| General
Flynn Brother Jack Fends Off CNN Motion to
Dismiss and Can Proceed In SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 16 – General Michael
Flynn's brother Jack, general
manager of a seafood
processing business in Rhode
Island, was linked with Qanon
by CNN and
sued.
On October 22 U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
Magistrate Judge Sarah L.
Cave, whose work on criminal
cases in the SDNY Magistrages
Court Inner City Press covers
monthly issued a 43-page
Report and Recommendation,
dismissing the claims with
prejudice, but denying CNN's
request for attorneys' fees
and costs. Report
here.
While some
report that Judge Cave ruled
that Jack Flynn and his wife
Leslie share the views of
Qanon, in the Order Judge Cave
seemingly equated following an
account on Twitter - as for
example Inner City Press
follows accounts of the
murderous governments of
Cameroon and Nigeria to report
on them - with being a
follower.
Judge Cave
wrote: " For the 'ordinary
sense' of a word, the Court
may consult its dictionary
definition. Id. The
Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s
definition of “follower”
includes, as is relevant here,
“one in the service of
another[,]” “one that follows
the opinions or teachings of
another[,]” “one that imitates
another[,]” or “one who
subscribes to a feed
especially on social
media[.]”6 The second and
third of these definitions are
most applicable
here."
On fees, Judge
Cave concluded "[b]ecause the
Flynns’ claims were not
frivolous, unreasonable, or
without any foundation,
an award of fees, costs, and
expenses is not appropriate
here... The parties shall have
fourteen (14) days (including
weekends and holidays) from
service of this Report
and Recommendation to file
written objections pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)
and Rule 72(b) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure."
On November 5,
the Flynns filed their
objection to the report,
including that Judge Cave
"fails to accept the Flynns'
allegations as true and
improperly resolves virtually
all disputed facts in favor of
CNN... Leslie Flynn never
'liked Tweets' that express
support for QAnon."
On the other
hand, the Flynns say Judge
Cave "correctly concludes that
the Flynns are private
individuals and that CNN's
false and defamatory
statements are of or
concerning the Flynns." So
there's that.
Then it move
before Judge Gregory H. Woods,
who on December 16 ruled the
CNN's motion to dismiss was
DENIED in part - stating that
"the tweets do not preclude
the Flynns' allegation that
CNN was negligent."
The case is
Flynn, et al. v. Cable News
Network, Inc., 21-cv-2587
(Woods / Cave)
***
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