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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT for the WESTERN DISTRICT of VIRGINIA Charlottesville Division UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Charlottesville Division BRENNAN M. GILMORE, Plaintiff, v. ALEXANDER (“ALEX”) E. JONES; No. 3:18-CV-00017-NKM INFOWARS, LLC, a Texas Limited Liability Company; FREE SPEECH SYSTEMS, LLC, a Texas Limited Liability Company; LEE STRANAHAN; LEE ANN MCADOO A/K/A LEE ANN FLEISSNER; SCOTT CREIGHTON; JAMES (“JIM”) HOFT; ALLEN B. WEST; DERRICK WILBURN; MICHELE HICKFORD; and WORDS-N-IDEAS, LLC, Defendants. PLAINTIFF’S MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS Elizabeth B. Wydra, admitted pro hac vice Andrew Mendrala, Virginia Bar No. 82424 Brianne J. Gorod, admitted pro hac vice Aderson Francois, admitted pro hac vice CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS CLINIC CENTER GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER 1200 18th Street, N.W., Suite 501 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 296-6889 (202) 662-9065 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................................. iii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 STATEMENT OF FACTS ..................................................................................................... 3 STANDARD OF REVIEW .................................................................................................... 5 ARGUMENT .......................................................................................................................... 5 I. THIS COURT HAS SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION AND 28 U.S.C. § 1332 BECAUSE THERE IS COMPLETE DIVERSITY AND THE AMOUNT IN CONTROVERSITY EXCEEDS $75,000 .................................................................. 5 A. There Is Complete Diversity of Citizenship Between the Plaintiff and Every Defendant ............................................................................................. 5 B. The Amount in Controversy Exceeds $75,000 ............................................... 11 II. THIS COURT HAS PERSONAL JURISDICTION OVER DEFENDANTS ........... 12 A. This Court Can Assert General Personal Jurisdiction Over Infowars, Free Speech Systems, and Alex Jones ..................................................................... 14 B. This Court Can Assert Specific Jurisdiction Over All Defendants................. 16 III. VIRGINIA LAW APPLIES TO GILMORE’S CLAIMS .......................................... 21 IV. GILMORE HAS STATED A CLAIM FOR DEFAMATION AGAINST EACH DEFENDANT............................................................................................................ 22 A. Gilmore Has Alleged That Defendants Made False Statements ..................... 23 B. Defendants’ False Statements Were Defamatory ........................................... 36 C. Gilmore Is Not a Public Figure, So He Must Show Only Negligence ........... 38 D. Even If Gilmore Is a Public Figure, Gilmore Has Alleged Actual Malice ..... 42 V. GILMORE HAS STATED A CLAIM FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AGAINST EACH DEFENDANT .................................. 46 VI. SECTION 230 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT DOES NOT PRECLUDE GILMORE’S CLAIMS ......................................................................... 48 i TABLE OF CONTENTS – cont’d Page(s) VII. UNDER EITHER TEXAS OR VIRGINIA LAW, GILMORE SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO PAY ATTORNEYS’ FEES IF DEFENDANTS PREVAIL ........... 51 A. Under Virginia Law, Gilmore Should Not Be Required To Pay Attorneys’ Fees ................................................................................................................. 51 B. Under Texas Law, Gilmore Should Not Be Required To Pay Attorneys’ Fees ................................................................................................................. 53 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 55 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) CASES Abbas v. Foreign Policy Grp., LLC, 783 F.3d 1328 (D.C. Cir. 2015) ............................................................................. 54 AIDS Counseling & Testing Ctrs. v. Grp. W Television, Inc., 903 F.2d 1000 (4th Cir. 1990) ................................................................................ 33 Almy v. Grisham, 639 S.E.2d 182 (Va. 2007) ..................................................................................... 46 ALS Scan, Inc. v. Dig. Serv. Consultants, Inc., 293 F.3d 707 (4th Cir. 2002) .................................................................................. 13, 14, 18, 19 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) .................................................................................................... 3, 45 Axel Johnson, Inc. v. Carroll Carolina Oil Co., 145 F.3d 660 (4th Cir. 1998) ....................................................................................... 6 Biospherics, Inc. v. Forbes, Inc., 151 F.3d 180 (4th Cir. 1998) .................................................................................. 2, 26, 28, 34 Briley v. United States, 2016 WL 5402216 (E.D. Va. Sept. 26, 2016) ............................................................. 7 CACI Premier Tech., Inc. v. Rhodes, 536 F.3d 280 (4th Cir. 2008) ....................................................................................... 43 Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783 (1984) .................................................................................................... 2, 17, 18 Carefirst of Md., Inc. v. Carefirst Pregnancy Ctrs., Inc., 334 F.3d 390 (4th Cir. 2003) ....................................................................................... 13, 16, 17 Carr v. Forbes, Inc., 259 F.3d 273 (4th Cir. 2001) ....................................................................................... 43 Carwile v. Richmond Newspapers, 82 S.E.2d 588 (Va. 1954) ............................................................................................ 23, 24 Castro v. Goggins, 2016 WL 7217282 (M.D.N.C. Dec. 12, 2016) ............................................................ 21 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – cont’d Page(s) CFA Inst. v. Inst. of Chartered Fin. Analysts of India, 551 F.3d 285 (4th Cir. 2009) ....................................................................................... 13 Chapin v. Knight-Ridder, Inc., 993 F.2d 1087 (4th Cir. 1993) .......................................................................... 23, 30, 36, 37, 38 Chorley Enters., Inc. v. Dickey’s Barbecue Rests., Inc., 807 F.3d 553 (4th Cir. 2015) ....................................................................................... 22 Coastal Video Commc’ns., Corp. v. Staywell Corp., 59 F. Supp. 2d 562 (E.D. Va. 1999) ............................................................................ 15, 16 Coles v. Carilion Clinic, 894 F. Supp. 2d 783 (W.D. Va. 2012) ......................................................................... 47 Coremetrics, Inc. v. Atomic Park.com, LLC, 370 F. Supp. 2d 1013 (N.D. Cal. 2005) ....................................................................... 15 Cutaia v. Radius Eng’g Int’l., Inc., 2012 WL 525471 (W.D. Va. Feb. 16, 2012) ............................................................... 23 Daniczek v. Spencer, 156 F. Supp. 3d 739 (E.D. Va. 2016) .......................................................................... 48 Dworkin v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 647 F. Supp. 1278 (D. Wyo. 1986) ............................................................................. 22 English & Smith v. Metzger, 901 F.2d 36 (4th Cir. 1990) ......................................................................................... 13 Eramo v. Rolling Stone, LLC, 209 F. Supp. 3d 862 (W.D. Va. 2016) ......................................................................... 42-43, 44 FIREClean, LLC v. Tuohy, 2016 WL 3952093 (E.D. Va., July 21, 2016) ............................................................. 20 Fitzgerald v. Penthouse Int’l, Ltd., 691 F.2d 666 (4th Cir. 1982) ....................................................................................... 41-42 Flippo v. CSC Assocs. III, L.L.C., 547 S.E.2d 216 (Va. 2001) .......................................................................................... 52 Foretech v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., 37 F.3d 1541 (4th Cir. 1994) ....................................................................................... 39, 40 iv TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – cont’d Page(s) Foster v. Arletty 3 Sarl, 278 F.3d 409 (4th Cir. 2002) ....................................................................................... 13 Fryfogle v. First Nat. Bank, 2009 WL 700161 (W.D. Va. Mar. 17, 2009) .............................................................. 21 Fuste v. Riverside Healthcare Ass’n, Inc., 575 S.E.2d 858 (Va. 2003) .......................................................................................... 23, 26 Gambelli v. United States, 904 F. Supp. 494 (E.D. Va. 1995) ............................................................................... 6 Garlock Sealing Techs., LLC v. Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, 2015 WL 5148732 (W.D.N.C. Sept. 2, 2015) ............................................................. 53 Gazette, Inc. v. Harris, 325 S.E.2d
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