Does not matter. They are liable for the mental distress caused by their slander.
The guy has had to have his phone cut off because of threats coming in.
ABC gets to pay if the person goes to court. An apology has to be accepted in writing by the person harmed.
To be honest, I did not know he went through that much. I know for example, if this happened in Annapolis, MD where I lived and somehow the person had my name and they blamed me somehow. I am at work (Naval Academy) and I am sure that we would have a pretty good laugh. I am sure my Facebook would be pretty interesting but I can’t imagine taking it seriously.