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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (69983)	9/13/2004 11:08:53 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 793964

>>What standard would the state need to apply in its proof that the documents were actually forged? For criminal law, "beyond a reasonable doubt" is the bedrock, which you knew. In Virginia, for civil fraud, the standard is "clear and convincing" evidence, not as high as "beyond a reasonable doubt." Under the common law, I think you would have to prove that the document was false, and that the person who created it intended harm by it, "prejudice to another's right." Here, of course, it would be Bush's good name. Under NYTimes vs. Sullivan, it would be actionable as libel if 1) it was materially false; and 2) the person who published it knew that it was false or was recklessly indifferent to the truth or falsity of it. Rather's defense to libel would be that the documents, even if forged, are materially true. This wouldn't help the forger. A Fairfax lawyer was disbarred for stuffing the ballot box of a bar vote endorsing which judge the legislature should appoint. He did it to help someone he admired. The prejudice was to others also seeking endorsement. It was an informal vote, but he duplicated the ballots and surreptitiously included them with the rest. And now he's working in a store as a clerk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The technicalities of proving documents is a specialty all unto itself. There are paper experts, ink experts, handwriting experts, as well as typography experts, etc. You call the experts who can get the job done.