Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Is Bryan Taylor's lawsuit designed mainly to go after Web site's news sources and financial supporters?


Bill Britt
Did State Sen. Bryan Taylor (R-Prattville) file a defamation lawsuit against the Web site Alabama Political Reporter (APR) for legitimate reasons, or is the case driven by ulterior motives?

Perhaps only Taylor can answer that question at this point. But a close look at his complaint raises serious concerns.

Taylor appears to borrow a trick from Birmingham attorney Bill Baxley, who along with Rob Riley, represents Deputy Attorney General and Team Riley member Sonny Reagan in an ongoing Lee County grand-jury investigation. The probe focuses on House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) and reportedly could involve a take down of former Governor Bob Riley's political machine.

So what about those tricks Taylor might have picked up from Bill Baxley? In his complaint, Taylor lists fictitious defendants A, B, and C and refers to them as "those persons, firms, associations, or corporations unknown to Plaintiff who funded, fomented, directed, or, jointly with the named Defendants, maliciously published, or caused to be published, the false and defamatory article complained of herein, each of whom will, upon discovery, be substituted by amendment pursuant to Rule 9(h), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure."

That language is almost identical to that Baxley used in a lawsuit against me, on behalf of former Luther Strange campaign aide Jessica Medeiros Garrison. What does it mean?

It means Taylor wants to use the discovery process to learn the identity of APR's news sources and its financial supporters. He then wants to add those individuals and entities to his lawsuit.

Translation: As a public official subject to the high bar of "reckless disregard," Taylor might not have a winnable defamation case against APR's Bill and Susan Britt. But he might be able to sue, and essentially terrorize, the Britt's sources and backers. That, in an indirect way, could chill the Web site's investigative reporting.

If that proves to be the real goal of Taylor's lawsuit, he would not be the first Riley Machine member to file a defamation lawsuit with an ulterior purpose. As we showed in a post yesterday, Rob Riley's lawsuit that led to my unlawful incarceration roughly one year ago bore no resemblance to a regular defamation lawsuit. That strongly suggests it was filed with some other purpose in mind.

Most alarmingly, Riley did not seek a jury trial, which a long line of case law says is required in defamation cases. That means Riley wanted his case to go only before Judge Claud Neilson and not a group of his fellow citizens.

Taylor deserves credit for fashioning a complaint that at least looks like a legitimate defamation case. But when you consider the timing of his lawsuit, so soon after APR's breaking stories about Sonny Reagan and the Riley Machine, and his apparent desire to get at the Web site's sources and backers . . . well, it raises questions about what's really going on.

Can the Britts do anything about it, other than defend themselves? I think the answer is yes. I would suggest they consider a countersuit for abuse of process. That is a tort that involves several elements, but it mainly is designed to fight lawsuits filed with an ulterior purpose.

If the Britts were to file a counterclaim for abuse of process, I suspect it might give Bryan Taylor considerable pause. It would give the Britts a chance to learn who, if anyone, might be backing Bryan Taylor's lawsuit. Valid countersuits have a way of "turning the tables."

Here is a question for readers to ponder: If Rob Riley did not want his case to go before a jury, and Bryan Taylor is interested mainly in APR's sources and backers, what does that say about the quality of their defamation claims?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The answer to your question in the headline is yes.

Anonymous said...

If Bryan Taylor is borrowing legal tactics from Bill Baxley, he must be desperate for help.

Unknown said...

Kathryn Tunnelvision Bauman-Rubenstein Whoa! I didn't realize Bill Baxley is who filed the suit against you for baby Riley. Bill best tread lightly; he is the one that hired Myron Thompson to work for him in the AG office and then Thompson SUDDENLY was nominated for Fed Bench after he filed suit in Houston County against City of Dothan, for widow of: Sgt. Robert Jackson; regarding murder of Dothan narcotic officer. Jackson was ambushed in 1978 when he arrived home. No media in the state reported on this except for a tiny blurb. Even the $10K reward was obscured. Thompson dropped the widow's case, (with the case action summary stating that the case was resolved out of court) wherein the only resolution was Thompson's speedy push to Fed Judge. Thompson's CV/resume to the senate confirmation committee falsely stated he had been a municipal judge in Alabama; NOT! Baxley was behind this and Thompson owes his friend EVERYTHING! Too bad Baxley and everyone else in Alabama have chosen to cover up the questionable death of Jackson. BAXLEY has his own skeletons in his closet and blood on his hands

Anonymous said...

Americans can't measure just how corrupt the information racket really is, except the judicial proves there is no separation as an independent power in the fascism of how this operation works.

News, call the commodity of information power. What the word is when the concepts connect an intelligence and therefore, higher sanity (ha-ha) the governing factor in the brain.

When an energy (language) creates or co-creates an understanding (rule of law), then there is a contract of agreement that reaches a "balance".

The system of legal in America isn't about honoring the real law and, therefore, the people receiving an income to dishonor the due process and rule of law, are criminals running a racket.

Imbalance in the USA is now at critical mass and the Southern Racket is in a melt-down.

Hang-on, the worst could be coming which is these crazies go complete militant fascist.

Anonymous said...

Won't the Britts get their own opportunity to depose Taylor under oath? I can't see where he or the Rileys would want that...

legalschnauzer said...

Yes, @5:31, the Britts should have an opportunity to depose Taylor and request production of documents, such as relevant e-mails, etc. In my view, their discovery could be even more far-ranging, and useful, if they file a countersuit for abuse of process.

legalschnauzer said...

Kathryn:

Baxley actually filed the lawsuit for Jessica Medeiros Garrison. Riley had a couple of lawyers from his own firm file his lawwsuit. I doubt that a lawyer from anywhere else wanted to take part. Certainly no lawyer with actual knowledge of defamation law would have filed such a case. But it wasn't about defamation law; it was about having me unlawfully arrested.

e.a.f. said...

the lawsuit against the Britts reminds me of the "slap shot" lawsuits some firms file against people they want to shut up.

Filing lawsuits against the Britts is a good move. They now have to spend time, money, and emotional resources in defending themselves. The next person who decides to write something the politicos of Alabama don't like will think twice.

Freedom of the press went out the window a long time ago in the U.S.A as did freedom of speech and all that good stuff in the Constitution. Its about the corporate agenda.

People get the politicians they deserve, by voting them into office. You just have to learn to live with it or die because of it. People could change their voting patterns and free themselves, but that would take work.

Anonymous said...

The complicated language which has to be adhered to, in the B.A.R. demand to pay dues to get to be the best criminals in America.

Long sentence, however, the point is that: most corrupted criminals in the USA (the majority), are the licensed "attorneys". Licensed at the "British Accredited Registry", the B.A.R.

And, WHO "writes" all the language that has to be followed as though a canon of absolute, or not be experiencing the equal law for all, due-process and due-diligence (gone).

14 Amendment gone, all U.S. Constitution has been suspended for the language of those that commit atrocities for counterfeit script.

Americans have been living in the environment of a very programmed "reality". As most know already intuitively, and certainly now the global population knows, too, America's TRUTH.

Begin with Bill and Hillary Clinton, and all that has been done. Appointee Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clinton's cap with a very big feather for the multi-billionaire globalist investors. Americans are stock.

Those that get to pay to play are those that are the worst of our human species, but as Roger knows, serious about what they do to "live and work".

Louis Brandeis? Well one of the Network Global Control BIG owners of US, Brandeis' Investments, and that Supreme Court "Justice" wasn't a schooled at law "attorney", however he was the corrupt Federal Reserve "Bank" system. We're living the corruption of all the so-called "judicial". President Obama isn't a lawyer and Michelle has a record of disbarred.

On the money were the faces of slave traders, and to this day we worship money that proves the white supremacy and trading slaves has improved.

Digital slaves we are, the justice is a serious problem to solve - how to get equal in the credit that pays for these criminals to do what they do.

Roger deserves to be made whole and that isn't going to happen. Bio-feedback, tapes with music, and own voice REPROGRAMMING the mind-brain. What images are now post-trauma need to be the images that are true reality.

What the evil does has to be made into an alchemy of energy.

Live through own voice recordings for 120 days, or more, sleep time listen to the reprogramming:

in my garage i am a martial artist of the highest level and when the (name here) appeared, i spun around and did the move on him that sent him ....

your story to seeeeeeee the real reality because the wrong was wrong and can be, memorized as what should be.

GREAT ART ROGER! and now go to the inner and image your treasures that are held and waiting for you to ask to receive

in your sleep say what you know you and your family deserves to be made as whole as can be.

thanks again for your great work!