Duran v. Andrew [1]

On September 15, 2008, Dan Duran, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, sued two former Council employees and several anonymous Internet users over emails that allegedly defamed him.  Christopher Andrew, one of the former employees, allegedly sent several emails containing defamatory statements about Duran and manufactured a photo of Duran "posing in a friendly manner with Kim Jong-Il, a dictator of an enemy country."

Duran's original complaint sought a permanent injunction against the defendants preventing them from "[p]ublishing and re-publishing by any means, including electronic mail, any further defamatory, scandalous, desultory, false statements concerning Plaintiff, Plaintiff’s personal life, and Plaintiff’s professional activities."  Duran also sought damages in excess of $75,000.

On October 6, 2008, Andrew made a motion to dismiss the complaint arguing that Duran had not properly filed service of process and failed to state a valid claim.  The court found that Duran had properly stated claims for defamation and injurious falsehood and that Andrew's statements were not opinion protected by the First Amendment.  The court did find that the doctored photos "clearly represent[ed] imaginative expression, rather than assertions of objective fact" and dismissed the claims related to its publication.  

In mid April 2009, Duran made a motion to dismiss the Doe defendants and Tom Nishio.

Update:

5/20/2009 - Jury trial scheduled [2] to begin April 5, 2010.