So can Adam Lanza's brother sue?

[bmulls]

You're missing the point also

The media reported what was told to them by the police. end of story

You cannot sue the media for relaying information from a public official in an effort to inform the public. It's not the media fault, it's the police departments fault.

if the police said it's Homer Simpson and they report it's Ryan Lanza then that's different story, BUT in this case the police told the media and not just one outlet but several that the shooters name was Ryan Lanza.

The police didn't officially report that, CNN asked some cop at the scene who spilled the beans. The police chief's official statement did not name a suspect. This distinction is important.

[Flagrant 2]

Not sure why they handcuffed him ... if I was the brother I would be pissed.

[shlver]

The police didn't officially report that, CNN asked some cop at the scene who spilled the beans. The police chief's official statement did not name a suspect. This distinction is important.

I'm not a lawyer but this detail seems pretty significant as to whether there is a case or not.

[L.Kizzle]

He most certainly has a case. Even if he wasn't intentionally slandered, it's still considered slander because by putting his picture online and on TV, you're hurting his reputation and can cause him problems down the road. Slander doesn't have to have intent behind it. When your working for a media outlet and your job is to report information, it is your duty to make sure the information is accurate before you make it public. One piece of inaccurate information can ruin a person's life. When people thought he was the killer, someone could have attempted to harm him. It's still consider slander and it affected his reputation and his safety.

What problem will this cause him down the road?

It's not like CNN has been reporting this for 7 weeks that he was the guy behind the mass murder and than all of a sudden say "my bad, it was his brother who did it."

It was probably reported for no more than 30 minutes (as this even was basically still goin on as they try to get the details, ect.)

I don't see this goin anywhere.

[KevinNYC]

Here's an article from a press watchdog on the Ryan Lizza angle. They don't mention the possibility of a lawsuit.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/m...ng-ryan-lanza/

[Rubio2Gasol]

He will sue and he will never even need to enter a courtroom. He'll get a fair but not exorbitant settlement.

He can claim a bunch of things , but that's not really the point. Media outlets don't want to go through another circus that will isolate and highlight their incompetence and lack of credibility when those are the institutions they're based on.

[bdreason]

So who was the person they claimed he killed in an apartment in Jersey? Or was that all just mis-information?

[D.J.]

What problem will this cause him down the road?

You don't know. Could have caused a nut job to kill him thinking he committed the crime. Future employment. You don't know.

It's not like CNN has been reporting this for 7 weeks that he was the guy behind the mass murder and than all of a sudden say "my bad, it was his brother who did it."

We live in an age of computers and high speed Internet. It only takes seconds to spread a nasty rumor or false information and ruin a person's life.

It was probably reported for no more than 30 minutes (as this even was basically still goin on as they try to get the details, ect.)

That's way more than enough time.

[gts]

Are there any lawyers on this board.

My father is a Superior Court Judge. I'll ask him tonight when I meet up for dinner

[outbreak]

There's apparently a crap load of hate pages set up for him already and he received threats. Even a blogger who passed on private posts of his stating he wasn't the killer was receiving threads from people.

[ripthekik]

the fact that we, a basketball forum, have a topic dedicated to him, and that probably every big time forum will have a topic on him too, tells you enough about the situation.

For the guys that said it's different because it was pulled off in a few hours and not days, well guess what, the damage is already done!

Want to put a celebrity's nude photos online and take it off in 5 minutes? Think it's not problem because you pulled it off so fast? Tell that to the judge, because it'll be all over the world in hours, and the damage is unrecoverable.

Dude should sue for compensation, and an injunction for the news to clear his name.