stories filed under: "rejection"

Anti-SLAPP Law Turns Bogus Defamation Lawsuit Into A $26,500 Legal Bill For The Plaintiff

from the federal-law-sure-would-be-nice-tho dept

Thu, Jun 18th 2020 1:33pm — Tim Cushing

Tennessee's new anti-SLAPP law has resulted in another bogus defamation lawsuit being dumped by a plaintiff before it could do any more damage… to the plaintiff. The great thing about anti-SLAPP laws is they shift the financial burden to the person bringing the lawsuit. If the lawsuit is completely without merit -- like many of those filed in Tennessee before the new law -- the plaintiff pays the defendant's legal bills.

The new law appears to have slowed the flow of vexatiously bullshit lawsuits into Tennessee courts. But there are some brave, but mostly stupid, plaintiffs willing to take the new law out for a spin. Carl Vonhartman is probably more stupid than brave. He sued Kortni Butterton for defamation after she wrote a Facebook post (on a private, invite-only page) about her experience with Vonhartman after she rejected him on a dating app.

“His Instagram is full of him being a d*****bag a****** making fun of people and generally just being a d***,” Butterton wrote.

On January 29, Butterton said the man from the dating app showed up at her door.

“I'm locked in my bathroom,” she can be heard saying to a 911 operator. “Oh my God, he's banging on my f****** house right now. He is consistently ringing my doorbell right now.”

Before police arrived, the man left.

[...]

Butterton was so frightened by the experience, she filed for a temporary order of protection, learning that the man she had rejected on the dating app’s name was actually Carl Vonhartman.

At the hearing to extend the order, Butterton explained that when she rejected Vonhartman through the app, he did not take the rejection well, asking for an explanation as to why.

Vonhartman sued [PDF], claiming he was defamed by all of this, including Butterhorn's critique of his Instagram page. Daniel Horwitz -- well-known here for his fierce defense of Tennessee residents hit with bogus libel lawsuits -- fired back [PDF], pointing out Vonhartman's defamation claims were ridiculous for a number of reasons.

[T]he Plaintiff’s claim for slander based on Ms. Butterton’s “testi[mony] in court on February 10, 2020,” during her order of protection hearing in Davidson County General Sessions Court Case No. 20OP250 is barred by Tennessee’s absolute testimonial privilege, which affords witnesses like Ms. Butterton absolute immunity for testimony given during a judicial proceeding.

[...]

[T]he Plaintiff’s claim for libel based on Ms. Butterton’s “swor[n ] allegations in her Petition for [an] Order of Protection” in Davidson County General Sessions Case No. 20OP25024 is barred not only by the absolute testimonial privilege noted above, see id.—it is also barred by the absolute litigation privilege, which guarantees all litigants “the freedom to institute an action without fear of being sued based on statements made in the course of the proceeding[.]”

[...]

[T]he Plaintiff’s claim for slander based on “false statements” that the Plaintiff alleges Ms. Butterton made to the police when she “called 911 on January 29, 2020,” is barred—as an initial matter—by the aforementioned absolute litigation privilege that extends to communications preliminary to litigation… It is also barred, independently, by the conditional public interest and common interest privileges, which immunize from defamation liability good-faith reports to law enforcement…

And here's the knockout punch:

[G]iven his abysmal reputation for both criminality and terrorizing women, the Plaintiff is libel-proof.

Along with a DUI arrest, there's the simple assault charge brought against Vonhartman, which contains this telling bit of narrative in the police report:

[The victim] advised that she told carl [Vonhartman] she was going to call the police due to the assault. she advised that carl told her "if you call the police i am going to post naked pictures of you on the internet". jennifer advised she changed her mind at that time about calling the police.

[...]

Jennifer also advised police that she has numerous text messages from carl saved that state he will post pictures of her online and also get her fired from her job.

Also included in the filing's exhibits are some Facebook Messenger chats in which Vonhartman threatens the Facebook page administrator with lawsuits, a "war," and getting her… fired from her job.

The judge overseeing the case never got a chance to address Horwitz's motion to dismiss. It must have been enough for Vonhartman that his lawyer read it. As Horwitz reports, the lawsuit has been settled and his client is the recipient of the largest fee award in the state's short history under a new anti-SLAPP law.

From the order [PDF]:

As evidenced by the signatures of adversary counsel below, all matters in controversy between the Parties have been settled and compromised, and subject to the Court’s approval, the Parties have agreed to the following conclusive resolution of this action:

1. The Plaintiff stipulates that his Complaint failed to state any cognizable claim for relief against the Defendant, and that for the reasons set forth in the Defendant’s Memorandum of Law in support of her petition to dismiss this action pursuant to the Tennessee Public Participation Act (Doc. #12), the Defendant’s Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-17- 104(a) Petition to Dismiss the Plaintiff’s Complaint Pursuant to the Tennessee Public Participation Act (Doc. #11) should be and is hereby GRANTED. Accordingly, the Plaintiff’s Complaint, and all causes of action asserted within it, shall be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

2. Upon entry of this Order, judgment shall be ENTERED in favor of the Defendant against the Plaintiff in the amount of twenty-six thousand and five hundred dollars ($26,500.00)—inclusive of all available claims for attorney’s fees, discretionary costs, and sanctions…

With a plaintiff opening with a lot of bluster and non-actionable claims and leaving $26k lighter, perhaps other litigation hopefuls will decide they'd rather not risk their own cash on questionable legal arguments. Every loss is a deterrent, but one with a $26,500 price tag is especially effective.

Filed Under: anti-slapp, carl vonhartman, dating, defamation, kortni butterhorn, rejection, slapp, tennessee

Did The FISA Court Finally Reject The FBI's Advances?

Surprises

from the too-coy-by-far,-and-with-too-many-unknown-details dept

Fri, Jan 13th 2017 8:32am — Tim Cushing

Somewhere behind the lurid imagery of the unverified intelligence report BuzzFeed dropped on the web earlier this week is a possible story about the FISA court deciding, for once, that a government agency has gone too far. My apologies to those who've made New Year's resolutions to eat better: everything about this should be taken with several grains of salt.

First, there's the intelligence report itself, which has apparently been circulating for a long time before BuzzFeed stepped up and actually published it. The Guardian reports Mother Jones apparently had seen the document as early as last September. The previously anonymous source of the Trump/Russia intel report has now been outed, but to date, the only thing that has truly been confirmed are biases.

The document, however, was considered legitimate enough by John McCain to pass it on to the FBI. It includes -- along with the famous watersports details -- information on alleged contacts with Russia that Trump used to obtain information on political rivals. According to the document, Trump is both reliant on Russian intelligence services for info and a target for blackmail, should it be "needed," thanks to antics on Russian soil detailed in the report's pages.

The FBI has refused to comment on the document, other than to confirm that it has seen it. But there's another detail buried in the Guardian's report that suggests -- again, via several anonymous sources -- that the supposed intel report propelled the FBI to the FISA court to ask permission to spy on Trump's associates. This detail was pulled out of the densely-packed Guardian report by Jason Koebler of Vice.

Here's the passage from the Guardian article:

The Guardian has learned that the FBI applied for a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court over the summer in order to monitor four members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials. The Fisa court turned down the application asking FBI counter-intelligence investigators to narrow its focus. According to one report, the FBI was finally granted a warrant in October, but that has not been confirmed, and it is not clear whether any warrant led to a full investigation.

How the Guardian "learned" this is never explained. The "one report" is an article at Heat Street, which also relies heavily on anonymous sources:

Two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of ‘U.S. persons’ in Donald Trump’s campaign with ties to Russia.

According to Heat Street, this supposed application came on the heels of reports that Trump's private server was in frequent communication with a Russian bank. That story has been debunked thoroughly, but that doesn't necessarily mean the FBI didn't initiate an investigation on the (temporary) strength of these allegations. For it to have headed to the FISA court with a warrant app before the report was debunked seems unlikely, much less to have this one granted, rather than the one it wanted earlier in the summer.

That being said, if the FISA court did turn down the FBI's summer warrant application, it would be an anomaly. As Koebler points out, the FISA court hates being referred to as a "rubber stamp," but it can't really argue with its own track record.

According to the Department of Justice’s official numbers, of the thousands of applications made by the federal government to FISC, none have been denied since 2009. Rarely, the court has asked the government to modify its case. In 2013, the US made 1,588 applications; 34 were modified. In 2014, it made 1,379 applications; 19 were modified. In 2015, it made 1,457 applications; 80 were modified.

It could be that the Guardian story and the Heat Street story are actually referring to the same warrant applications. The FBI could have been asked to modify the order in the summer and had the fixed version approved in October. A BBC article claims it was the same warrant app -- rejected twice -- seeking info on Trump's ties to Russian banks. (Again, this is a firsthand account backed by anonymous sources.)

Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day.

The FISA court could still be pitching an application rejection shutout. We won't know more until the 2016 numbers are released by the DOJ and even then, we won't know much. If there's a denial or two on the record, it won't necessarily confirm these reports. And if it was just a demand for modification, the FBI's Trump-related warrant will just be one of the few dozen the FISA court issues every year.

Heat Street, however, claims there were two FBI FISA warrant applications, with the second directly tied to the Russian bank/Trump server story. Whatever the case is, the leaked intelligence report most likely wasn't the basis for the FBI's summer warrant application, as it may not have even been released yet to those who paid to have it compiled: Trump-opposing Republicans and Democrats. If the patrons truly believed everything in the report, you'd think they would have released it prior to the election. Then again, the document may have been shopped for months to sites far more reluctant than BuzzFeed to publish unsourced allegations.

Among all the unverifiables stands the FISA court, which may have withheld its rubber stamp just this once. As Vice's Koebler points out, even if it did, there's no reason to applaud its singular rejection.

[I]f The Guardian and HeatStreet reports are accurate, when the FBI decided to go after the rich, powerful, and politically well-connected, it was met with pushback. If only the rest of us could be so lucky.

Filed Under: donald trump, foia, rejection, russia

12 Comments

USPTO Issues Final Rejection Of Apple's Rubberbanding Patent, Which Were Among Those The Jury Said Samsung Infringed

Patents

from the oops dept

Wed, Apr 3rd 2013 1:11pm — Mike Masnick

We've argued repeatedly how silly it is for courts to move forward with cases over patent infringement while the USPTO is reviewing those same patents. Considering just how often patent re-exams lead to changes in the patents (including rejecting key claims), moving forward before the USPTO has ruled is kind of silly. It's guaranteed to lead to bad rulings. The latest is that the USPTO has issued a "final" rejection of Apple's "rubberbanding" patent (US Patent 7,469,381), which was one of the patents at issue in the Samsung Apple patent fight, and which the jury said Samsung infringed. In fact, the specific claim (19) that Samsung was said to have infringed was rejected by the USPTO.

We had noted a non-final rejection last fall, and now the USPTO has reiterated that with a final rejection. Of course, even "final rejection" is a bit of a misnomer, since Apple can (and probably will) still appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Still, given the significant doubt over the quality of the patent, it seems crazy to assume that it was valid as part of the lawsuit.

Also, in the meantime, if we're going to grant massively powerful, technology-landscape-changing patents to companies, is it really so much to ask that the USPTO not get it wrong so damn often? The fact that, on second review, they suddenly realize "oops, that was a mistake!" seems like the kind of thing that we should be worried about, given just how much power there is in a single bad patent.

Filed Under: claims, final rejection, patent, rejection, rubberbanding, uspto
Companies: apple, samsung

Here We Go Again: Apple's Pinch-To-Zoom Patent Rejected On Re-Exam

Patents

from the of-course-it-was dept

Thu, Dec 20th 2012 4:05pm — Mike Masnick

We've talked in the past how the US Patent Office is really bad at getting it right with patents. This is supported by the fact that the vast majority of patents that are presented for a post-grant re-exam have some or all of their claims changed or rejected. That spells major trouble for anyone who believes that patents accurately tell the market what is allowed and what is not -- when the USPTO doesn't even seem to know itself. Even more troubling is when courts make rulings over patents while they're still being re-examined, as the ruling itself may depend on the validity of that patent. This has gone on for years. For example, in one of the most famous patent trolling cases, RIM paid out $612.5 million to NTP, even as the USPTO was in the process of rejecting those patents.

The latest news is that, upon re-exam, the Patent Office has now rejected all 21 claims in Apple's infamous "pinch to zoom" 7,844,915 patent. Apple and patent enthusiasts will rightly point out that this is just the first step in the process -- Apple still can and will appeal, and it's very likely that the Patent Office will eventually allow some (perhaps modified) form of the patent to live on. However, since that is one of the patents involved in the Apple/Samsung patent fight, at best this creates even more confusion, since no one knows what that patent will eventually look like. This makes the problem of defining the "boundaries" of what a patent covers even more ridiculous. We already know that so many patents are written broadly, and in a somewhat indecipherable manner, such that they can be applied broadly. But when the boundaries are also subject to the whim of whoever's desk it lands on, it suggests a real problem with the system. We shouldn't be handing out massive monopolies, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, based on the arbitrary judgment of some random patent examiner, when it appears that there is no objective standard at all, but rather a series of (historically bad) guesses. That's no way to build an innovative economy.

Filed Under: patents, pinch to zoom, reexam, rejection
Companies: apple, samsung

62 Comments

Apple's Google Voice Rejection Wakes Up A Dormant FCC; Investigation Begins

Politics

from the whoops dept

Fri, Jul 31st 2009 6:37pm — Mike Masnick

We've had a bunch of stories about Apple's rather arbitrary nature in rejecting iPhone apps it doesn't like -- including ones where it claims that they're not allowed because they compete with Apple. However, Apple's recent decision to reject Google's Voice application didn't just attract general public interest in Apple's policies, it appears to have awoken the latest crop of FCC bosses. Yes, the FCC has requested more info from Apple, AT&T and Google concerning Apple's rejection of the Google app. I wonder how the random Apple drone who made that decision is feeling right now?

Either way, this isn't good for anyone. The FCC's reasoning is that it:

"has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment."

That's actually a bit of a stretch on the FCC's actual mandate. And as ridiculous as I think Apple's actions are here, having the FCC get involved doesn't seem good for anyone either. The FCC shouldn't be involved in deciding what applications get put on phones. Apple's decision has angered a bunch of people, with some swearing off the iPhone because of it. In those cases, those people have other options and other phones to go to. The situation doesn't require the FCC to get involved. It should just require Apple coming to its senses and getting rid of its silly policy of outright rejections of apps it doesn't like.

Filed Under: app store, fcc, gogle voice, iphone, rejection
Companies: apple, at&t, fcc, google

77 Comments

JPEG Patent's Single Claim Rejected (And Smacked Down For Good Measure)

Legal Issues

from the a-good-first-step dept

Fri, Aug 1st 2008 3:10pm — Mike Masnick

We've been covering the ongoing saga of an old patent we've referred to as the "JPEG Patent." This actually isn't the first patent we've called the JPEG Patent, because multiple people claimed to hold patents over the technology that goes into a JPEG image. But, this one was rather special. The patent had been used, repeatedly, by lawyer Ray Niro, against a wide range of opponents, including a patent system critic. The end result was a drawn out review process where all of the original claims were rejected, but a single new claim was added to the patent, which Niro insisted covered JPEGs on a website.

Earlier this year, the Patent Office agreed to re-examine that claim. On top of that, a judge overseeing one of the lawsuits involving the patent decided to put the suit on hold pending the outcome of the re-exam. Of course, the re-exam will take some time, but the initial re-exam came out recently and it does not look good for this patent:

The one remaining claim was rejected on 19 different grounds, and then the examiner went on for over 40 pages, explaining in great detail, why the claim (and, thus, the entire patent) were not valid. Kinda makes you wonder why it was approved in the first place, but that's a different discussion for a different day. This is, of course, just the initial re-exam. Niro gets to respond, but given the amount of detail that goes into rejecting a single claim, he's got quite an uphill battle.

Filed Under: jpeg patent, patents, re-exam, rejection

16 Comments

Patent Office Rejects Blackboard E-Learning Patent One Month After It Wins Lawsuit

Legal Issues

from the interesting-timing dept

Mon, Mar 31st 2008 10:29am — Mike Masnick

One of the more annoying things in patent lawsuits is watching the USPTO reject patents soon after a lawsuit concludes -- and having the judges in those lawsuits refuse to wait for the USPTO to weigh in. This is especially troublesome considering that so many patent re-exams result in rejected claims. It would only make sense for judges to wait until the Patent Office has had a chance to review the patent. As if to highlight that, late last week, the USPTO rejected all claims on a rather infamous "e-learning" patent held by Blackboard Inc. This comes just slightly over a month after Blackboard won a lawsuit using that very patent. It was known during the trial that the Patent Office had agreed to review it, but apparently, the judge didn't want to wait.

Of course, Blackboard quickly came out with a statement saying this doesn't matter, it's already won the case, and it still expects an injunction to be issued preventing Desire2Learn from offering e-learning software. Blackboard is correct that this is just an initial rejection (meaning there are still responses and additional rounds to go), but it still seems rather weak to put out a statement saying that everyone should just ignore the rather significant questions the USPTO has just raised about the patent in question.

Filed Under: e-learning, patent, rejection, uspto
Companies: blackboard, desire2learn, uspto

18 Comments

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Anti-SLAPP Law Turns Bogus Defamation Lawsuit Into A $26,500 Legal Bill For The Plaintiff

from the federal-law-sure-would-be-nice-tho dept

Did The FISA Court Finally Reject The FBI's Advances?

from the too-coy-by-far,-and-with-too-many-unknown-details dept

USPTO Issues Final Rejection Of Apple's Rubberbanding Patent, Which Were Among Those The Jury Said Samsung Infringed

from the oops dept

Here We Go Again: Apple's Pinch-To-Zoom Patent Rejected On Re-Exam

from the of-course-it-was dept

Apple's Google Voice Rejection Wakes Up A Dormant FCC; Investigation Begins

from the whoops dept

JPEG Patent's Single Claim Rejected (And Smacked Down For Good Measure)

from the a-good-first-step dept

Patent Office Rejects Blackboard E-Learning Patent One Month After It Wins Lawsuit

from the interesting-timing dept

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