A Los Angeles judge has ordered the attorney for an anonymous defendant to identify a now-deceased client who targeted actor James Woods with Twitter insults.
Woods sued the John Doe defendant last year after the Twitter user, who went by the name âAbe List,â called him a âcocaine addict.â
The Twitter user died since the lawsuit was filed. His attorney, Ken White had argued that the case should have been thrown out, as the insults were part of protected political speech. But the motion to toss the case was denied.
âThis is a significant step forward in our ability to recover the millions in damages caused by John Doeâs cowardly Tweet,â said Woodsâ attorney, Michael Weinsten of Lavely & Singer. âIt also sends a message to others who believe they can hide behind the anonymity of online social media to falsely accuse public figures of heinous behavior without recourse to themselves.â
According to Weinsten, White has 10 days to disclose his clientâs name in a sworn declaration.
âSometimes the bad guy wins in litigation,â White said via email. âI remain proud that I defended Abe Doe against James Woodsâ vexatious, petulant lawsuit complaining about a joke heâs used himself on Twitter. Iâm also pleased that the judge rejected his request for sanctions and turned down his demand to compel me to respond to a number of other questions. Woods is a bully who can dish it out but canât take it. His claim that a patently satirical tweet damaged his reputation is preposterous. It would be ridiculous for anyone not to hire him because of an obvious joke â but perfectly reasonable not to hire him because heâs James Woods.â
In a court brief last year, White accused Woods of harassing his clientâs family. Included in one of Whiteâs briefs was one of Woodsâ tweets, after being informed that the John Doe defendant had died. âScreaming my name, I hope. Learn this. Libel me, Iâll sue you. If you die, Iâll follow you to the bowels of Hell. Get it?â
Woods, a prolific Twitter user, wrote on Tuesday, âTwitterâs worst users cherish the ability to defame from the shadows of anonymity. Twitter squeals â1st Amendmentâ only when profit calls.â
Source:Â uk.movies.yahoo
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