Thursday, August 9, 2007

Oscar Corral's Alleged Homosexuality: Slander or Libel?


Rick of South of the Palmetto has suggested that Henry Gómez might be guilty of slander for observing on his blog Herald Watch that Oscar Corral's partner in vice was of an "undetermined sex." At the moment Henry said it, this was entirely true. Henry vigorously defended himself against the charge of slander, correctly pointing out that something which is unknown is certainly open to speculation. I would also point out, though I did not myself engage in such speculations, that, under the circumstances, it is a legitimate question. The prostitute had to have a sex, one or the other. Ignoring that fact only implies that it would have been a greater offense if the prostitute had been male rather than female, which, of course, legally, it wouldn't have been.

But Rick and Henry both got one thing wrong, the same thing in fact. If Henry had personally told Rick that Alex had consorted with a male prostitute, then Henry would have been guilty of slander. But if Henry had published that allegation as a fact, as Rick accused him, then Henry would have been guilty of libel, not slander.

It is remarkable, I think, that neither of them knew the difference between slander and libel. They are certainly well-matched. We should look forward to their future contests.

10 comments:

Fantomas said...

Manny very few comments lately for the review...

pathetic

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Visitors are too afraid to comment as the subject is too controversial. However, we have set records these last three days at RCAB, as everybody who googles "oscar corral" is led here, including, as I have noted, The Times, The Chicago Tribune and the Miami Police.

Fantomas said...

not until you open the site meter to read your stats...

Realmente no te afecta a ti en nada ..

Abrelo para determinar como has progresado ..yo lo tuve abierto por un mes completo sin problemas ...

otros cuban a bloggers have theirs open at all times including your blog nemesis

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

As I've said before, I feel no obligation to share confidential information with my avowed enemies.

Fantomas said...

Telle your enemies will not do anything with that info , on the contrary It will increase your reputation...

of course you can say you have a millions hit a day .. but how I am supposed to believe you..

Show me the money manny..

open it, your enemies from the other side cant do shit to your stats

trust me

to tell you the truth in your 1st month you used to get about 48 daily hits...now according to my stats department you should be around 101 visitors daily...which by the way is excellent ..i will give you that much, heck you are now even beating other cuban american blogs that have been around for a couple of years and they are only getting between 67 and 81 visits...

go nutty go

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Your last comment was removed to The Madhouse where you can visit it if you wish. In any case, it is certainly not lonely.

Your speculations about my sitemeter are entirely wrong.

When I overtake Babalú, I'll let you know.

Fantomas said...

Manny no te hagas el descarao y baja de esa nube...


yo se que tu eres un novato en esto de los blogs y el site meter...

los numeros no engañan...101 visitas daily is a great number for you considering the time you have been open

no te sientas mal .... that is VERY GOOD INDEED..

good job

oye el madhouse is past history ...close it down... que diran tus amigos del Tribune con esas niñerias

Si quieres respeto, respect others

fantomas august 10, 2007

Vana said...

Manuel:
Have you noticed that Fanto is two different people, sometimes his english is very good, and when it's him doing the writing is horrible, I think you were right Manuel, that was him and someone else who opened that other review blog, it was him who wrote that post against the Madhouse in Cuba Island Prison, Island Paradise, cause the english was terrible, tell me Manuel are you clairvoyant?

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

Vana:

Some do think I am clairvoyant. To cite one example: When Alesh of Critical Miami announced that he would be visiting Bogota earlier this year, I posted a comment on his blog warning him against theft. When he read it, he was already in Colombia, and within an hour of reading it he was indeed robbed of thousands of dollars of camera equipment.

I also predicted Corral's downfall on Miami's Cuban Connection a year ago. I will be dedicating a post to that subject soon.

This gift has been of no use to anyone; for, invariably, whomever I warn ignores me and pays the price for it. They believe in me only when it is of no use to them.

Vana said...

Manuel:
I'm impressed, I have noticed your gift many times here, you seem to hone into whatevere is going on behind the scenes, I was not sure it was fanto, but now Iam, trust me, I'll believe anything you tell me, you always seem to know