CACI No. 1701

Officer/Figure and Limited Public Figure)

[Name of plaintiff] claims that [name of defendant] harmed

[him/her/nonbinary pronoun] by making [one or more of] the following

statement(s): [list all claimed per quod defamatory statements].

Liability

To establish this claim, [name of plaintiff] must prove that all of the

following are more likely true than not true:

1. That [name of defendant] made [one or more of] the statement(s)

to [a person/persons] other than [name of plaintiff];

2. That [this person/these people] reasonably understood that the

statement(s) [was/were] about [name of plaintiff];

3. That because of the facts and circumstances known to the

[listener(s)/reader(s)] of the statement(s), [it/they] tended to injure

[name of plaintiff] in [his/her/ nonbinary pronoun] occupation [or to

expose [him/her/ nonbinary pronoun] to hatred, contempt, ridicule,

or shame] [or to discourage others from associating or dealing

with [him/her/ nonbinary pronoun]];

4. That the statement(s) [was/were] false;

5. That [name of plaintiff] suffered harm to [his/her/ nonbinary

pronoun] property, business, profession, or occupation [including

money spent as a result of the statement(s)]; and

6. That the statement(s) [was/were] a substantial factor in causing

[name of plaintiff]’s harm.

In addition, [name of plaintiff] must prove by clear and convincing

evidence that [name of defendant] knew the statement(s) [was/were] false

or had serious doubts about the truth of the statement(s).

Actual Damages

If [name of plaintiff] has proved all of the above, then [he/she/ nonbinary

pronoun] is entitled to recover if [he/she/ nonbinary pronoun] proves it is

more likely true than not true that [name of defendant]’s wrongful

conduct was a substantial factor in causing any of the following actual

damages:

a. Harm to [name of plaintiff]’s property, business, trade, profession,

or occupation;

b. Expenses [name of plaintiff] had to pay as a result of the

defamatory statements;

c. Harm to [name of plaintiff]’s reputation; or

d. Shame, mortification, or hurt feelings.

Punitive Damages

[Name of plaintiff] may also recover damages to punish [name of

defendant] if [he/she/ nonbinary pronoun] proves by clear and convincing

evidence that [name of defendant] acted with malice, oppression, or fraud.

[For specific provisions, see CACI Nos. 3940–3949.]

New September 2003; Revised April 2008, June 2016, December 2016, January