RONALD RIDGE, APPELLANT,
v.
NORMAN RADEMACHER AND HAZEL RADEMACHER, APPELLEES
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An unsworn statement to a police officer regarding an alleged crime is not absolutely privileged and can be the basis for a slander action if maliciously made.
Plaintiff brought a slander action based on an unsworn statement made to a municipal police officer regarding an alleged crime.…
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PER CURIAM.
We hold that an unsworn statement1 to a municipal police officer in regard to an alleged crime is not accorded an absolute privilege which will bar, as a matter of law, a subsequent action for slander based on such a statement, particularly when it is alleged to have been maliciously made. Such a statement partakes of a qualified privilege and is a mixed question of law and fact, depending on the actual malice established. Hartley & Parker v. Copeland, 51 So. 2d 789 (Fla.1951); Axelrod v. Califano, 357 So. 2d 1048 (Fla.1st DCA 1968); Glynn v. City of Kissimmee, 383 So. 2d 774 (Fla.5th DCA 1980).
Therefore, the final order dismissing the last amended complaint is reversed, with directions to require an answer by the defendants within an appropriate time.2
Reversed and remanded, with directions.
. Pleadings or sworn statements in judicial proceedings may be “absolute”. Coogler v. Rhodes, 38 Fla. 240, 21 So. 109 (1897); Fiore v. Rogero, 144 So. 2d 99 (Fla.2d DCA 1962); McNayr v. Kelly, 184 So. 2d 428 (Fla.1966); Farish v. Wakeman, 385 So. 2d 2 (Fla.4th DCA 1980). Unsworn statements in legislative and executive proceedings may also be “absolute”. Robertson v. Industrial Insurance Company, 75 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1954); McNayr v. Kelly, Supra; Stone v. Rosen, 348 So. 2d 387 (Fla.3d DCA 1977); Kribs v. City of Boynton Beach, 372 So. 2d 195 (Fla.4th DCA 1979); Mueller v. The Florida Bar, 390 So. 2d 449 (Fla.4th DCA 1980); Kohn v. Davis, 390 So. 2d 1246 (Fla.1st DCA 1980).
. This opinion and decision will not foreclose the trial court, upon an appropriate motion, from considering either the entry of a summary judgment in favor of the defendants or a directed verdict at the close of the plaintiffs case, in the event that the record in either of such instance will not permit the plaintiff to go forward.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Fridovich v. Fridovich, 598 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 1992)…itute license revocation proceedings. Two of our district courts of appeal, however, have summarily found a qualified privilege on facts similar to the case at bar. Anderson v. Skands, 570 So. 2d 1121, 1122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Ridge v. Rademacher, 402 So. 2d 1312, 1312 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (“We hold that an unsworn statement to a municipal police officer in regard to an alleged crime is not accorded an absolute privilege which will bar, as a matter of law, a subsequent action for slander based on such a statem…
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Fridovich v. Fridovich, 573 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…ce commissioner to be absolutely privileged in Robertson v. Industrial Insurance Company, 75 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1954), because the statements were necessary to institute license revocation proceedings. However, our sister court, in Ridge v. Rademacher, 402 So. 2d 1312 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), held an unsworn statement to a police officer about an alleged crime qualifiedly rather than absolutely privileged. In Merriman v. Lewis, 141 Fla. 832, 194 So. 349 (1940), the defendant included a libel in a sworn statement to an…
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Pledger v. Burnup & Sims, Inc., 432 So. 2d 1323 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)…ce commissioner to be absolutely privileged in Robertson v. Industrial Insurance Company, 75 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1954), because the statements were necessary to institute license revocation proceedings. However, our sister court, in Ridge v. Rademacher, 402 So. 2d 1312 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), held an unsworn statement to a police officer about an alleged crime qualifiedly rather than absolutely privileged. In Merriman v. Lewis, 141 Fla. 832, 194 So. 349 (1940), the defendant included a libel in a sworn statement to an…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (12 total)
- McNAYR v. Kelly, 184 So. 2d 428 (Fla. 1966)
- Coogler v. Napoleon B. Rhodes, 38 Fla. 240 (Fla. 1896)
- Robertson v. Indus. Ins. Co., 75 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 1954)
- Axelrod v. Califano, 357 So. 2d 1048 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- Hartley & Parker v. Copeland, 51 So. 2d 789 (Fla. 1951)
- Edmond Duhart v. State, 348 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Glynn v. City OF Kissimmee, 383 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
- Mueller v. THE Florida BAR, 390 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Fiore v. Rogero, 144 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)
- Kribs v. City OF Boynton Beach, 372 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)