff (or Cross-Complainant) must allege multiple facts. “The elements of a defamation claim are (1) a publication that is (2) false, (3) defamatory, (4) unprivileged, and (5) has a natural tendency to injure or causes special damage.” (Wong v. Jing (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 1354, 1369). Publication is an often overlooked element of defamation. Telling a party they are a criminal directly to their face (without others present) is not a publication of that allegation and would not be a proper case for defamation. But, if a false statement were published in a newspaper or published to other parties, then the publication element would be met.
Even if the statement is published, for a party to recover for defamation, the statement must also be false. If the party being accused of a crime did commit the crime, then there is no defamation because the statement was not false.
Often defamatory allegations might include things like saying someone committed a crime, which would generally cause injury to a party if that claim is false.
Please note that depending on the time you read this note, this case law might have changed and it will not be updated. To get up to date legal advice, an attorney should be consulted based on your specific facts and the current case law, which changes over time.
