John Steele's Claims About Alan Cooper Contradicted By History

from the damn-that-historical-record dept

Earlier this week, we wrote about John Steele's attempt at the character assassination of Alan Cooper, his former home caretaker who accused Steele of forging his name on various documents concerning shell companies associated with Prenda, the law firm Steele worked for. As part of that filing, Steele tried to suggest that Cooper was a willing participant, and that Steele was merely helping his "friend" get introduced into the porn copyright trolling business. As we noted, Steele's story directly contradicts Cooper's story, which certainly suggests that one of them is not telling the truth in court. That's generally a bad idea. As more people look into Steele's claims, they don't seem to hold up under scrutiny, suggesting that if one of the two has a credibility problem, it's probably Steele.

First, the John Steele affidavit in that case, which the character assassination filing cited repeatedly, has finally been filed. Oddly, the affidavit is signed and notarized three days after the filing by Steven Goodhue which quotes it. Not sure how that time twist works, where you file a document quoting another document three days before it's been written, but, hey anything's possible.

But in those two documents, Steele lays out a clear timeline for his interactions with Alan Cooper and the porn copyright trolling business. In the Goodhue filing, it states clearly:
Steele described the litigation and his business to Cooper. At some point in early 2011, Steele and Cooper discussed how a friend of Steele’s was exploring opportunities relating to purchasing and marketing adult content. Cooper expressed interest in learning more about these opportunities and Steele offered to help him learn more.
Later in the filing, they say that while Steele and Cooper discussed setting up Cooper with a shell company, nothing happened there. Instead, Steele claims that the first time he actually involved Cooper with his porn copyright trolling efforts was even later in 2011, when he "offered to introduce Cooper to Mark Lutz."

In Steele's declaration, he suggests that he made the intro and then had little knowledge of what happened after that.
My understanding is that Alan took me up on the offer and participated in a limited number of transactions in 2011 with Mr. Lutz's companies. I am not aware of any post-2011 transaction in which Alan participated.
Okay, so we have a timeline and a suggestion of limited knowledge. The timeline states that they didn't even discuss these ideas until 2011 and all that John Steele did was introduce Cooper to Lutz and that's it.

So, here's where Steele's story falls apart. As we'd discussed in an earlier case, some GoDaddy records were filed which show John Steele registering domains in Alan Cooper's name in 2010. Ruh roh. Specifically, they show the email address "johnlsteele@gmail.com" registering a variety of domain names in Alan Cooper's name. And, in case you're wondering, there's no doubt that's Steele's email address (rather than, say, Cooper pretending to be Steele) because that same email address was used to register Prenda's website. And there's plenty of evidence that it was actually Steele doing this beyond the email address. The physical address used is an address in Arizona which is the home address of John Steele's sister, Jayme, namely 4532 East Villa Theresa Drive, Phoneix, AZ 85032. And the GoDaddy documents show that the address was originally the address of Prenda's office in Chicago. And the GoDaddy support logs show that someone named John called because he was having trouble logging into the account and made them send the info to johnlsteele@gmail.com.

Oh, and you might recall that in the case before Judge Wright, opposing lawyer Morgan Pietz had filed a document about yet another Prenda shell company called VPR Internationale:
Further, a residential address in Phoenix apparently co-occupied by Anthony Saltmarsh and Jayme Steele has also been linked to several Prenda straw men and sham entities, including Alan Cooper.... Prenda previously represented VPR Internationale in various copyright infringement suits.... According to the Nevada Secretary of State, all officer positions at VPR Inc. are held by “Alan Cooper,” and the address given for Mr. Cooper in each instance is 4532 East Villa Theresa Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032.... Similarly, an Internet search of that same address revealed what appears to be an archived WHOIS record for an Internet domain name registration of which lists “Alan Cooper” as the registrant, technical contact, and administrative contact, but using johnlsteele@gmail.com as the email address of record, and 4532 East Villa Theresa Drive, Phoneix, AZ 85032 as the mailing address of record. Exhbit T. According to public database searches on Anthony Saltmarsh and Jayme Steele, both of them resided at 4532 East Villa Theresa Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032.
Indeed, as some have been pointing out on Twitter, Nevada still has a listing for VPR showing "Alan Cooper" in all executive roles, using Jayme Steele's address... and that was set up in 2010.

So, Steele claims he and Cooper talked about this stuff in 2011 and the extent of Steele's help was an intro to Mark Lutz to help out with AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13, but the paper trail shows Steele using Cooper's name to set up a number of other websites and companies in 2010, well before he claimed to have even discussed Cooper working "in the business." Ooops.

Yes, it's looking like Steele has the credibility problem here, rather than Cooper.

Oh, and perhaps someone more familiar with how the 5th amendment works can fill in the details here, but the various points made by Steele in this particular case appear to be the identical issues to which Steele pleaded the 5th in front of Judge Wright in the Central District of California. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to plead the 5th in one place, and then respond to the same questions elsewhere. I would imagine that might come back to bite Steele as well. In the meantime, however, we get to watch him keep digging as he really does seem to think he can talk his way out of things, despite the piles upon piles of evidence that appears to contradict what he's saying.






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Filed Under: alan cooper, credibility, history, john steele, morgan pietz, otis wright, steven goodhue
Companies: prenda, prenda law


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  1. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 8:54am

    Should have stuck with the silent treatment...

    Actually if Steele is telling the truth, and given the other details, that would make him look even worse(how that is even possible at this point is beyond me), because it would suggest that while Steele was using Cooper's name on various documents, site registrations, and listing him as an officer in various shell companies, he only actually suggested that Cooper get involved over a year after he started doing so.

    I really hope this little tidbit is pointed out to the judge, as watching Steele squirm like a worm on a hook as his own lies come back to bite him never gets old.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    DannyB (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:07am

    John Steele affidavit

    When a court gets an affidavit from John Steele, can the court safely assume that all statements in the affidavit are untrue?

    It's like all copyright maximalists. Consider statements such as:
    * "pirate mike"
    * all techdirt readers are pirates
    * techdirt is only about piracy (and not other kinds of dirt like patents, trademarks, broken business models, legacy industries (not just hollywood) wanting to turn back the clock, destroy the internet, etc)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 9:08am

    Your honor,
    Alan Cooper is in reality an artificial intelligent machine sent from the future to destroy me, my reputation and my company so that I cannot use my legally obtained wealth to finance a resistance against him taking over the Earth. In order to ruin my credibility he registered websites with my email address and then coerced me into including him in his porn company that he founded and let me run.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    fogbugzd (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:11am

    It is generally a bad idea for anyone to lie to a judge or lie in a sworn deposition. It can go even worse for an attorney who lies. A lot of the legal process is based on the judges accepting the word of attorneys. Lawyers who get caught lying to judges tend to have very short careers as practicing attorneys.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    DannyB (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:13am

    VPR Internationale

    VPR Internationale was not listed among the individuals and entity beans that had to each pay $1000 / day when the judgement was ignored.

    Should VPR Internationale have been included?

    If so, can it be retroactively included for those days before the $7000 per day leak was plugged and a bond was posted?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    DannyB (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:15am

    Re:

    > Lawyers who get caught lying to judges tend to have very short careers as practicing attorneys.

    I have no problem with that as long as the process of shortening those careers continues to provide entertainment greater than anything to come out of Hollywood in quite awhile.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:18am

    Re: John Steele affidavit

    Given his apparent obsession with lying in court(among many other places), it would probably be a good way to deal with him; just assume anything he says is a lie unless corroborated by an independent, unbiased third party.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:23am

    Re:

    Steele does not care. Earlier this year he made a decision not to be a lawyer anymore (if he gets away with the current scandals). He is going to harm the society in other ways.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:25am

    Some other discussion points regarding the content of Steele's affidavit (a guest post).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 9:26am

    Luckily for Prenda, they will be forced to stop digging once they hit bedrock.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    out_of_the_blue, 30 May 2013 @ 9:39am

    Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    THIS is an anomaly, kids: has no other application than to this particular bunch of thieves. That a college "econmoics" graduate goes on with this day after day, leaving so much else unmentioned, is the real hoot. -- Heck, even most of the fanboys are skipping this crap.


    Take a loopy tour of Techdirt.com! You always end up same place!
    http://techdirt.com/
    ZOMG! Yet another item on Prenda Law! A staple in the soporific "At The Bench" series. Mike sez (short version): "Wow. Wow. Wow. ... The story is gripping."
    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130303/23353022182/prenda-law-sues-critics-defamation .shtml
    05:39:09[g-522-0]

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Michael, 30 May 2013 @ 9:41am

    It's Jayme Steele your honor. SHE is the one behind all of this! I knew nothing of her actions.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:45am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    The desperation is strong in this one...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Pragmatic, 30 May 2013 @ 9:50am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    Cathy, you've ADMITTED that you can't be bothered to read the articles here, so why pretend otherwise?

    A brief glance at the front page reveals a variety of subjects including patents, international trade agreements, and DOJ misdeeds.

    As for anomalies, a brief search of the internet using your favorite search engine will reveal that copyright trolling and (gasp!) lying in court by the aforementioned trolls is much more common than you'd think.

    Prenda is a particularly egregious (and entertaining) example.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 9:50am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    "THIS is an anomaly, kids: has no other application than to this particular bunch of thieves."

    "This particular bunch of thieves" being copyright trolls in general.

    Need I remind you of Righthaven?

    But rest assured that the anomaly is being correct. Perhaps that is what pains you?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    PRMan, 30 May 2013 @ 9:50am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    If you don't like it, you don't have to show up. It would increase the enjoyment tenfold.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 9:54am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    "That a college "econmoics" graduate goes on with this day after day, leaving so much else unmentioned, is the real hoot..."

    Ok, I actually have to agree here.

    I haven't seen any mention of the release of Linux Mint 15 anywhere on Techdirt.

    Also, I am pretty sure that haven't had a Wayland article since, like, forever.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Pixelation, 30 May 2013 @ 10:02am

    Porn case

    I wonder who will be getting screwed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 10:09am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    ANOTHER anomaly?

    Holy shit - I think you need to look up exactly what that means.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 10:15am

    Re: John Steele affidavit

    Plus, I also believe it's a felony crime to lie under oath. I hear it comes under perjury charges...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 10:18am

    Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'

    I wonder if Mike forgot the fact that he wrote about VPR 2 years ago, yet t that time knowing that it was not a sham. I only can imagine Judge Baker's wrath if he knew it that time: we could have Wright's situation much earlier.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 10:36am

    Re: Re:

    So....he'll run for Congress, then?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 11:08am

    I wonder if the sister is in on it and if she will be the next one to be thrown under the bus. Somehow I wouldn't find it that incredible that they would sell out family.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 11:29am

    Re: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'

    wonder if Mike forgot the fact that he wrote about VPR 2 years ago,

    I DID forget... wow.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    apauld (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 11:56am

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    The only anomaly here is that you can still type while being rectally pounded by that syphilitic donkey.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. icon
    apauld (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 11:59am

    Re: Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    OOTB can't see the dictionary, there's to many anomalies in the room.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    peter baker, 30 May 2013 @ 12:00pm

    How does he not realise?

    ....that every statement made , no matter where, will be picked over, checked, compared, traced, probed. Relying on running rings around the sloth, blind and overworked justice system is not working any more. Does he not have the internet?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. icon
    Jeff (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:06pm

    Re: How does he not realise?

    He thinks the internet is for porn...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. icon
    DannyB (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:18pm

    Re: Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    > As for anomalies, a brief search of the internet using your favorite search engine

    OOTB has no favorite search engine. Search engines are evil. They are responsible for all piracy!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:37pm

    Re: How does he not realise?

    I've seen this sort of thing before. People who think that they're smarter than everyone else and that they have a way to "beat the system" often seem to think they can talk their way out of everything... so they just keep talking and often have trouble seeing themselves talking into even more trouble.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. icon
    Jeremy2020 (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:41pm

    Re:

    Their careers have gone on for some time and made them a lot of money.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. icon
    Jeremy2020 (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:49pm

    Re: Re: Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    The dictionary blatantly violates the copyright he established on the word copyright as well.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. icon
    madasahatter (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 12:56pm

    The problem with lieing

    I have heard the problem with lieing is remembering what lie you told someelse. But if you always tell the truth the problem disappears; everyone is always told the same story because you are telling the truth and only need to remember the truth.

    John Steele should learn this lesson.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 12:59pm

    Re: How does he not realise?

    Well, he obviously does, otherwise he wouldn't have registered all those sites under someone else's name and pretended to be them!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 1:16pm

    The 5th...a bit more of an enlightenment for all

    The 5th Amendment in a criminal case is only ever put in place when pleaded, to protect your rights against having extra charges added on during the trial because of your testimony. Basically it only applies when you committed a crime yourself while witnessing the totally separate and unrelated crime the accused is charged with. This also invoke the 14th Amendment's double jeopardy clauses. The double jeopardy clause in a criminal case prevents you from being tried for the same exact crime in a different district from which the charges are exactly the same. This may be why Prenda was so prone to trying to carbon copy each of their copyright trolling filings.

    Pleading the 5th in a civil matter is a bit different however. IT does not hold exactly the same protections that Prenda is relying on. The 14th (double jeopardy) Amendment clauses included in the 5th cannot protect you from being sued by multiple people in differnet districts for the exact same reasons.

    The only thing with Prenda on these subtle differences is that they are getting their tactics and knowledge bases mixed up. They pleaded the 5th during a civil matter that when not looked at carefully, looks like a criminal case. In this way, when they plea the 5th, they are still subject to the court's questioning their tactics.

    That being said Mike, since Prenda pleaded their 5th Amendment rights while being questioned about their litigation tactics in a civil matter, they have essentially stated that they would not talk about their tactics lest they seem criminal. In a criminal case, pleading the 5th with a side of double jeopardy clause only means they did not want to incriminate themselves further than what is already gathered in as evidence....while throwing each other under the bus.

    The thing is that when Prenda pleaded the 5th at the time their case under Justice Wright was a civil matter and their litigation was being questioned by the defendant in that case. They basically tricked themselves into thinking that a court's questioning a litigation was tat of a criminal case.....this explains why they are NOT protected in other federal district courts, but stupidly keep on blabbing on and on in other districts about their tactics. What they Peaded the 5th, it didnothing to protect them in the civil legal sense and did not prevent Federal Court Justice Wright from writing up a very nasty litigious referral. Double jeopardy clauses do not apply in civil cases and since every person they have perused is in the legal civil sense....they are not protected one bit from the same charges from cropping up against them from a defendant's attorney's.

    To answer your question in short.....civil cases do not hold to double jeopardy clauses as it would prevent other people claiming damages from you, from getting compensation for your careless or libel actions.

    :-)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. icon
    sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 1:36pm

    Re: The problem with lieing

    It's Mark Twain (I'm never tired repeating this): "If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 2:47pm

    Re:

    They are using mafia like tactics in court...so I would not be surprised Prenda's families are involved...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  38. identicon
    banshee, 30 May 2013 @ 3:13pm

    Re: Re: How does he not realise?

    This whole thing just goggles my mind.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  39. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 3:32pm

    Re: Re: How does he not realise?

    Humorous has a nasty way of blinding one's own intellect.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  40. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 3:33pm

    Re: Re: Re: How does he not realise?

    ***Hubris

    link to this | view in thread ]

  41. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 3:35pm

    Re: Result of Mike's lawyer fetish plus hatred of copyright.

    ""Wow. Wow. Wow. ... The story is gripping.""

    I am glad you think so....as you clearly know and mention about us "sheep"....we find these stories about Prenda gripping and entertaining.... :-)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  42. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 3:42pm

    Letter

    I suggest we all drop John Steele a nice letter....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  43. icon
    Anon E. Mous (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 3:45pm

    Maybe someone ought to give Doc Brown and Marty McFly a call and let them know that Steele has found a way to go back and forth in time to see events before they happened.

    Steele is so desperate to stave off Prenda's demise from the copyright trolling lawsuit game and keep that extortion -er- settlement money rolling in at all costs.

    The very fact that he keeps forgetting that a lot of entities and historical WHOIS info keeps landing at his sisters Jayme's house who of course lives with Anthony Saltmrash.

    Of course those documents signed by Salt Marsh that were submitted by Prenda to the courts wouldn't have anything to do with Steele would they.

    Everyone notice that only after the Defense Lawyers and Judges started to question the signature of Salt March did it come up that Salt Marsh was a trust?

    Amazing that VPR International who we are led to believe is a Prenda client sued over that clients films being pirated, yet the address used to register it is Steele's sister house again, wow what a coincidence!

    It will be interesting when we see these guys in front of the appellate court and listen to their lawyers trying to explain away how Prenda clients are so connected with John Steele in registration and WHOIS records and people he knows.

    I still cant wait for the RICO indictment to come down, there is too much here that would make a RICO case a very real threat to the Prenda gang.

    A Federal Grand Jury would have to be wilfully blind to not see that all these entities that had pron films supposedly pirated and infringed, were never sold to the public, never made available for distribution till recently.

    The fact that these supposed porn companies have various connections to Steele or his family, or former employess is not going to be over looked.

    I would like to see Steele Prenda, Duffy, Lutz and Hansmeier
    explain to investigators how and why companies that are supposedly their clients have been involved in various litigation cases for thousands of people across many states.

    RICO statutes will definitely be in play here with the Prenda gang. With Duffy, Gibbs and Hansmeier and the various State Bars investigation looming and the 3 of them risk the possibility of the loss of their licence to practice and a possible Grand Jury investigation hanging over them I would suspect their could be some cracks in the foundation of solidarity starting to form.

    Gibbs, Duffy Or Hansmeier may want to turn witness and save themselves from going to the slammer, I doubt they want to be middle aged former lawyers rattling the bars in their cells.

    I would be of the opinion that Lutz will be the first to talk, since he is the new fall guy now that Gibbs is supposedly out of the picture(I doubt that as of yet even) and has signed onto all these entites as CEO.

    Duffy and Gibbs would be the next to fall I believe considering Duffy has his own problems can he really afford to start this late over in life and hang on, I doubt it.

    Gibbs name is in tatters in my opinion and after all that has taken place in the courts and the reports in the media, if Gibbs handed in a resume who would even look at knowing Prenda Law is on it, never mind the State Bar investigation.

    Hansmeier I think will be the last to fall in my thoughts due to his long association with Steele from the Law school days, that being said and under State Bar investigation and his name close to being mud may change that.

    The fact that Gibbs, Duffy and Hnasmeier all are facing the possibility of losing their licence to practice an IRS criminal investigation and a possible RICO indictment make for a great batch of potential state witnesses in a RICO case against Steele.

    I am sure Stelle must be calling everyone a couple times a wekk to feel them out and make sure they are still onside and hoping that know one is going to flip.

    I'd be willing to bet old John Steele is tossing and turning at night and trying to hide assets in friends, relatives and pets names so he isn't left with nothing when the music finally stops and their are no chairs left for him to sit in.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  44. icon
    Wally (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 4:22pm

    Re:

    We could go all Mr. Scott about it too. The more elaborate the piping, the easier it is to clog the system.

    Prenda made their scheme so elaborate that all it took was one case to gum up their entire racketeering scheme. They were the Excelsior and everyone who fought back at them were the valiant crew of the Enterprise.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  45. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 4:23pm

    Re: Re: John Steele affidavit

    which is why he pleaded the fifth and didnt take the stand

    link to this | view in thread ]

  46. identicon
    Lurker Keith, 30 May 2013 @ 6:35pm

    Re: The 5th...a bit more of an enlightenment for all

    As the meme goes, they're doing it wrong. They're doing everything wrong. Justice was just too blind to catch on before now.

    They Plead the 5th wrong. & then go on to file the very info (true or not) they refused to give a court. Doing it even worse.

    They're doing "covering their tracks" wrong. *facepalm* Morons! Even law abiding citizens know not to set up a scam using addresses & accounts that can be traced back to you. Shoot, I don't set out to break any laws online, but I still use aliases.

    I have a feeling their even doing their digging to China wrong, & will probably end up digging into a Federal Prison (or maybe they're doing it right & wrong simultaneously & will end up in a Chinese Prison). & when they inevitably try to dig the tunnel out, they'll probably end up in the Warden's office.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  47. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 6:36pm

    John Steele, out of the blue and horse with no name just hate it when due process is enforced.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  48. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2013 @ 6:55pm

    "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to plead the 5th in one place, and then respond to the same questions elsewhere."

    The doctrine is called judicial estoppel. Some courts have refused to consider an affidavit in which the affiant provides information that he previously withheld on the basis of the Fifth Amendment.

    It will be interesting to see how Judge Snow handles the John Steele affidavit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  49. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 8:15pm

    Re:

    I'm actually hoping the judge allows it, just so it's on the record for everyone to tear to pieces and expose as the pack of lies that it is.

    Remember, just because the judge allows it, doesn't mean he has to believe it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  50. icon
    Matthew Cline (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 9:38pm

    Judicial estoppel

    Quoting from Wikipedia:
    Although, in the United States, it is only a part of common law and therefore not sharply defined, it is generally agreed that it can only be cited if the party in question successfully maintained its position in the earlier proceedings and benefited from it. [emphasis added]
    Have Steele and friends actually benefitted in a court case from anything they've told the court?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  51. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 30 May 2013 @ 10:51pm

    Re: Judicial estoppel

    Well they didn't immediately get charged with all the things the various agencies are now looking into, so their silence did get them a little breathing room, it's just a pity(for them, hilarity for everyone else) they are wasting it by continuing to make some easily disproven lies.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  52. icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 31 May 2013 @ 12:04am

    Re: Re: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'

    You trying to block out some of the early appearances of me before I registered the name?

    Those where the days, when Steele would post all sorts of things...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  53. icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 31 May 2013 @ 12:05am

    Re: Re: How does he not realise?

    No he thinks the internet is for paying him

    link to this | view in thread ]

  54. identicon
    Yet Another Anonymous Coward, 31 May 2013 @ 1:41am

    Re:

    Can Steele be held under perjury charges for this affidavit?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  55. icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 31 May 2013 @ 4:20am

    Re: Re: Judicial estoppel

    Ah but how can we disprove documents that don't even exist yet? Time travel will saved them!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  56. identicon
    Richard, 31 May 2013 @ 7:09am

    How to quote a document before it's written?

    "Not sure how that time twist works, where you file a document quoting another document three days before it's been written, but, hey anything's possible."

    Could this be how?: http://twitter.bug.quietbabylon.com/

    link to this | view in thread ]


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