Yount v. Handshoe

179 So. 3d 856, 43 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 3147, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 376, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2371, 2015 WL 7423255
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Yount v. Handshoe. Read the opinion of the Court — 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 919
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 19, 2015·No. No. 15-CA-376·Published

Opinion

HANS J. LILJEBERG, Judge.

| .¿Plaintiff, Chris Yount, appeals the trial court’s judgment granting the, special motion to strike filed by defendant, Jack Truitt, and dismissing Mr. Yount’s claims against Mr. Truitt. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court’s ruling and remand this matter for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 28, 2015, this Court rendered an opinion in this litigation, addressing a special motion to strike filed by co-defendant, Douglas Handshoe. Yount v. Handshoe, et al., 14-919 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/28/15), 171 So.3d 381. In that opinion, the relevant factual background in this matter was set forth as follows:

This defamation and invasion of privacy case arises from a series of posts and comments authored by Mr. Handshoe and codefendant Jack E. Truitt on worn. slabbed.org,- an internet-website owned and operated’ by Mr. Handshoe and his company, New Slabbed Media, LLC, which- reports information on various private and public individuals, entities, and- events in -the Gulf South region, including southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans. Mr. Yount is a paralegal and process server who had served Mr. Handshoe process in other defamation suits unrelated to the instant case. (Footnote omitted).
On February 13, 2014, Mr. Handshoe published on www.slabbed.org a pornographic drawing authored by Mr., Yount’s 13-year-old son that had previously been filed with the court as part of Mr. Yount’s divorce proceedings in the 24th Judicial District Court. Captions and comments authored by Mr. Hand-shoe and Mr. Truitt ^underneath the drawing described its graphic nature and clearly identified the author as a minor child and the divorce proceedings in which he was involved.
Subsequent to this initial publication, the trial judge overseeing the divorce proceedings sealed parts of the record, including the pornographic drawing, and ordered the drawing removed from the internet. Notice of copyright infringement pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was sent to the webhost of www.slabbed.org, who also provided Mr. Handshoe with a copy of the trial court’s order. On February 18, 2014, [858]*858the blog post containing the drawing as well as the www.slabbed.org website was taken down by the webhost in response to the copyright infringement notice and violations of the webhost’s terms of service. Mr. Handshoe subsequently found a new webhost, brought the website back online, and republished the posts containing the pornographic drawing. On at least two separate occasions in February and March of 2014 after the evidence had been placed under seal by the court, Mr. Handshoe authored additional posts where he published the drawing together with comments ■ that clearly identified the minor child author and his father.

Yount, 14-919 at 2-3, 171 So.3d at 383-384.

On March 20, 2014, Mr. Yount filed a petition for injunctive relief and damages against Douglas Handshoe, Slabbed.org, Slabbed New Media, L.L.C., and Jack Truitt, alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and cyberstalking. On May 28, 2014, Mr. Handshoe filed a special motion to strike pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 971, asserting that this lawsuit is a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” commonly referred to as a “SLAPP” suit, which is designed to silence journalistic inquiry and to “chill” speech about public issues. Mr. Handshoe argued that his blog posts were substantially true or based on reasonable opinion, and that his comments were protected by his constitutional right to freedom of speech. He asserted that Mr. Yount’s'defamation claims against him should be dismissed pursuant' to Louisiana’s anti-SLAPP law, La. C.C.P. art. 971, which was enacted as a procedural device to be used in early stages of litigation to screen out meritless 1 ¿claims designed to chill the valid exercise' of the constitutionally protected rights of freedom of speech and petition for redress of grievances.

On July 28, 2014, the trial court held a hearing on Mr. Handshoe’s special motion to strike. The trial court found that Mr. Handshoe’s blog posts and/or comments constituted acts in furtherance of his right of petition or free speech under the United States or Louisiana Constitutions in connection with a public issue, which are protected under La. C.C.P. art. 971, because they were written statements made in connection with an issue under consideration by a judicial body, as provided in La. C.C.P. art. 971(F)(1)(b). The trial court rendered a judgment granting Mr. Hand-shoe’s special motion to strike, dismissing Mr. Yount’s claims against him with prejudice, and ordering Mr. Yount to pay reasonable attorney fees and costs. Mr. Yount filed an appeal from that judgment.

On August 6, 2014, which was after Mr. Handshoe’s special motion to strike was granted but before Mr. Yount’s appeal of that judgment was decided, Mr. Truitt, defendant herein, filed ■ an “Article 971 Special Motion to Strike,” asserting that he was entitled to dismissal of Mr. Yount’s claims against him for the same reasons that the claims against Mr. Handshoe were dismissed. Like Mr. Handshoe, Mr.' Truitt argued that the statements complained of by Mr. Yount were clearly acts in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech under the United States or Louisiana Constitution in connection with a public issue, which are protected under La. C.C.P. art. 971.

On March 30, 2015, while Mr. Yount’s appeal from the judgment granting Mr. Handshoe’s special motion to strike was still pending in this Court, the trial judge held a hearing on Mr. Truitt’s special motion to, strike. At this hearing, Mr. Truitt argued that the trial judge' should grant his special motion to strike “for the same [859]*859reasons that [he] granted Mr. Handshoe’s motion.” After considering the | ^arguments presented by each party, the trial judge granted Mr. Truitt’s--special motion to strike and dismissed Mr: Yount’s claims against him'at Mr. Yount’s costs. On April 13, 2015, the trial judge signed a written judgment to that effect, and on April 29, 2015, Mr. Yount filed a Motion for Appeal, which was granted by the trial judge.

Shortly thereafter, on May 28, 2015, this Court issued an opinion, reversing the trial court’s judgment on Mr. Handshoe’s special motion to strike, denying Mr. Hand-shoe’s special motion to strike, and awarding reasonable attorney fees and costs to Mr. Yount, to be determined by the trial court on remand. Yount, 14-919 at 14,171 So.3d at 390. We now consider Mr. Yount’s appeal of the trial court’s judgment granting Mr. Truitt’s special motion to strike.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

La. C.C.P. art. 971 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. (1) A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that’ person in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free speech under the United States or Louisiana Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the claim.
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F. As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them below, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

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Yount v. Handshoe, 179 So. 3d 856, 43 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 3147, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 376, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2371, 2015 WL 7423255 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

179 So. 3d 856 (Yount v. Handshoe) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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