Yarmouth No. 411345 Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Between: Plaintiff Trout Point Lodge Vaughn Perret Charles Leary and Defendant Douglas K. Handshoe
Brief in opposition to Plaintiff’s request to amend their claims and request for Summary disposal of these proceedings
Introduction
1. This is the third proceeding instituted in Nova Scotia by Plaintiffs against Defendant
alleging defamation and or Copyright Act Infringement to harass and punish Defendant for
exposing Plaintiffs’ roles in the corrupt criminal activities and schemes of a felonious
United States politician named Aaron Broussard (Broussard). The record shows Broussard
used Plaintiff as his property managers, said property1 being the result of an illegal bribery
scheme. The record also shows Plaintiff’s profited from Broussard’s criminal activity and
that plaintiff combined with the criminal enterprise identified by the United States
Attorney’s Office, on behalf of self-admitted felon Broussard in the no less than three
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) filed in Nova Scotia against
three media outlets located in Mississippi and Louisiana that covered this sordid tale of
corruption in metro New Orleans, including the submission of perjured affidavits in a case
to which defendant was not a party that resulted in the invasion of privacy of at least 5
1 Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC, which owned the River Bend Lodge at Trout Point, which was marketed by Plaintiff Trout Point Lodge indistinguishable from the Lodge itself and for which visitors were charged an 18% gratitude by the Lodge itself.
1 residents of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana.2 Broussard’s co-conspirators, as
Plaintiffs in this instant action now seek to duplicate allegations in a SLAPP suit brought in
Louisiana by Trout Point Lodge owner Daniel G. “Danny Abel on behalf of “himself and
unnamed others” to continue harassing defendant with meritless allegations in fulfillment
of their explicit threats to “sue” defendant “into bankruptcy” and inflict a “painful hell of
legal entanglement for years to come”.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Douglas K. Handshoe, Defendant CPA and Blogger. Owner, Slabbed New Media, LLC. Primary blogger, Slabbed.org.
Daniel G. Abel Plaintiff, Owner of Trout Point Lodge, Cerro Coyote, S.A., La Farme d’Acadie, Chicory Farms, Attorney and associate of Aaron Broussard, Charles Leary, Vaughn Perret and Shane Gates.
Charles Leary, Plaintiff Associate and business partner of Abel and Perret. Owner and Manager of Trout Point Lodge. In 2011, sued Handshoe for defamation in Canada including multiple times since. Attempted to execute a default judgment in Mississippi losing that case.
Vaughn Perret, Plaintiff Associate and business partner of Abel and Leary. Former Abel paramour. Owner and Manager of Trout Point Lodge. In 2011, sued Handshoe for defamation in Canada including multiple times since. Attempted to execute a default judgment in Mississippi losing that case.
Aaron Broussard Former Jefferson Parish President that was arrested and subsequently sentenced to 46 months in prison. Connected to Abel, Leary and Perret through business, politics and partner with Abel in a law practice located at the Super 8 Motel in Metairie Louisiana. He was also involved with marketing investments in Cerro Coyote, S.A., another business venture owned by politically connected Jefferson Parish residents and associates of Brousssard that was managed by Abel, Leary and Perret. At one time Broussard owned property on Trout Point Rd. in Canada, immediately adjacent to the Trout Point Resort.
2 Worth noting is Plaintiff’s only pursued defamation action against defendant only and not the other individuals they identified to this very court as allegedly publishing defamatory statements about them. In that action Plaintiff’s identified Lodge owner Daniel G. “Danny” Abel as their US based attorney. Abel was Broussard’s law partner practicing out of Suite 106 at the Super 8 Motel in Metairie Louisiana. The owner of this facility is currently under indictment for cocaine distribution. State of Louisiana v Desai.
2
Karen Parker Broussard Former wife of Aaron Broussard. Her hiring and resulting payroll ultimately lead to his resignation and indictment on Federal charges. The factual basis of her guilty plea provided the first concrete indications Broussard used his property at the Resort at Trout Point as a bribery scheme.
Chief Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Denied Leary and Perret’s attempt to execute default judgment from earlier Canadian defamation case.
Shane Gates a/k/a Shane D’Antoni Adopted son and reputed current paramour of Daniel Abel. Serves as plaintiff in several of Abel’s lawsuits alleging police brutality.
Roy D’Aquila Deceased former member/partner in Nova Scotia Enterprises, L.L.C. which federal authorities identified as a conduit for bribes to Aaron Broussard. D’Aquila swore several affidavits in support of the SLAPP suits filed by Leary, Perret and Trout Point Lodge in Canada.
Carl J. Eberts Investor in the Cerro Coyote scheme, who wrote Aaron Broussard in 2007 asking him to help sell his stake in the venture as Broussard has originally sold him his original stake..
LOCALE
Trout Point Lodge A Nova Scotia, Canada, hotel on the Trout Point Resort. Owned by Abel, Perret and Leary along with a bevy of contractors for the Parish of Jefferson and other individuals associated with Broussard.
Cerro Coyote, S.A. A Costa Rican resort owned by Abel, Perret and Leary along with a bevy of contractors for the Parish of Jefferson and other individuals associated with Broussard
Chicory Farms A defunct goat farm in Washington Parish Louisiana which received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Owned by Abel, Perret and Leary. Identified itself in USDA grant filings as a woman owned business enterprise.
La Ferme d’Acadie A defunct cheesemaking business in Canada that received a loan and later was sued by the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency. Also owned by Abel, Perret and Leary along with a bevy of contractors for the Parish of Jefferson and other individuals closely associated with Broussard.
3
Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC A Louisiana Limited Liability Company which owned property in Trout Point Road in Nova Scotia. Owned by Broussard, the late Roy D’Aquila along with John Does 1-13. Later identified as a conduit for bribes to Aaron Broussard.
Kempt Wilderness Lodge Services A Canadian Partnership which owned property on Trout Point Road. Owned by Broussard, the late Roy D’Aquila along certain John Does.
Parties
2. Plaintiff Trout Point Lodge Limited is a Nova Scotia company owned by several
Louisianans connected to the disgraced former Parish President of Jefferson Parish, Aaron
Broussard, a self-admitted felon currently incarcerated in the US Penitentiary at Butner
North Carolina for crimes involving his corrupt tenure as President of the Parish of
Jefferson, Louisiana including identification by United States Attorney of Broussard’s
property at the Resort at Trout Point as a corrupt bribery scheme.3
3. Plaintiffs Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary managed several Broussard connected business
entities including Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC, one company identified by United States
Prosecutors as Broussard’s conduit for an illegal bribery scheme. The only connection
Nova Scotia has to the scheme is it is the foreign land where the ill-gotten gains from
Broussard’s various corrupt business schemes were hidden, out of sight of the American
public
4. Defendant Douglas Handshoe is a nationally recognized investigative journalist whose
3 United States of America v Aaron F Broussard et al. Case No. 2:11-cr-00299, Document 146, Filed 08/31/12. This document can be accessed free of charge via the New Orleans Times Picayune at http://media.nola.com/crime_impact/other/Other%20crimes%20Broussard.pdf. Mr. Broussard subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of his superseding indictment and is now serving a 46 month prison sentence.
4 media company, Slabbed New Media LLC, publishes a blog that is targeted to a specific
American audience in the southern United States.4
Salient Factual Background
5. Plaintiffs, along with their business partner Daniel G. “Danny” Abel has been associated in
public,5 in Court filings,6 and in Court opinions7 with Trout Point Lodge Limited, a
Limited Company organized under the laws of Nova Scotia, Canada. Two of Abel’s
business partners in Trout Point Lodge include Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret.
Broussard owned two cabins immediately adjacent to Trout Point Lodge along with Nova
Scotia Enterprises, LLC, (which owned Riverbend Lodge) that were marketed on the Trout
Point Lodge website as if they were part of Trout Point Lodge’s operations. The Trout
Point Lodge’s website confirmed that Broussard owned two cottages, called “Black Bear”
and “Cub.”8 Trout Point Lodge “managed rentals of his property.”9 The case records in
Plaintiff’s suit against Louisiana Media Company also clearly indicate Riverbend Lodge
was owned by Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC, which was identified by United States
4 Slabbed has been cited as an authoritative news source numerous times in the US Media including the New Orleans Times Picayune as an authority on Jefferson Parish Louisiana politics and corruption, the Biloxi Sun Herald for coverage of the 2010 Gulf Oil Drill moratorium litigation and coverage of the corruption scandal at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources among other topics and a book, Delay Deny Defend, Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims And What You Can Do About It by Rutgers University Law Professor Jay Feinman. Additionally, Slabbed is listed by consumer interest group United Policyholders as a nationally recognized policyholder resource at http://www.uphelp.org/library/resources for our work covering the post Hurricane Katrina Wind-Water litigation. 5 Abel is an author of the “Trout Point Lodge Cookbook,” available at: http://www.troutpoint.com/cookbook.htm.
6 See Exhibit 1, Affidavit of Danny Abel (Filed in Trout Point Lodge defamation suit in Canada).
7 See Exhibit 2: Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Southern District of Mississippi; Case No. 1:12-cv-0090-LG-JMR.
8 See Exhibit 3: Trout Point Lodge Blog Post.
9 Id.
5 Prosecutors as a criminal enterprise. As noted by the Court in the Southern District of
Mississippi, Leary and Perret “helped manage Broussard’s property in Nova Scotia, which
is located very close to Trout Point Lodge.”10
6. In its commentary on public affairs, Slabbed regularly connected Trout Point Lodge and its
proprietors, including Abel, to Broussard, a character central to this political drama.
Broussard received a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans in 1973 and began
his political climb on the Jefferson Parish School Board in 1974. He later served several
terms as a Parish Councilman, four terms as the Mayor of Kenner, and in 2003 was elected
Jefferson Parish President. In 2007 he was re-elected Parish President. His political star
began to fall as his administration of Jefferson Parish came under investigation by Federal
prosecutors probing the Parish’s hiring practices. On December 17, 2010, the Louisiana
Board of Ethics filed charges against Lagniappe Industries, LLC, Tim Whitmer, Dawn
Whitmer and Aaron Broussard in the State of Louisiana Division of Administrative Law in
the matters numbered 2009-1030, 2009-1053, 2010-029 and 2010-707. The charges
against Aaron Broussard included receiving payments, gifts and/or gratuities from
Lagniappe Industries, LLC. Shortly after, Aaron Broussard resigned his position as
Jefferson Parish President on January 8, 2010 and shared office space with Abel as his law
partner. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced
Broussard’s indictment on September 24, 2012. Broussard shortly thereafter pleaded
guilty to two counts of corruption, notably stating that: “At 23 I came into politics as a
10 See Exhibit 2: Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Southern District of Mississippi; Case No. 1:12-cv-0090-LG-JMR; Rec. Doc. 35; Filed 12/19/12, p.15 at n.15.
6 dragon slayer. At 63 years old I’m going out as the dragon."11
7. Abel’s, Leary and Perret’s ties to Broussard cannot be gainsaid. Abel is a well-known
associate of Aaron Broussard’s in the New Orleans Louisiana legal community. Abel
worked as Broussard’s Council aide when he was first elected to the Jefferson Parish
Council. Abel and Broussard maintained and indeed strengthened their professional
relationship working as law partners out of the same law office, a room at the Super 8
Motel at 2421 Clearview Parkway in Metairie, La. 12 They also filed appeals in
partnership together and represented clients as “Attorneys at Law.”13 For example, an
appellate brief cited the following address for the two associates:
AARON F. BROUSSARD DANIEL G. ABEL Attorneys at Law 2421 Clearview Parkway Legal Department, Suite 106 Metairie, Louisiana 70001 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT14
8. In 2012, Broussard’s former wife Karen Parker took a plea deal from Federal attorneys,
who filed a “Factual Basis” alleging that had the prosecution gone to trial, it would have
proven certain facts beyond a reasonable doubt, including:
Moreover, Broussard was a majority owner in a holding company which owned an investment property in Canada. Broussard received income from this Canadian property. This property was partially funded by individuals and/or entities who were contractors and/or vendors doing
11 See “Aaron Broussard pleads guilty to two corruption counts,” Nola.com, available at http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/09/aaron_broussard_arrives_at_fed.html
12 See Exhibit 4: Carr v. Abel, 64 So.3d 292, 297 (La. App. 5th Cir. 2011), writ denied, 63 So.3d 1016 (La. 2011).
13 Id.; See, Exhibit 5: Lowe’s Home Construction, LLC v. Julius Lips, Jr., No. 10-CA-762 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2011).
14 Id.
7 business with Jefferson Parish during the period of time Broussard was the Jefferson Parish President.15
Because it was not specifically named in the Factual Basis, we did not know the name of
the Canadian holding company from which Broussard received income at the time of the
Parker plea deal. However, as noted above, we now do know that Aaron Broussard
owned two cabins near Trout Point Lodge and two holding Companies which owned
property at the Trout Point including one that was later identified as a criminal enterprise
engaged in an unsophisticated bribery scheme.16 He particularly used a vehicle known as
Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC, a company in which he had a 46% interest but to which he
made no capital contribution, to receive bribes from Jefferson Parish contractors.17 Roy
D’Aquila, an attorney and member/partner of both Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC and
Kempt Wilderness Lodge Services, who once asked if Trout Point Lodge could insure his
property as “an endorsement” on the Trout Point Lodge insurance policy, as suggested by
Aaron Broussard.18 There are still many connections between Broussard and Plaintiffs
that remain largely unexplored. When Aaron Broussard was sentenced in February 2013,
the sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge Hayden Head, Jr., noted that the allegations of
impropriety related to Broussard’s property in Canada should be investigated further.19
15 Exhibit 6, Factual Basis for Karen Parker Plea Deal, p. 7.
16 See Exhibit 7, 404(B) Filing for Aaron Broussard, p. 4, Exhibit 6, Factual Basis for Karen Parker Plea Deal, p. 7.
17 Id., See also Exhibit 8, Exhibit A to 404(B) Filing RE: Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC
18 See Exhibit 9, Letter of Roy D’Aquila and Exhibit 10, Affidavit of Roy D’Aquila.
19 See “Broussard Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison,” The Advocate, February 26, 2013, available at http://theadvocate.com/home/5281989-125/broussard-sentenced-to-46-months
8 9. In addition to Trout Point Lodge in Canada, Abel, Perret and Leary also owned a resort in
Costa Rica called Cerro Coyote, S.A. They have tried to market themselves as overseas
investment opportunists with expert advice on international living and the associated
wealth and business benefits which can be obtained by living in Costa Rica.20 They have
also owned several other businesses, including a goat farm in Louisiana called Chicory
Farm’s American Gourmet, LLC.21 This farm received a United States Department of
Agriculture grant of more than $100,000.22 In addition, Abel, Perret and Leary began La
Ferme d’Acadie in Canada, another goat cheese farm and tourism destination that similarly
failed after taking a large taxpayer funded economic incentive..23
10. Through the years, Handshoe has made many posts about Abel and his connections both to
Trout Point Lodge and to Leary and Perret, all directed at their association with the
political scandal and corruption investigation surrounding Broussard including the use of
SLAPP suits filed by Leary and Perret in Canada attempting to silence journalistic inquiry
into this part of Broussard’s corrupt activities.
11. Slabbed New Media’s website provides a forum for local residents and other interested
parties to gather and share information regarding various political and legal affairs issues
that impact the US Gulf South in topics including but not limited to insurance, various
ongoing court cases, the Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 and a various political corruption scandals
in Louisiana and Mississippi.
20 Exhibit 11, Costa Rica Benefits, www.living-abroad-consultants.com.
21 Exhibit 12, La. Secretary of State corporate document for Chicory Farm’s American Gourmet, LLC.
22 See Exhibit 13, Grant Database (also noting that the business is both women and minority owned).
23 See Exhibit 14, Series of articles by Rural Delivery on ACOA-backed Goat Cheese Creamery.
9 12. Defendant says Plaintiffs have, and have caused others to file on their behalf, bogus take
down notices under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act for the purposes of silencing
public inquiry and to harass and punish Defendant for exposing their roles in Broussard’s
corrupt activities.
13. Defendant says Slabbed New Media has valid defenses to the baseless defamation
copyright infringement claims of Leary and Perret under United States the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act and as such filed valid counter notifications under Title 17
United States Code Section 512 in response to the takedown notices Plaintiffs sent
Defendant’s web host, New Dream Network under the US Digital Millennium Copyright
Act.
14. Pursuant to Section 512(c)(1)(C), Defendant specifically consented to the jurisdiction of
the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in each counter
notification.
15. Defendant says under the DMCA the Plaintiffs had 14 days to file for an injunction with
the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Plaintiffs failed to
do so.
16. Defendant says under the Digital Copyright Millennium Act those that file baseless
DMCA takedown notices alleging copyright infringement are responsible for the payment
of all legal fees.
17. Defendant says Plaintiffs have filed the applications and actions in an improper venue in
order to avoid paying attorney fees associated with their baseless claims and to harass and
punish Defendant.
10 18. Plaintiff have filed numerous, baseless defamation suits against American media outlets
covering the Aaron Broussard corruption scandal in Canada in order to limit American
public inquiry into their roles in Broussard’s corrupt bribery schemes.24
19. Defendant denied the Canadian Courts had jurisdiction in Plaintiffs’ earlier defamation suit
and litigated this issue in United States District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi in a suit brought by Plaintiffs to enforce their Nova Scotia defamation
judgment.25
20. Oral arguments were heard at the 5th Circuit court of appeals on this matter August 6, 2013.
Judge Elrod of the three judge panel observed Plaintiff’s first defamation suit and amended
complaint contained no discernible, well plead allegations of defamation, fatal procedural
flaws the Nova Scotia Supreme Court should have caught as well but instead choose to
ignore.26 27
21. Plaintiffs’ business partner and close associate at Trout Point Lodge, Daniel G. “Danny”
Abel28 also has filed a defamation lawsuit against Defendant in the United States District
24 See Trout Point Lodge et al v Advance Publications, Trout Point Lodge et al v Louisiana Media Company and Trout Point Lodge et al v Doug K Handshoe, all filed in the Yarmouth Justice Centre.
25 See Trout Point Lodge et al v Doug K. Handshoe, Case No. 1:12-cv-00090, Document 35 Filed 12/19/12, United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. In Judge Guirola’s written opinion he concluded “it does not appear from the record that the Nova Scotia court conducted an inquiry into the truth of Handshoe’s assertions.”
26 Depriving a United States Citizen of their Constitutional rights including Free Speech and Privacy Rights is an actionable tort under 42 USC 1983, deprivation of Civil Rights under the color of law.
27 Wallace v. Lawrence, 2001 NSCA 36
28 Mr. Abel has been repeatedly sanctioned by the Federal and State courts in Louisiana for filing frivolous appeals and legal briefs designed to defame and harass, rather than advance legal points in furtherance of dispute resolution and for repeatedly disobeying direct orders of the court including the above referenced defamation case styled Danny Abel v Douglas Handshoe et al, Case No. 1:13-cv-00088, Document 45, Order to Show Cause, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. This document can be accessed free of charge at http://www.slabbed.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Abel-v-Handshoe-and-AMV-Doc-45.pdf. Also see Slabbed Investigates continued very bad times for the “Legal Department” at the Super 8 Motel on Clearview Part 3 for a
11 Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana repeating many of the original allegations in the
Canadian suit filed by Plaintiffs. Abel withdrew his lawsuit on May 14, 2013 one day
before a court hearing on Defendant’s Special Motion to Strike under Article 971 of the
Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure commonly known as the Louisiana Anti SLAPP
Statute. Abel then refilled his suit in late May, 2013, this time naming all of Defendant’s
lawyers as defamation codefendants in an attempt to deprive Defendant of legal
representation. Plaintiffs in this Action now seek to recycle Abel’s allegations into a
different forum.
22. Defendant says Plaintiffs have relentlessly promoted both Trout Point Lodge and their
default judgment against Defendant to numerous media outlets in both the US and Canada,
providing nonregistered images and pictures along with their press releases. These media
outlets used these pictures to promote Plaintiffs’ default judgment. Slabbed likewise
recognized the newsworthiness of these events and reported upon them, sometimes “inline
linking” the images to the original site such as the Toronto Star. The news reporting of the
Lodge’s loss to Defendant in US District Court enraged the Plaintiffs causing them to file
another round of bogus takedown notices under the US Digital Copyright Millennium Act
with Defendant’s webhost, New Dream Network in December, 2012 and January, 2013. In
each instance and in accordance with the DMCA, applicant removed subject images while
the counter notification period ran for the Defendants to file for an injunction in US District
Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Defendant has in fact complied with every
partial, albeit lengthy list of US Court cases where Mr. Abel was sanctioned for unethical conduct in the practice of law at http://www.slabbed.org/2013/03/16/danny-abel-collects-court-sanctions-like-vito-corleone-collected-pocket-politici ans-slabbed-investigates-continued-very-bad-times-for-the-legal-department-at-the-super-8-motel-on-clearview-part -3/
12 aspect of the DMCA process.
23. Defendant affirms that he and his media company will ignore any court order that does not
come from the court which has proper jurisdiction over Defendant nor does he consent to
this case being heard in Nova Scotia.29
24. Defendant says the United States Courts have demonstrated the proceedings being held in
this improper venue devoid of subject matter or personal jurisdiction to hear the meritless
allegations contained in the multitude of proceedings instituted against Defendant by
Plaintiffs will be examined in detail as demonstrated by questions asked by the appellate
panel during oral arguments resulting from Plaintiff’s first attempt to enforce a judgment
from the Nova Scotia Courts.30 31
Issues of law for this court to decide
25. This court, by letter to the litigants dated August 6, 2013 identified two issues: 1. If
permission to seek leave of the court to file an amended complaint is required and 2.
Whether the Amendments sought should be permitted. Defendant addresses these issues
in the order presented:
29 Per the US Digital Copyright Millennium Act the only court with jurisdiction in a matter involving the DMCA is the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Amazingly Mr. Leary admits the Lodge is seeking relief under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act in his sworn affidavit which accompanied the Plaintiffs’ Amended Notice of Application in Court dated February 8, 2013.
30 Judge Elrod correctly noted that Defendant was deprived of certain due process rights by Justice Hood of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court including the lack of a default hearing in Plaintiffs first defamation suit filed against defendant. Judge Elrod also correctly concluded Plaintiffs made “no well pleaded defamatory statements” in their first defamation suit against Defendant, such fatal procedural defects being willfully ignored by Justice Hood.
31 Unlike Canadian proceedings the audio recording of Oral Arguments held before the United States Court of Appeals are available online. I invite this court to download and listen to the audio file of these proceedings, which have repeatedly been trumpeted by Plaintiff’s Leary and Perret in numerous Canadian court proceedings in this instant matter. The audio file can be downloaded via the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals website at http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/OralArgRecordings/13/13-60002_8-06-2013.wma
13 26. Nova Scotia Rule of Civil Procedures 83.02 “Amendment of Notice in an Action”
addresses this issue:
(1) A party to an action may amend the notice by which the action is started, a
notice of defence, counterclaim, or crossclaim, or a third party notice.
(2) The amendment must be made no later than ten days after the day pleadings
close, unless the other parties agree or a judge permits otherwise.
27. Common law in Nova Scotia also provides that Amendments sought in bad faith or if the
other party would suffer serious prejudice if the amendment is allowed are to be denied.
28. Defendant does not consent to an amendment to the existing action and in fact contends
such amendment is being made in bad faith.
29. Defendant also avers the proposed Amended Statement of Claim contains no well pleaded
defamatory statements instead relying upon discredited spleen venting in a 232 paragraph
screed complete with farcical denials of established facts along with the novel claim of
what can only be described as “tortious defamatory copyright infringement”, legal
concepts found NO WHERE in US or Canadian jurisprudence. The video parody at the
heart of Plaintiff’s concoction of this nonsensical tort is clearly and on its face protected
under both Copyright and the 1st Amendment.32
32 See also, a Day in the Life of Trout Point Lodgers Chuck and Vaughn, Frank Magazine, which has also been threatened with frivolous lawsuits by these mentally disturbed associates of Aaron Broussard, which I have attached as Exhibit 15.
14 30. In Wallace v. Lawrence, 2001 NSCA 36 the Nova Scotia Court of Appeals concluded:
The defendant takes two main points on appeal: first, that the statement of claim is
defective and should be struck because it does not give particulars of the actual
words or the occasion on which they were allegedly published; second, that
alternatively, particulars of the words used, the time and place of publication and
the persons to whom the words were published should be ordered.
We accept that in cases of slander in which the plaintiff is not aware of the specific
words or precise occasions on which the allegedly defamatory words were
published, the usual requirements of very precise pleading of the claim may be
somewhat relaxed: see for example Paquette v. Cruji (1979), 27 O.R. (2d) 294
(H.Ct.) and Raymond E. Brown, The Law of Defamation in Canada (2d, updated to
2001 release 1) at volume 3, section 20.3(5). However, with great respect to the
learned chambers judge, the statement of claim in this case is so wanting in
particulars that it would be unjust to require the defendant to plead to it.
The statement of claim does not specify whether the statements were made orally or
in writing and provides no time frame in which the statements were allegedly made.
The particulars appear to limit the allegations to those made in paragraph 4(a) of the
statement of claim, but in the plaintiff’s factum on appeal and in oral submissions to
this Court, the plaintiff takes the position that all of the allegations in paragraph 4
are still relied upon. There is no proper pleading of innuendo and no particulars
are given of the special damages claimed.
15 31. Justice Wright specifically admonished Plaintiff’s to consult this case before submitting
their proposed amendments. They have wholly failed to heed his sage advice.
32. Additionally Plaintiff’s assert copyright claims they clearly have no standing to assert as
they were not the copyright holder of the works and images in question at the time
defendant published these images, all obtained from US based web hosts. Instead
Plaintiff’s blatantly backfill their claims of copyright in an attempt to assert legal rights
which belong to other parties.33
33. Plaintiffs have not met their burden of proof sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of this
court under salient Canadian jurisprudence and their claims Defendant targets a Nova
Scotia audience or has somehow financially benefitted from a Nova Scotia readership are
both fanciful and concocted from whole cloth.34
33 The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has thus far ignored this fatal procedural defect and continued to allow abusive behavior from Plaintiffs who have levied a host of baseless and false accusations accusing Defendant of lying to the courts about his hearing impairment, his office hours, and dodging service of process. It is not incumbent upon defendant to point out these obvious fatal procedural defects in Plaintiffs various complaints or to illustrate how to properly plead these torts.
34 A plain read of defendant’s website clearly shows it is targeted at a US audience including the coverage of the felonious politician on whose behalf Plaintiffs troll with their baseless legal screeds filed with the courts in Canada.
Additionally, having to hire a local researcher to determine the extent of Plaintiffs’ tortious conduct in the Louisiana Media SLAPP suit is more appropriately called damages and defendant intends to collected them in total after proving his case in the suit styled Handshoe v Broussard et al which alleges Abuse of Process, Malicious Prosecution and Civil Conspiracy that is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Plaintiffs’ in this action are made defendants in that action for their role conspiring with Broussard deprive defendant and others of their civil rights including the monetary damages suffered by defendant resulting from Plaintiffs’ submission of perjured affidavits in the Louisiana Media case, an action to which he was not a party.
16 34. In short, Plaintiffs have not submitted to the court anything that materially differs from
their prior habit of spewing spleen venting denials of their documented associations with
both a felonious US politician and his corrupt schemes. Thin skinned charlatans that they
are after being exposed as the felonious Aaron Broussard co-tortfeasors, they again seek
solace for their own public relations disaster by filing further frivolous defamation suits for
which they have no hope ever enforcing.
Conclusion
Plaintiffs must seek leave of the court in order to amend their statement of claim. Leave to file the amendments should be denied as Plaintiffs have no claims against Defendant for which relief can be granted by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and are being made in bad faith.35 Additionally the courts in Nova Scotia do not have jurisdiction over defendant as Plaintiffs have not established it in their proposed amended statement of claim.
Dated this 16th day of August, 2013
Respectfully submitted,
Douglas K. Handshoe Post Office Box 788 Wiggins, MS 39577 Telephone: (228) 284-0004 Facsimile: (601) 928-5129 Email: [email protected]
35 See Abel v Handshoe et al, New Orleans Civil District Court Attached as Exhibit 16
17
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EXHIBIT 11 web.archive.org/web/20080513084010/http://www.living-abroad-consultants.com/id8.html 1/2 2/27/13 Case 2:13-cv-00088-SM-ALCCosta Rica Corporation Document & Companies, 23-12 Onshore Filed & Offshore03/22/13 Page 2 of 2
Sustainable Luxury Hotels of the World
EXHIBIT 11 web.archive.org/web/20080513084010/http://www.living-abroad-consultants.com/id8.html 2/2
CIVIL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF ORLEANS STATE OF LOUISIANA
caseno. rrnvis Q\0\?) ~50&Sf DANIEL G. ABEL, INDIVIDUALLY A FTL AS REPRESENTATIVE PETITIONER j MAY 272013 VPRqnq DEPUTY CLERK VERSUS ' rf'» niSTRlCT COURT DOUGLAS K. HANDSHOE, ANNE MARIE VANDENWEGHE, JACK "BOBBY" TRUITT, PAUL VANCE, SCOTT STERNBERG, —f^ [ /~~f BRODIE GLENN, BALWIN HASPEL BURKE & MEYER, LLC, _k# FILED: DEPUTY CLERK
ORIGINAL PETITION
PetitionerDanielG. Abel, individually and as a Representative for all persons equallysituated
andeffected bythe actions of defendants certain of which defendants aredomiciled in the Parish of
Orleans and whichactionsand the harm arising from defendants' actionwas visited upon petitioners in
the Parish ofOrleans, and which Petitioner is a citizens ofLouisiana and is ofthe age ofmajority and
domiciled in the State of Louisiana, who avers on his own behalfindividuallyand for all persons
similarly situatedand likewise damaged, the following factsand claims.
Preliminary Statement
Defendants Douglas K. Handshoe, Anne Marie Vandenweghe, andBobby Truitthave a history,
habit, and practice ofrace-based and hate-engendered campaigns oflibel, maliciously defaming public officials including many judges ofthe United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, aswell as the Courts ofthe Civil and Criminal Courts ofOrleans, the 24th Judicial District
Court of Jefferson Parish, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, andothers, hiding behind
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