DEFENDANT’S COUNTER-CLAIM IS DISMISSED PERMANENTLY
*According to a press release sent to EURweb, after almost a year of enduring internet, print and oral defamatory assaults, Bishop Charles E. Blake won his defamation lawsuit against Minister Earl Carter.
Here’s the background to the case: On December 11, 2015, Bishop Charles E. Blake, the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African-American denomination in the world with over 6 million members, and an Obama appointee to the Advisory Council of Faith Based and Neighborhood partnerships, filed a defamation lawsuit against Reverend Earl Carter for malicious and untruthful allegations regarding Blake’s character, sexuality and misappropriation of funds.
The Order, signed by Judge Roy B. Dalton, in the District Court, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division read: “The Clerk is DIRECTED to enter JUDGMENT in favor of Plaintiff, Charles E. Blake, Sr. and against Defendant Earl W. Carter, Sr.”
The plaintiff’s relief sought included damages and an injunction to remove all of Earl Carter’s defamatory videos, tweets, posts and oral commentary from all published mediums, including Youtube.
The Order continues:
“The Court retains jurisdiction to enforce this Order with respect to the entry of a permanent injunction and the award of reasonable expenses. “We anticipate that the federal court in Orlando will shortly be issuing a final and formal permanent injunction that will require the take-down of all of Earl Carter’s defamatory Internet videos, and will perpetually prevent Mr. Carter from repeating any of the outrageously false, utterly baseless and despicable claims he has made about Bishop Blake,” said Uleses Henderson, General Counsel of the Church of God in Christ.
Earl Carter’s counterclaim, which alleged that Blake’s statements condemning Carter’s hate-filled sermon in 2014, at the Church of God in Christ’s Holy Convocation caused him harm; was dismissed with prejudice. Therefore, Carter cannot bring these claims against Blake in the future, for the case is dismissed permanently. “Earl Carter’s counterclaim was meritless. It was his own conduct, insidious words and divisive temperament, that caused him the financial harm that eventually led to his filing for bankruptcy a third time,” said Young Williams, a spokesperson for Blake. The court Order noted that Carter’s counterclaim “allegations are otherwise insufficient to state a cognizable claim of defamation to survive dismissal.”
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Earl Carter, who represented himself (pro se), was chastised and ultimately sanctioned by the court for his lack of decorum. Specifically the court noted, “[t]he Court is gravely concerned by Defendant’s continual requests for leniency as a pro se litigant, disregard of Court Orders and instruction, and failure to conduct himself in a professional manner.” The Order continues, “[w]hen Defendant failed to appear at the conference, Magistrate Judge Spaulding imposed sanctions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(f).”
In response to Carter’s disregard to the court’s orders and procedures, “Magistrate Judge Spaulding ordered Defendant (Carter) to pay $2,500.00 to Plaintiff’s counsel to compensate him for reasonable expenses he incurred as a result of his attendance at the Conference (“Sanction”). Despite Carter’s weekly online petition for his viewers to send him money, and his online sale of t-shits and videos, Carter told the court that, “he did not have the means to pay the Sanction.”
To the contrary, the Court found that Carter, “violated the Show Cause Order by failing to present evidence of his financial condition through a sworn Long-Form Affidavit of Indigency.” Thus, the decision by the court is as follows: “IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff, Charles E. Blake Sr. and against Defendant Earl W. Carter, Sr. for which sum let execution issue.”
“Bishop Blake would have preferred not to file a lawsuit against Mr. Carter, but the only way to have his defamatory, untruthful and hurtful videos removed is by court order. This judgment is a huge win not only for Bishop Blake and the Church of God in Christ, but we hope it sends a message that maliciously attacking and lying on someone has significant consequences,” concluded Young Williams.
source:
TRY Williams Consulting Group
www.TRYWilliamsConsultingGroup.com
[email protected]
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