Shively

In another civil case arising out of the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson, Jill Shively (plaintiff) sued a number of persons, including Deputy District Attorney Peter Bozanich (Bozanich), the County of Los Angeles (County), and plaintiffs alleged former boyfriend, Brian Patrick Clarke (Clarke) (sometimes collectively defendants) for slander. The alleged slander was first discovered by plaintiff following publication of a book about that trial. [1]

Judgment was entered against plaintiff on all of her causes of action against these three defendants following Clarke's successful demurrer to all of plaintiffs causes of action against him, and Bozanich's and County's successful motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff appeals. [2]

We reverse both judgments, because the trial court erroneously held that the discovery rule did not apply to prevent the statute of limitations from accruing until plaintiff knew or should have known she had been defamed. We conclude that not only does the discovery rule apply to toll the running of the statute of limitations in defamation cases, it also applies when the defendant's alleged defamatory statement is republished in a mass media…