Defamation and Perjury (bad-mouthing someone in court)

In some situations, when a person feels that they have been harmed by someone’s statements about them, s/he may be able to bring a civil lawsuit for defamation, sometimes known as slander (when the statement is spoken) or libel (when the statement is written). Generally, a person seeking to prove defamation may need to show that the other person’s statement was false, that it was “published” to at least one other person, and that it negatively affected the person’s reputation within the community. However, certain types of communications, such as statements made during “judicial proceedings” are “absolutely privileged” from defamation lawsuits. “Absolute privilege” means that the person making the statement has the absolute right to make that statement at that time, even if it is defamatory. In other words, the person making the defamatory statement cannot be sued for defamation.

So, if someone makes an otherwise defamatory statement during his/her testimony at a trial, that statement is absolutely privileged, and that person cannot be sued for defamation. The privilege during “judicial proceedings” is not limited to statements made during a trial. It includes statements made within all of the pleadings (court documents) including the petition, complaint, answer, cross-complaint, and all papers and affidavits filed in the action by either party. (But if someone makes a different allegedly defamatory statement in the hallway of the courthouse during a break in the trial, he/she could possibly be sued for defamation because the statement was not made during a judicial proceeding.)

It could be possible, however, that if a person knowingly lies in a court document or testimony, s/he may be accused of committing perjury. However, perjury accusations are brought by the prosecutor’s office and it could be very difficult to get a prosecutor to be interested in a perjury allegation.