BREAKING: Kimberlin Loses State Lawsuit
Reports are breaking on Twitter. It was a directed verdict by the judge, who did not even let the case go to the jury.
UPDATE: Thanks to Instapundit for the link. Please note that many others and I are still facing a ridiculous federal suit from Kimberlin, as to which my pro bono lawyer Ron Coleman filed a motion to dismiss yesterday. It’s not just legalese and is well worth a read for background.
In a not-unrelated development, Dave Weigel got an interesting quote:
Kimberlin tells me he’ll appeal, and that as far as the bloggers go there’ll be “endless lawsuits for the rest of their lives."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) August 12, 2014
For some reason the term “vexatious litigant” comes to mind . . .
Congratulations to the defendants. This never should have gotten this far.
Patterico (c39be0) — 8/12/2014 @ 2:51 pmShould greatly help Bomber Sues the World Federal Case.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/12/2014 @ 2:56 pmDana Milbank: Obama vacations as the world burns
Interesting sidenote: that page is very slow to load. I’ve been waiting for it to fully resolve without success.
Even without the comment section you can hear the liberal heads exploding.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/12/2014 @ 3:20 pmLike Martians listening to Slim Whitman.
The post has been suffering a DDOS attack all day. They’d report it, if they even knew what it was.
someguy (84ecc5) — 8/12/2014 @ 3:28 pmCongratulations to the defendants!
Has Kimberlin been declared a vexatious litigant yet?
bridget (0a8bf5) — 8/12/2014 @ 3:30 pmbridget,
Such things do not happen automatically. It will take work. However, today’s result, and Kimberlin’s comment to Dave Weigel (promising more lawsuits against these bloggers “for the rest of their lives”) will go a long way towards showing judges what Kimberlin is up to.
Patterico (c39be0) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:07 pmPretty sure the Washington Post link being slow to load was because they were the first to post an article with an account of how Robin Williams died.
Kendall (37215e) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:28 pmthe WaPo page has 20+ scripts on it as well, which makes it buggy, and, if you load comments, there are over 5K of them, which makes it even slower.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:35 pmI seem to recall that Cyrus Sinai was eventually declared to be vexatious, “eventually” being the operative term. Hopefully y’all can get Mr. Kimberlin down a similar path.
bridget (37b281) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:35 pmActually, the Posts’ problem is in the Border Gateway Protocol. Many older routers hit the limit today.
Pretty sure it’s Obama’s fault.
someguy (84ecc5) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:39 pmWow. It looks like justice was finally done. A rare event in a world where the law so often has to act as a substitute.
Steve57 (34b0af) — 8/12/2014 @ 4:42 pmAs Marv Albert would say – Yesssssss
mg (31009b) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:17 pmWould there be a difference in treatment of Mr. Kimberlin or other charges he might bring later because at least one charge went to trial, rather than having them all be dismissed before trial?
(I suspect this question probably proves I’m not a lawyer ….)
htom (412a17) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:36 pmThe very definition of “vexatious litigant”.
From Weigel: This was after Kimberlin’s opening statement, interrupted dozens of times by objections, as he tied the case to Benghazi, the suicide of Robin Williams, and the motivations that spurred the 9/11 terrorists.Yikes.
Dana (4dbf62) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:36 pmUPDATE: Thanks to Instapundit for the link. Please note that many others and I are still facing a ridiculous federal suit from Kimberlin, as to which my pro bono lawyer Ron Coleman filed a motion to dismiss yesterday. It’s not just legalese and is well worth a read for background.
In a not-unrelated development, Dave Weigel got an interesting quote:
For some reason the term “vexatious litigant” comes to mind . . .
Patterico (c39be0) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:39 pmPlease note that many others and I are still facing a ridiculous federal suit from Kimberlin,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:46 pmThanks for that explicit clarification. I wasn’t sure how the two are interrelated, and if you are still under legal advice to “shut up”.
LANGUAGE WARNING-
For those of us were originally from Indiana following this and who still can’t believe this motherfucker is out of prison, hooray for the good guys. Hopefully, for you, Mandy, and the other defendants, the federal case is dismissed with prejudice sooner rather than later.
Thinking of Carl DeLong and Julia Scyphers tonight.
Jeff Lebowski (5e0c1f) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:47 pmBridget has the right idea.
Until this form of harassment is not consequence free, it will not stop.
But it’s also a wake-up call. SLAPPs occur all the time, and until it happened to people I cared about, I didn’t have awareness of it. Now that I follow the popehat blog, I know it’s a widespread abuse. Maryland needs a better SLAPP protection.
I was surprised this case made it to trial, even reading it with a pessimistic view of Maryland’s system. I was also annoyed that the judge said a perjurer could testify, which in a case like this is particularly odd (and regardless, is not the law). I’m sure I was not the only one who was concerned this thing might not go the right way.
People should not face this sort of trouble for merely stating their opinions.
Dustin (7f67e8) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:48 pmJustice was not done, Steve57. Justice would be Kimberlin declared a vexatious litigant, plus some counterclaims against Kimberlin (along the lines of abuse of process, plus a couple other things) which – after reduced to a judgment – would follow Kimberlin until the end of his days. He should not be able to earn a nickel – or collect a nickel for one of his charities – without it getting attached and seized.
Brian (7dbe4e) — 8/12/2014 @ 5:49 pmThanks Jeff, and I’m thinking of them, too.
SarahW (267b14) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:01 pmI expected today’s outcome but am very relieved to have it over with.
SarahW (267b14) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:11 pmCongratulations. I certainly hope the federal court gets a load of that statement by the bomber felon.
MikeK (b5c01a) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:16 pmI wonder if Kimberlin has enough sense not to bother with the preliminary injunction he wanted in the RICO case.
SarahW (267b14) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:23 pmTOOT! TOOT! all aboard!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:26 pmKimberlin Loser Express
teh Train to Nowhere
More sad news: Lauren Bacall dead at 89. She defined class.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/lauren-bacall-dies-at-89-iconic-film-legend-known-as-the-look/2014/08/12/2e1b7de4-c5da-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/12/2014 @ 6:42 pmI’m stunned to learn justice was not done.
Steve57 (34b0af) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:02 pmthe things i could get away with if i only had to answer to a jury of my peers. 😎
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:22 pmCongratulations! Hopefully the courts determine that he is a vexatious litigant.
aunursa (932331) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:29 pmSteve57: “I’m stunned to learn justice was not done.”
You’re easily stunned.
And you’re additionally pretending to to get it.
Brian (d7b8f9) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:29 pmI in no way intend to appear I am taking Kimberlin’s side, but could not his statement to Dave Weigel be considered something uttered merely in the heat of the moment after losing an emotional case, and thus not be considered as evidence that he’s a vexatious litigant?
Andy in Colorado (2cf62b) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:32 pmBomb bomb bomb bomb bomb brrrrett
Colonel Haiku (d69505) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:49 pmBomb bomb bomb bomb bomb brrrrett
Bomb brrrrett
Ain’t he done yet?
Bomb brrrrett
They got him reelin’ and a kneelin’
and he’ll soon be squealin’
Bomb brrrrett
Bomb bomb bomb bomb brrrett
You caught me.
Steve57 (34b0af) — 8/12/2014 @ 7:56 pmAndy, wanna buy a bridge in NYC?
Gazzer (42663b) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:00 pm30. Kimberlin is already a vexatious litigant, a child molester and domestic terrorist, etc.
Query–doesn’t it cost anything to launch lawsuits, i.e., to tie up the resource of Justice maliciously?
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:01 pm@Andy in Colorado… Only if you’ve never seen Kimberlin “in action” before.
Plus, you oughta take Gazzer up on his offer. Sounds good.
John Pomeroy (9aec79) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:04 pm34. I forgot short pencil dick.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:04 pmneedle-dick bug effer, get it right gg!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:09 pm37. I stand corrected, thanx.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:22 pmHas Frad Briedman been reached for comment?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:44 pmHah, I’m just curious what the odds are he could make such a claim and have it be taken. I know if I were the judge and he showed up with that I’d toss him out on his ear, but I’m also not a judge.
I did always want a bridge in NYC though.
Andy in Colorado (2cf62b) — 8/12/2014 @ 8:57 pmKimberlin is a sitting duck for a malicious prosecution/abuse of process suit once he exhausts his appeals. They’re difficult to win but in such an egregious case the correct result should be obtainable.
Brian B (72df8f) — 8/12/2014 @ 10:19 pmI don’t know if he has any assets but it would put a serious crimp in his future behavior regardless of the vexatious litigant avenue.
Kimberlin hides his assets to evade paying court ordered judgments to the victims of his crimes. However, the contributors to his 501c3 operations have deep pockets: Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Tides Foundation, Threshold Foundation, and Barbara Streisand among others.
ropelight (deece0) — 8/13/2014 @ 11:00 amSo. . .has anyone broken the news to Garry Trudeau? ]:-)
M. Scott Eiland (15aac4) — 8/14/2014 @ 9:27 amSo, the Dread Molester Kimberlin loses his state lawsuit . . . Yaaaaaaaaay !
And via a directed verdict, no less, with the judge determining there wasn’t sufficient evidence to even submit the case to the jury.
Methinks “Justice” is about to reassert itself over Kimberlin’s abuse of the courts.
Take that, Bomber Boy (7ccca3) — 8/15/2014 @ 2:25 pmCouldn’t happen to a more deserving litigant.
Agree with #17, Jeff Lebowski.
Carl was a friend of mine.
Elliot Beckwith (e8cfeb) — 8/21/2014 @ 12:02 am