J.P. Weichel, age 40, of Loveland, CO is in a whole heap of trouble with the law for posting disparaging comments about his ex-girlfriend and her lawyer on Craigslist's "Rants and Rave" section.
District Attorney, Larry Abrahamson has charged Mr. Weichel with two counts of criminal libel, based on a 1800's era state law "that can put people in jail for the content of their speech or writing."
Court records show that Mr. Weichel alleged in his posts that his then-girlfriend provided sexual acts to her lawyer in exchange for legal services.
As libel is usually a civil case, those seeking it as a criminal case could be setting a "chilling" precedent on free speech in Colorado, especially as it pertains to the Internet.
Steve Zansberg, an attorney who specializes in First Amendment law, feels Colorado's law which allowed prosecutors to charge Mr. Weichel on libel is "outdated and unclear about stating opinions, and is written in such a way that [even] dead people could be victims of criminal libel."
Criminal libel is punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
The MySpace suicide case in California found the mother, Lori Drew, guilty of three misdemeanor counts. And that's just one of many that have sprouted up in recent years.
In the scheme of things, as the Internet is relatively new and there aren't federal cyber slander laws and statutes, what is there to be done? U.S. attorneys and prosecutors are left with previous cases that have gone to court to use as examples to try and punish bad people.
It's obvious now, that going online and talking about someone you don't like, even if you think it's just harmless trash talk, could have serious consequences.
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