Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Lee "Penis Nose" Garrison Offers Prayer For Stan Pate At The Same Time His Lawyer Threatens Legal Action


A stretch limousine used
for Tuscaloosa election
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, now holds the distinction of hosting perhaps the zaniest, most flagrantly crooked municipal election in U.S. history.

It started with a photo of one candidate wearing a penis nose, plus evidence that the same candidate has roundabout ties to the Gambino and Genovese crime families. (And this guy won!) It ended with national headlines about e-mails that offered free drinks for sorority girls to vote, plus transportation to the polls via stretch limousine.


For good measure, Alabama Public Radio provided a serious tone to the proceedings by reporting that the election might have involved violations of state law.


As for the wacky stuff, the most amusing moment--at least to me--has gone largely unreported in the press.


It involves school-board candidate Lee "Penis Nose" Garrison (he of the Gambino/Genovese connections) issuing a statement to supporters about businessman Stan Pate, who allegedly erected a billboard and a Web site to poke fun at the Garrison campaign and encourage votes for the other candidate. 


For some reason, Garrison failed to see the humor in Pate's antics. So here is part of Garrison's statement to his followers:


My response is simply this, I pray for Stan. I pray for God to help him in only the way that God can heal. My family is very upset over what he has done, but we forgive him for his actions and I pray that Tuscaloosa will do the same.


Now, isn't that nice. But here is the kicker: While Lee Garrison was down on his knees, earnestly beseeching the Almighty to save Stan Pate's soul, Garrison's attorney (Lisa L. Woods, of Birmingham) had other ideas--she was sending letters that threaten legal action against Pate. (The letters can be viewed at the end of this post.)


Way to show some love for your fellow man there, Mr. "Penis Nose"! Do you have a divine revelation that part of God's plan to help Stan Pate involves a side trip to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse? How very Christian, indeed!


Let's take a look at some of Lee Garrison's Christian charity toward Stan Pate--on  full display in missives Attorney Woods sent to W. Cam Parsons, counsel for Pate, and to Mr. Pate himself. Here is my favorite part of the letter to Pate's lawyer:



Given your years in practice, I am certain that you understand that, sometimes, things are said in the course of divorce and post-divorce matters that are not true. Simply stating that some third party "swore" to such information does not make the statements true. That said, we ask that you advise Mr. Pate to take his website down and refrain from making or repeating false statements against my client.

We learn from this that Lee Garrison is alarmed about information that Stan Pate apparently gleaned from a court filing in Garrison's divorce case. Ms. Woods takes much the same approach in her letter to Pate:



You have posted a court filing, purportedly by Ms. Jessica Garrison and/or her counsel. It is our position that the statements contained in the same were false then and are false now. An Objection and Response to those false allegations was filed on my client's behalf. We notice that you did not bother to place that document on your post. We perceive this as disregard for the truth in your posting.

Notice that Garrison's lawyer states it's "our position" that statements in the court filing were false. Further notice that Garrison's lawyer states "we perceive" Pate's failure to also publish an Objection to the filing point to his disregard for the truth in the posting. Finally, notice that Garrison's lawyer offers no law to support her claim that Pate's publication of a court filing is defamatory.


That's because no such law exists. In fact, the general rule is that statements made in judicial proceedings carry absolute immunity and cannot be made the basis of a defamation claim. The Alabama Supreme Court spelled this out in a case styled Barnett v. Mobile County Personnel Board, 536 So. 2d 46 (Ala., 1988). In that case, the high court describes the kinds of documents that carry immunity:



There is another class of privileged communications where the privilege is absolute. They are defined in Hastings v. Lusk, 22 Wend. [N.Y.] 410, 34 Am.Dec. 330. In this class are included slanderous statements made by parties, counsel, or witnesses in the course of judicial proceedings, and ... libelous charges in pleadings, affidavits, or other papers used in the course of the prosecution or defense of an action. In questions falling within this absolute privilege the question of malice has no place. However malicious the intent, or however false the charge may have been, the law, from considerations of public policy, and to secure the unembarrassed and efficient administration of justice, denies to the defamed party any remedy through an action for libel or slander.

Why is this the case in Alabama--and across the country? The Barnett court explains:

The doctrine of absolute immunity for statements in judicial proceedings reflects a judgment that the need for completely free speech for litigants is dominant, and that this freedom is not to be endangered by subjecting parties to the burden of defending their motives in subsequent slander litigation, or to the risk that juries may misapprehend those motives.

Lee Garrison and his lawyer should know that Stan Pate cannot be held liable for publishing a court document that is public record. (By the way, I published the same modification of custody filing to the Scribd document-sharing Web site and here on Legal Schnauzer; in fact, that's probably how Stan Pate became aware of it. If Ms. Woods thinks Stan Pate has engaged in defamation, then I guess I will have to brace myself for a threatening letter from her.)

If the lawyer doesn't know simple provisions of defamation law, she needs to give up her bar card and go into a different line of work. If Lee Garrison doesn't know the law, and understand it, he needs to exit the political arena and enter a field outside the public spotlight, where his feelings won't so easily be bruised.


21 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's with these conservative politicians who always want to "pray" for somebody? Give me a break.

http://ttowntruthseeker.com/ said...

I hope he's not like Pinocchio!

Anonymous said...

Does Garrison say prayers with or without his penis nose?

Anonymous said...

If I were Lee Garrison, I believe I would leave Stan Pate alone. Ole Stan knows how to play hardball. And he's got the resources to play it effectively.

Anonymous said...

LS - did you notice that Lee Garrison's lawyer states that Jessica Medeiros Garrison lied under oath in the divorce case?

Anonymous said...

11:37, What can you expect from someone who wears a dick on their face?

legalschnauzer said...

You raise a very interesting point, @11:37, and that is precisely what Lee Garrison's lawyer seems to be saying.

If you look at the document in question--see URL below--it is not just a motion filed by Jessica Garrison's lawyer, Judy Crittenden. It is a verified petition, which Jessica Garrison has signed under oath.

You are a very astute reader because I had not picked up on what you point out. I bet Ms. Woods, Lee Garrison's lawyer, didn't pick up on it either.

Ms. Woods, in a roundabout way, is accusing Jessica Garrison of committing perjury--and that, of course, is a crime.

legalschnauzer said...

Oops, I forgot the include the URL with my previous comment. Here it is:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/155210711/Garrison-Divorce-Modification-of-Custody

Also, there is a link to this document in the next-to-last paragraph in the post above.

Anonymous said...

She could be disbarred for lying under oath. Bill Clinton was.

legalschnauzer said...

I bet Lee G's attorney didn't realize that was a verified petition, signed under oath, like an affidavit. She might have just caused some serious problems for Jessica G.

Anonymous said...

Where did Lee Garrison's lawyer get her law degree--from Thrifty City School of Law? The notion that Stan Pate could be held liable for publishing information from a public, court document is absurd. Ms. Woods has embarrassed herself before God and everybody.

Anonymous said...

Does Lee Garrison plan to wear his penis nose to school board meetings?

Anonymous said...

Lawyers . . .sheesh. Here is some advice for Bill Baxley: more Perry Mason, less Mason jar.

Anonymous said...

This letter from his lawyer is more embarrassing to Lee Garrison than the penis nose pic. Good God, the woman has the legal ability of a mosquito.

Anonymous said...

One has to hand it to Stan Pate. He will expose the political criminals. Just ask Bob Riley.

legalschnauzer said...

What type of student does the Capstone produce?

A very well written opinion piece from Crimson White:

http://cw.ua.edu/2013/09/03/reflecting-on-what-type-of-student-the-capstone-produces/

Anonymous said...

Bill Baxley has gone from being Bluto to being Dean Wormer in one lifetime. Sad.

Anonymous said...

@ 12:23 p.m. It probably all first began when he was "appointed", not elected District Attorney for Houston-Henry Counties at about age 25, before elected Attorney General at about age 29.

When thereafter he sought to get Myron Thompson from Yale Law School as his Assistant Attorney General. Subsequently becoming U.S Federal Judge Middle District for Alabama.

Wouldn't/shouldn't that have been
determined potential conflict/bias since Baxley appearing as lawyer before his bench, as in Gilley's trial involving mega monies/real estates.

Also Baxley was the lawyer for another in a high stakes out-of-state gambling case before a federal court in Montgomery.

Anonymous said...

oh sacred pee pee see
how the occasion arises for rising tides
came moments seconds went gone

while nosing around frowning kids
morals knowing boundaries pray for sinners' repent
Jesus suffered to the children

be comforted and not raped
not used abused made into consumer addicts
degradation isn't a prayer

pedophile isn't a trusted
servant serving a real God in earth
heaven counted head hairs already

hell awaits confused nose jobs
freezing ice burning hot swallowing not come
forever wallow slime fire balls

xo/PP

e.a.f. said...

You have to love it, really. My client is going to sue you for printing a statement which is part of the public record, in a court proceedings. It is reasonable to conclude your comments are why you are the 37th best legal blogger in American and those lawyers aren't.

This type of behaviour is not so dissimilair from behaviours by bullies, threaten, but can't deliver.

Thank you for once again brining this to light.

Now that penis nose is on the "school board", how long can we expect to wait for the schools to get "screwed"?

legalschnauzer said...

As always, e.a.f., thanks for your comment. One slight correction: Legal Schnauzer ranks No. 37 on the top 50 legal blogs in NORTH America. So that includes your neck of the woods up in Canada. You can tell your Canadian friends that you read Legal Schnauzer, and I'm sure they will be impressed.