Baltimore, MD asked in Libel & Slander for Maryland

Q: Can a person be sued for telling an owner of a property that he saw a neighbor taking an object from his property?

The owner of the property asked the neighbor about his object and told the neighbor that a person told him about it.

The neighbor denied to have taken the object and threatened to sue the person who accused him.

The neighbor does not know what the person who accused him told the owner, and the person who accused the neighbor does not know what the owner of the property told the neighbor.

There was no direct communication between the accuser and the accused. How can the neighbor prove who said what and the veracity of the wording.

Is there a slander case here? What evidence the neighbor need to provide to sue and win?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: You have not given enough solid facts here for an answer in my opinion, other than perhaps a suit could be filed for defamation, but a lot more facts have to be known. Basically the neighbor would have to prove that the statement was false and was made with malice.

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