Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim
Bolen
Thursday,
February 22nd, 2007
A few days
ago, Christopher Grell, one of the Plaintiffs, and the
attorney for the Plaintiffs
Stephen Barrett
and
Terry
Polevoy , filed an emergency Ex Parte Motion with the
Alameda, California Trial Court in the Barrett v. Clark
(Rosenthal) case asking for a Temporary Restraining
Order preventing Defendant Rosenthal from collecting
attorney fees awarded to Rosenthal by the Courts. The
Court denied the Motion, and "collection" has
begun in earnest.
Rosenthal,
you will remember, in a six year legal battle, soundly
thrashed the trio all the way to the California Supreme
Court. Rosenthal, the head of the
Humantics Foundation,
a group pointing out the dangers of silicone breast
implants, had been sued by the trio in 2000 where they
claimed she was some sort of conspirator supposedly
defaming them on the internet. Rosenthal, in her answer
to the suit, filed a Motion to Dismiss the suit against
her claiming that the trio's action constituted a
violation of California's anti-SLAPP law. The Court
agreed, dismissing the case against Rosenthal, and
awarded her attorney fees.
The
Barrett v. Clark (Rosenthal) case garnered international
notice when virtually ALL of the big names on the
internet jumped in on Rosenthal's side, filing
"Friend of the Court" Briefs on Rosenthal's behalf.
You can read all about that by clicking on
"Quackbusters CRUSHED by
California Supreme Court..."
But the
really good part of all this, the one that makes me
smile broadly, is that California's anti-SLAPP law,
designed for just this sort of situation, worked just
like it was designed. The anti-SLAPP legislation, whose
full title is "anti Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation," was designed to stop Plaintiffs from
filing scurrilous lawsuits against Defendants just to
shut them up on a public issue, by overpowering them
with litigation they cannot afford. The law provides
for the Defendants, by allowing them to collect their
attorney fees from the Plaintiff almost immediately upon
winning a Motion to Dismiss. The trio were able to
forestall that original payment only because they
appealed the original Judge's decision to the California
Appeals Court, then to the California Supreme Court -
where they were soundly, and publicly, horse-whipped.
The trio,
apparently, aren't willing to acknowledge their debt,
nor their loss. Now, the "collection" process
has begun, and the Courts are allowing a ruthless
approach to that collection,
"as follows: Levy on any & all bank deposit accounts
held in name or interest of judgment debtor as well as
accounts receivable, lines of credit, general
intangibles, and/or proceeds thereof in which he has an
interest individually or jointly, include contents of
any safety deposit to which he has access;
SSN:113-44-9446"
INFORMATION FOR JUDGMENT DEBTOR
1. The levying officer is required to take custody of
the property described in item 1 in your possession or
under your control.
2. You may claim any available exemption for your
property. A list of exemptions is attached. If you
wish to claim an exemption for personal property, you
must do so within 10 days after this notice was
delivered to you or 15 days after this notice was mailed
to you by filing a claim of exemption and one copy to
levying officer as provided in section 703.520 of the
Code of Civil Procedure. If you do not claim an
exemption, you may lose it and the property is subject
to enforcement of a money judgment. If you wish to
seek the advice of an attorney, you should do so
immediately so that a claim of exemption can be filed on
time.
3. You are not entitled to claim an exemption for
property that is levied upon under a judgment for sale
of property. This property is described in the writ of
sale. You may, however, claim available exemptions for
property levied upon to satisfy damages or costs
remaining unpaid.
4. You may obtain the release of your property by
paying the amount of a money judgment with interests and
costs remaining unpaid.
5. If your property is levied upon under a writ of
execution or to satisfy damages and costs under a writ
of possession or sale, the property may be sold at an
execution sale, perhaps at a price substantially below
its a value. Notice of sale will be given to you.
Notice of sale of real property (other than a leasehold
estate with an unexpired term of less than two years)
may not be given until at least 120 days after this
notice is served on you. This grace period is intended
to give you an opportunity to settle with the judgment
creditor, to obtain a satisfactory buyer for the
property, or to encourage other potential buyers to
attend the execution sale.
6. All sales at an execution sale are final; there is
no right of redemption.
