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Vic Mignogna Lawsuit |OT| Hold My Beard (Update: Appeal lost, Mignogna must pay attorney fees to defendants)
- Thread starter Sibersk Esto
- Start date
Digital Homicide actually tried, and was capable of learning albeit very slowly.
Ty...I don't know.
The scary thing is... I Think Percy is actually trying... And that's scary.
MR. BEARD: Correct, Your Honor, and if we were at trial, I would agree with you, but we're not. We're at a point where --
THE COURT: Well, then, why do we need a jury question if you agree with me?
MR. BEARD: Because we're not -- I'm not at a --
THE COURT: Well, you already agreed with me at trial. So you conceded to a directed verdict. So what's the difference?
MR. BEARD: I did not intend to do that, Your Honor.
What an idiot.
THE COURT: Well, then, why do we need a jury question if you agree with me?
MR. BEARD: Because we're not -- I'm not at a --
THE COURT: Well, you already agreed with me at trial. So you conceded to a directed verdict. So what's the difference?
MR. BEARD: I did not intend to do that, Your Honor.
What an idiot.
The fact that Beard not only missed the deadline but turned in abysmal work product would have gotten his ass shitcanned by any normal client
It honestly seems like the whole point was to file that piece of shit, knowing he'd fix it even later and catch the defense "by surprise"
Remember when they were trying to spin the missing footnotes as part of the technical errors.
After reading the transcript he seemed to be thinking that he could blame the tech errors, get the defense writing responses and the file a new one that would have things they weren't prepared for.
He seemed to think he was allowed to update his entire petition based on the "summary judgment" phase. He seemed to not realize that the TCPA was not a summary judgment thing. Or if he did realize it, he thought he could still get away with it.
Turns out he was wrong on all counts, but I'm still convinced he thought he could blindside the defense like it was a courtroom drama.
Remember when they were trying to spin the missing footnotes as part of the technical errors.
After reading the transcript he seemed to be thinking that he could blame the tech errors, get the defense writing responses and the file a new one that would have things they weren't prepared for.
He seemed to think he was allowed to update his entire petition based on the "summary judgment" phase. He seemed to not realize that the TCPA was not a summary judgment thing. Or if he did realize it, he thought he could still get away with it.
Turns out he was wrong on all counts, but I'm still convinced he thought he could blindside the defense like it was a courtroom drama.
Page 104: Beard tries to hide behind the discovery stay as to why he doesn't have any affidavits from other cons to support allegations that Toye and Rial interfered with contracts, the court asks him how he got affidavit from anybody on this case? "Got them before" Beard says, no you didn't says the court, pointing to one he did Sept. 2nd. The Court and Mr. Volney take turns stomping on him until he admits it's because they're not friendly to Vic and co. Court tells him to not make up excuses.
Edit:
Finally got to the money shot, page 113:
MR. BEARD: Only because the parties were able to work out an arrangement. But, again, it's totally rational, totally rational to infer that if he would interfere with one convention, why on earth wouldn't he interfere with the others. I mean,I feel like we're being held to a preponderance of the evidence standard in a TCPA hearing, Your Honor, and that's not the standard.
THE COURT: I don't think you have any evidence, is your problem. You want no standard, that's the problem.
Edit:
Finally got to the money shot, page 113:
MR. BEARD: Only because the parties were able to work out an arrangement. But, again, it's totally rational, totally rational to infer that if he would interfere with one convention, why on earth wouldn't he interfere with the others. I mean,I feel like we're being held to a preponderance of the evidence standard in a TCPA hearing, Your Honor, and that's not the standard.
THE COURT: I don't think you have any evidence, is your problem. You want no standard, that's the problem.
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I never thought I would say this, but even I would know better than him only based on watching "My Cousin Vinny"
Which is surprising, because I'm pretty sure Ty watches a lot of movies too. Especially movies about chess, like Independence day, where chess is described as "one side putting all their pieces in place and then make the first strike before the other one will do anything".
I'm convinced he thinks this is how chess works and that he is a master at it.
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Its really weird reading the kiwi farms thread where they're talking about how much the Very Unfair judge is messing up and making a fool of himself. It's like living in some kind of bizarro world.
I mean, this sort of shows his way of thinking:
MR. BEARD: But, Your Honor, is it a rational inference that she could have been?
THE COURT: No, you made a lot of things you think are rational inferences, and they're not.
MR. BEARD: Well, I have to -- I mean, I've got to get it, you know.
THE COURT: Yes.
Hah, woops! That's what I get for posting from my iPad!
Continuing to read through this I really really don't understand how Vicstans can convince themselves that Chupp is biased or unfair in favour of the defense. In particular he seems really impatient with Lemoine and slaps him down a couple of times. Mainly because the dude talks the way he writes, whereas the judge just needs him to get to the point.
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The only thing that makes sense to me at this point is that Beard and Rekieta literally entered law school with the full intent of achieving the coveted goal of owning SJWs in the court of law, and they BS'd their way through just to get degrees. This level of sheer incompetence is one you have to actively strive for.
I'm also heavily reminded of one comment/quote pertaining to Donald Trump: "The first person he gaslights every day is himself when he looks in the mirror." And I honestly think that's happening here. If they are just grifters, then they're ones that have gotten so lost in their own grift that they've completely grifted themselves.
Apologies for another massive screen grab, I'll resize these when I'm at my computer later but this was too damn funny not to post.
Brutal. I wish there was a screenplay as well so we could read Ty's body language.
And in my head, Chupp is played by Charles Dance.
Beard: *lies*
Defense: That's a lie.
Beard: Yeah but you can't prove it lol owned.
Judge: ...Dude.
Beard:
It's so insane.Beard: *lies*
Defense: That's a lie.
Beard: Yeah but you can't prove it lol owned.
Judge: ...Dude.
Beard:
Beard: [says thing]
Defense: That's a lie
Judge: is that a lie?
Beard: please ignore the evidence that proves it's a lie
I want to hear Charles Dance day "Y'all" lol
i read through the transcript last night before bed, and im re-checking out some of the "choice cuts" now, and man... the only sentence that keeps coming to me is from the end of Blaster Al-Ackerman's not-so-famous Hamburger Lady letter: "It is INSANE, is what it is..."
overall, i guess what disturbs me most about this really (i mean, beyond a predator having continued to predate for decades...) is the dissonance that exists when this transcript is interpreted by supporters of Vic as opposed to literally anyone else. and its certainly not the only instance of cult of personality resulting in, like, actual ignoring of reality, or even the worst instance, but its just so... Godawful.
overall, i guess what disturbs me most about this really (i mean, beyond a predator having continued to predate for decades...) is the dissonance that exists when this transcript is interpreted by supporters of Vic as opposed to literally anyone else. and its certainly not the only instance of cult of personality resulting in, like, actual ignoring of reality, or even the worst instance, but its just so... Godawful.
Read the whole thing. You can just FEEL the fumbling that Beard has surely done throughout the hearing at points. And yeah, anyone who thinks the judge was just biased against Beard hasn't read the thing. Plenty of times the judge is dismissive towards stuff that the defense has to say.
yeah, i would go so far as to say that Chupp was even more strict towards the Defense in general. like, he quite frankly treated Beard better than he did Lemoine specifically, and really only got a little curt and short with Beard basically right at the tail-end of Beard's various arguments and before Chupp made his judgements to dismiss. he really tried to hold Beard's hand through so much of that.
Sorry had to bail out. I stood up nearly all day yesterday and needed to crash before I finished the document. While starting my reading again, this caught me eye.
THE COURT: Do we have information that -- because these aren't the only three people that post on the Internet. These aren't the only three people that post stuff on the Internet. MR. BEARD: Correct.
THE COURT: And I assume there's other people that have posted stuff on the Internet regarding your client?
MR. BEARD: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. How do we know it's their post that caused this?
MR. BEARD: Because, well, number one, if you're talking tortious interference, we have him actually doing it. Are we still on tortious interference?
Notice how Beard didn't answered the question, but instead side-stepped to blame Toyo based on one conference that Vic ended up going to anyway since they worked a deal. Also, breaking a verbal agreement isn't the same as breaking a written contract since outside of witnesses, you can't prove a verbal agreement happened. Which is why one of the first things you're taught is to get everything on paper. Even more damning is that Beard didn't even interview this other conferences to see if there was a verbal agreement since he only had Vic's word that there was one. Better yet, he could have talked to the other conference to see if any of Funi's staff talked to them or did they just read what was going on about Vic and decided not to invite him since he was radioactive.
I'm almost certain that's because he expects better from Lemoine, while Beard very obviously doesn't know what he's doing.
Not sure how Vic fans can justify Beard turning in his stuff late other than downplay. Assuming most don't or haven't gone to college yet, they probably assumed you get some leeway turning in your stuff a day or two late (although, even my high school was fairly strict about turning in your things on time).
As for the rest, the whole, "she likes these Tweets, they're friends, they had a Discord, so they obviously part of a conspiracy', hurts my head. No matter how many examples the judge gave about why this doesn't work, Beard still kept going on this point. Conspiracy is a serious charge and you need more than people being related or friendly agreeing with each other to make a conspiracy.
THE COURT: Do we have information that -- because these aren't the only three people that post on the Internet. These aren't the only three people that post stuff on the Internet. MR. BEARD: Correct.
THE COURT: And I assume there's other people that have posted stuff on the Internet regarding your client?
MR. BEARD: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. How do we know it's their post that caused this?
MR. BEARD: Because, well, number one, if you're talking tortious interference, we have him actually doing it. Are we still on tortious interference?
Notice how Beard didn't answered the question, but instead side-stepped to blame Toyo based on one conference that Vic ended up going to anyway since they worked a deal. Also, breaking a verbal agreement isn't the same as breaking a written contract since outside of witnesses, you can't prove a verbal agreement happened. Which is why one of the first things you're taught is to get everything on paper. Even more damning is that Beard didn't even interview this other conferences to see if there was a verbal agreement since he only had Vic's word that there was one. Better yet, he could have talked to the other conference to see if any of Funi's staff talked to them or did they just read what was going on about Vic and decided not to invite him since he was radioactive.
I'm almost certain that's because he expects better from Lemoine, while Beard very obviously doesn't know what he's doing.
Not sure how Vic fans can justify Beard turning in his stuff late other than downplay. Assuming most don't or haven't gone to college yet, they probably assumed you get some leeway turning in your stuff a day or two late (although, even my high school was fairly strict about turning in your things on time).
As for the rest, the whole, "she likes these Tweets, they're friends, they had a Discord, so they obviously part of a conspiracy', hurts my head. No matter how many examples the judge gave about why this doesn't work, Beard still kept going on this point. Conspiracy is a serious charge and you need more than people being related or friendly agreeing with each other to make a conspiracy.
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Beard: On top of that, you have Slatosch saying he interfered. So, I mean, are we not going to survive a TCPA motion because I can't get a convention owner to admit that they canceled Vic Mignogna because Toye and Rial pressured them?
THE COURT: Maybe, yes.
MR. BEARD: Well, I would submit that's not the appropriate standard, Your Honor.
It's not fair that the court wants proof of an attempt to interfere with contracts instead of using my head canon about what happened. The standards are not appropriate.
THE COURT: Maybe, yes.
MR. BEARD: Well, I would submit that's not the appropriate standard, Your Honor.
It's not fair that the court wants proof of an attempt to interfere with contracts instead of using my head canon about what happened. The standards are not appropriate.
If I had to choose whether Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Beard had to represent me in court... I think I would have to choose Charlie at this point.
THE COURT: But you don't have any evidence that they called any of these other people?
MR. BEARD: No, I'm drawing a rational inference --
THE COURT: Anybody could have called them.
MR. BEARD: Agreed. But we know they did.
THE COURT: No, you don't. You don't know if they called any of these other people.
MR. BEARD: No, no, I'm sorry. Rephrase. We know they called at least one.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BEARD: If they called one, it's rational -- it's rational to infer that they called others.
THE COURT: I think you need some evidence of it. So those are both dismissed.
This is why you shouldn't based your lawsuit on message boards. As far as Beard know, one of Vic's other accusers could have called the Cons to canceled him. Seriously, if they talked to one Con, it's within reason to talked to the others instead of hiding behind discovery. That and thing to the judge and did have the backtrack when you're caught in the lie isn't a good look.
MR. BEARD: No, I'm drawing a rational inference --
THE COURT: Anybody could have called them.
MR. BEARD: Agreed. But we know they did.
THE COURT: No, you don't. You don't know if they called any of these other people.
MR. BEARD: No, no, I'm sorry. Rephrase. We know they called at least one.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BEARD: If they called one, it's rational -- it's rational to infer that they called others.
THE COURT: I think you need some evidence of it. So those are both dismissed.
This is why you shouldn't based your lawsuit on message boards. As far as Beard know, one of Vic's other accusers could have called the Cons to canceled him. Seriously, if they talked to one Con, it's within reason to talked to the others instead of hiding behind discovery. That and thing to the judge and did have the backtrack when you're caught in the lie isn't a good look.
Reading Beard's statement, he basically saying that Funi is liable for defamation because they put out a statement about why they weren't working with Vic anymore instead of just quietly firing him. As the judge pointed out, it isn't defamation if Funi believed the accusers even if they were lying since there is no proof that they knew what they were told was a lie.
MR. BEARD: Thank you. After the termination, Monica Rial exchanged some 17 emails with Funimation insiders talking about what do I say, what do I do, he's still doing this, griping about the fans. Again, this is supposedly some person that they have no real interest in, she's just an independent contractor. And yet she -- and she testified in her deposition she's close friends with Ms. Klakenbir, (phonetic) who is one of the executives at Funimation. That's an awful lot of back and forth, griping about Vic, and planning stuff and Tammi Denbow even gets involved.
THE COURT: You're talking about afterwards.
MR. BEARD: I'm sorry?
THE COURT: You're talking about planning afterwards?
MR. BEARD: Yeah, after his termination.
THE COURT: The conspiracy starts before that.
And from here, Beard goes into several different directions trying to explain how did this supposed conspiracy started since his only 'hard evidence' are conversations after Vic got the boot. This is also funny:
MR. BEARD: Well, it very well could have. You can use -- you can use inference --
THE COURT: You've got to figure this stuff out. I'm serious. If they're going to have a conspiracy to get him fired, if that's what the conspiracy is, to get him fired from Funimation. Is
that the conspiracy?
There is a lot of of if A happened, then B much have happened, while the judge keeps pointing out other factors could have happened and Beard has no evidence that A led to B.
THE COURT: You're talking about afterwards.
MR. BEARD: I'm sorry?
THE COURT: You're talking about planning afterwards?
MR. BEARD: Yeah, after his termination.
THE COURT: The conspiracy starts before that.
And from here, Beard goes into several different directions trying to explain how did this supposed conspiracy started since his only 'hard evidence' are conversations after Vic got the boot. This is also funny:
MR. BEARD: Well, it very well could have. You can use -- you can use inference --
THE COURT: You've got to figure this stuff out. I'm serious. If they're going to have a conspiracy to get him fired, if that's what the conspiracy is, to get him fired from Funimation. Is
that the conspiracy?
There is a lot of of if A happened, then B much have happened, while the judge keeps pointing out other factors could have happened and Beard has no evidence that A led to B.
"That doesn't make any sense" is the most appropriate response to Percy's idiocy. Good lord is he inept.
It's not about proof in that case. They need to show actual damages for a claim of TI. Since Vic attended the con and made his money, no damages.
This is some Tommy Wiseau level shit that needs to be made into a movie like The Disaster Artist.
He also mentioned other cons that Vic was disinvited to, but Beard has no evidence that Funi's staff were the ones who got him disinvited. He just assumed since they got involved in one con, then it's reasonable to assumed they got involved with the other cons disinviting him. The judge didn't buy this since as he pointed out, other people could have called in and raised concerns about Vic since his accusations was all over Twitter. So Beard needed some evidence that showed than Funi's staff got Vic disinvited from other cons instead of just Random Person A. It stands out more since Beard apparently didn't even talked to the other con owners.
That transcript seems full of gold, I might actually sit down tonight and read the whole thing lol.
Also want to add the other Cons could have disinvited Vic on their own free will.
You have someone accused of harassing teenage women. Common sense says that it isn't the best idea to invite such a person since your convention is filled with teenage women, regardless of it's true or not.
The reason for this, what if Vic went to one of these Cons and something happened involving a woman? That Con is liable and can be sued since they invited someone accused of sexual harassment when before they could claim plausible deniability about Vic's decade old rep with women. So in this kind of case, it's the Con covering their own butts.
You have someone accused of harassing teenage women. Common sense says that it isn't the best idea to invite such a person since your convention is filled with teenage women, regardless of it's true or not.
The reason for this, what if Vic went to one of these Cons and something happened involving a woman? That Con is liable and can be sued since they invited someone accused of sexual harassment when before they could claim plausible deniability about Vic's decade old rep with women. So in this kind of case, it's the Con covering their own butts.
That means two things
1. Many Cons from this point on will not have people like Vic at there events whether they publicly admit it or not (Asked Anime NYC if they'll ever have Vic again and they said they don't have plans to do so).
2. Cons who are inviting Vic will be facing problems than just having a predator around.
I would watch it. Dustin Diamond obviously would play Rekieta, but who would play Beard?
Pretty much. Regardless of innocent, it's sensible not to invite someone who becomes radioactive.
Vic would have won several dozen points if he said something like this:
"While I maintained my innocence, I support such Con putting public safety first. These are serious allegations that affects their audience and they want to maintain a safe environment for everyone attending. So don't begrudge such Con for putting the fans' safety first and I hope to prove that I'm no danger to anyone."
Instead, he chose to force Cons to take him back.