BROWNSTOWN — Jackson Circuit Judge Richard Poynter has been appointed special judge in a defamation lawsuit over Facebook posts alleging that a Seymour attorney “is making a killing on representing illegal immigrant crimes.”
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 4 by Seymour attorney Brett Hays, alleges that the operator of a Facebook page called “Immigration Seymour” knowingly made “numerous false and disparaging statements” about him to damage his reputation, according to a complaint filed in Jackson Superior Court 1.
Jackson County resident Anthony Couch is identified in the lawsuit as the operator and administrator of the Facebook page and is named as the defendant.
Seymour Immigration describes itself on its Facebook page as a “media/news company” that seeks to “show the destruction of Seymour IN brought on by the illegal immigration problem in Seymour IN and the nation.”
Hays is seeking, among other things, compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction barring the Couch from publishing “further defamatory statements” and requiring the removal of existing defamatory statements.
Jackson Superior Court 1 Judge Amy Marie Travis recused herself from the case on Sept. 5 and ordered the Jackson County Clerk’s Office to appoint a special judge.
The complaint includes an exhibit with screenshots of the Facebook posts that Hays claims constitute defamation and libel per se. The posts were made Sept. 4, the same day that the case was opened and a day before the complaint was filed.
In one of the posts, Couch claims Hays “is making a killing on representing illegal immigrant crimes… The list goes on and on.” The post includes screenshots of several criminal cases involving defendants that Hays has allegedly represented and that Couch suggests are undocumented immigrants.
Another post included in the exhibit encourages people to look Hays up on the state’s online public … system above a post from Hays’ law practice that states, “It’s important to know your rights. Even undocumented individuals have rights which they can and should exercise. I’ll take you through them… some tips for employers as well.”
Hays states in the complaint that he mainly specializes criminal defense and family law. While he says he does serve Hispanic clients, “they constitute only a portion of his clientele” and that the posts “suggest otherwise and disparage plaintiff’s character and integrity in his role as a practicing attorney.”
“The statements published by defendant are false, malicious and defamatory and were intended to harm plaintiff’s professional reputation as a licensed attorney in Jackson County,” Hays states in complaint. “…Defendant published the defamatory statements knowingly and maliciously, with the intent to injure plaintiff’s reputation, diminish his standing in the community and impair his ability to attract and retain clients.”
Hays claims that he “suffered presumed damages under Indiana law, including harm to his professional reputation, humiliation and loss of business opportunities” due to the posts.
Couch, for his part, has responded to the allegation in court, citing free speech protected under the Indiana Anti-SLAPP statute. An anti-SLAPP law is a legal safeguard designed to protect individuals and organizations from lawsuits aimed at censoring, intimidating or silencing First Amendment rights to free speech, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Couch also responded to the lawsuit on the Seymour Immigration Facebook page
“Mr. Hays…are you trying to get the court to violate my 1st amendment protections and the protections of the press??? Protections to air grievances and communicate with our government? Everything posted is factual and public info. …Do you not want the facts to get out Brett….LMAO,” Couch states in the post.
In a letter to the editor sent to The Republic, Couch described Seymour Immigration as a “protest page/protest community” and said he will be “asking for this lawsuit to be dismissed.”
“We are a group of likeminded conservatives that use the page to exercise our First Amendment freedoms and rights of speech, press, rally, protest/boycott and to openly air our grievances and complaints of and to our government. …Posts and other publications on the Seymour Immigration page are not posted to the public, advertised or otherwise made for the use of any other persons not a member or participant in this ongoing protest group. The public is never invited.”
As of Friday morning, the lawsuit was pending in Jackson Superior Court 1.
Claims made in filing a lawsuit represent only one side of the case and may be contested in later court action.
