Also known as: mendacities · mendacious · mendaciously · falsehood · untruthfulness
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The quality of being untruthful.
Maria Morales testified that she had accurately filed all compliance reports for her employer. Joel then called Anita, a former coworker, to testify that Maria has a reputation within the company for mendacity on regulatory matters. The court admitted the reputation evidence under Rule 608(a) to allow the jury to assess Maria's credibility.
Madison Meyers published a statement that Michael Miller's product line was defective and unsafe. The statement caused third parties to cancel orders, resulting in direct pecuniary loss to Miller. The publication of the mendacious statement constituted a legal cause of the loss under the applicable tort rule.
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Matthew Martinez, a city official, sued a newspaper for publishing a statement that he had misused public funds. Martinez could not recover damages without proving that the publisher acted with knowledge of the statement's falsity or reckless disregard for its truth. The constitutional standard requires this showing of mendacity to protect public debate.
Miranda Morales testified about her accurate record-keeping at work. On cross-examination, counsel asked whether she had previously falsified training records to conceal errors. The court permitted the inquiry into the specific instance of mendacity because it was probative of her character for truthfulness.
Marco Marquez published a false statement that Matrix Technologies' equipment was obsolete. Buyers canceled contracts and the company's vendibility declined. The publisher became liable for the direct pecuniary loss and reasonable expenses incurred to counteract the effects of the mendacious publication.
Marathon Logistics sued a competitor for publishing a false statement that its shipping contracts were invalid. The plaintiff bore the burden of proving the existence of its protected interest, the injurious character of the mendacious falsehood, and its publication. The court required these showings before imposing liability.
Mendacity refers to untruthfulness. Rule 608(a) permits reputation or opinion testimony about a witness's character for untruthfulness to attack credibility. Rule 608(b) limits extrinsic evidence of specific instances of mendacious conduct but allows inquiry on cross-examination when probative.
The plaintiff must show that the publication was a substantial factor in causing the loss and that no rule of law relieves the publisher of liability. Recovery is limited to direct pecuniary losses and reasonable expenses to counteract the falsehood.
A public official must prove actual malice, meaning the statement was made with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for its truth. This standard protects good-faith errors in public debate while allowing recovery for knowing mendacity.
…guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with "actual malice"that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was…