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"I guess there is hope for bullshit libel lawsuits in Broward County.
These jurors listened to Mustafa Saleh explain under oath how he lied in
his complaint and how he owns and operates an animal clinic that holds pets hostage
and they rewarded him with $12k. Free speech died in David Haimes's courtroom today."
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If there is one thing on which you can make bank at trial, it's that the jurors with whom your fate lies will be morons. Dunces. Jackasses. Dolts. There's no way around this truism.
No matter how crazy a lawsuit is (see, i.e., CACE‑15‑009338), there is no way to know how a jury will return a verdict.
Every juror arrives with his own set of life experiences, biases, and ideas about the law.
It's why parties routinely make last‑minute, and often times, last‑second offers to settle before the start of trials.
The problem is that just about everyone who ever has voted or registered a motor vehicle in Broward County will receive a jury summons at some point in their life.
Without regard for integrity or IQ. And there are no consequences whatsoever for jurors who deliver bizarre, inexplicable, unconscionable, insane, or flat‑out inane verdicts.
Take the six buffoons who were impaneled at my defamation trial this week before Judge David Haimes.
Brittany Lauren Caldwell,
Emily Jane Pepperman,
Latavia Trameice Alford,
Anthony Eugene Simon,
Laura Newman Perez, and the jury foreman,
ostensibly the brains of the group,
Greg Daniel Partin.
These folks huddled together, conferred for hours, and decided
that Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh owns and operates an animal clinic that is a sham.
That Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh owns and operates an animal clinic that double- and triple-bills clients.
That Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh owns and operates an animal clinic that sticks bogus bills in the faces of clients.
That Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh owns and operates an animal clinic that holds pets hostage until its bullshit invoices are paid.
Fair enough. All of that was sufficiently proven with physical evidence.
Yet, contemporaneously, these six folks --
Brittany Caldwell,
Emily Pepperman,
Latavia Alford,
Anthony Simon,
Laura
Perez, and
Greg Partin -- decreed that it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh "sleazy."
That it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh "sneaky."
That it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh a "conman."
That it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh "immoral."
That it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh "greedy."
That it is defamatory to call Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh a "flat-out thug."
He runs a sham business but it's objectively false to call him all of these names?
Really,
Brittany Caldwell? Does that make any sense to you?
Really,
Emily Pepperman? Does that make any sense to you?
Really,
Latavia Alford? Does that make any sense to you?
Really,
Anthony Simon? Does that make any sense to you?
Really,
Laura Perez? Does that make any sense to you?
Really, jury foreman
Greg Partin? Does that make any sense to you?
"Sleazy" is a statement capable of provable falsity,
Brittany Caldwell? You know what,
Brittany Caldwell, I think you're sleazy. Really, truly, remarkably sleazy.
You took an oath to perform an important public service and you failed. You failed your country. You failed your community. You failed the cause of freedom. You failed yourself.
"Scum of the Earth" is a statement capable of provable falsity,
Emily Jane Pepperman? You know what,
Emily Jane Pepperman, I think you're the scum of the Earth.
I wonder if
Brittany Lauren Caldwell,
Emily Jane Pepperman,
Latavia Trameice Alford,
Anthony Eugene Simon,
Laura Newman Perez, and
Greg Daniel Partin were asleep when it was explained to them that proof of the objective
falsity of a challenged statement is required to succeed on a defamation claim. I wonder if they truly hate speech that much. Or if they simply hate America that much.
Why show up for jury duty if you're not willing to follow simple instructions? Surely you have something better to do than sit in a dank, musty
courtroom all day for three straight days, no?
Maybe not.
Were any of you awake when Mustafa Saleh's star witness, Russell Knutson, testified that I was ripped off at Vetfield Animal Hospital? When Mustafa Saleh testified that when I asked
him to return the money that was stolen from me at his animal clinic he refused?
It was proven that Sunrise veterinarian Mustafa Saleh took money that was not rightfully his and he failed to return that money when I asked him point‑blank to do so.
That's theft,
Brittany!,
Emily!,
Latavia!,
Anthony!,
Laura!,
Greg!
Were none of you paying attention? What were you six folks doing during the trial? Sleeping? Texting? Daydreaming?
What objective proof did Mustafa Saleh present to you that demonstrated the neutral falsity of the statement "Mustafa Saleh is sleazy?" The neutral falsity of the statement
"Mustafa Saleh is a flat-out thug?"
Did his son's list of Facebook friends prove the falsity of either of those two statements? Did a printout of the homepage of this website prove their falsity? Did a police
booking photograph of someone called "Margo Caryn Land" (pictured) prove their falsity? Did a printout from the docket of a different civil lawsuit in which I was involved nine years ago prove their falsity?
These were the exhibits Mustafa Saleh showed you just 24 hours ago! Remember?
Do any of you understand the difference between fact and opinion? You sure didn't convince me.
How about when Mustafa Saleh was exposed under oath for lying in his Complaint when he alleged it was false that he would not confirm he owns Vetfield Animal Hospital?
Remember what he said? He said when asked who owns the business, his reply was, "I have to go. They're calling me."
What were y'all doing then? Sleeping? Texting? Daydreaming?
Do yourselves a favor the next time you receive a jury summons and shred it,
Brittany Lauren Caldwell,
Emily Jane Pepperman,
Latavia Trameice Alford,
Anthony Eugene Simon,
Laura Newman Perez, and
Greg Daniel Partin. If you're fined, call me and I'll happily write
a check to the Clerk of Courts.
You think it's funny to silence speech? To hold defenseless pets hostage? None of you deserves to live in America.
I don't suspect that any of these six genuises has $12,000 to their names. That's the sum in nuisance money they cost me with their senseless, idiotic verdict regarding perfectly lawful statements
in articles I never published in the first place. By the way, I wonder which piece of evidence proved to them that I authored the subject articles? The domain registration that failed to
contain my IP address or my name? Or the production response from BellSouth that failed to contain my IP address or any of my contact details?
So I won't hold out hope of receiving that money from any of them in this lifetime. And that's fine with me. Expressing some penitence would be a lot more meaningful.
I'm always around to receive an apology via
e-mail.