Re: 10/22/00 - [HITT] Hitsgalore.com Plans to Appeal Dismissal Of Libel Lawsuit Against Bloomberg, L.P. and David Evans
Hitsgalore.com Plans to Appeal Dismissal Of Libel Lawsuit Against Bloomberg, L.P. and David Evans
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Oct 22, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Hitsgalore.com, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HITT chart, msgs) announced that on October 20, 2000, Judge Paul Boland of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (the "Court") granted the defendants' "renewed" special motion to strike, brought pursuant to California's "anti-SLAPP" statute, C.C.P. 425.16, and dismissed the Company's Complaint for Libel brought against Bloomberg, L.P. ("Bloomberg") and David Evans ("Evans"), a reporter with Bloomberg's news service, Bloomberg News. The Court also awarded the defendants attorney's fees in an amount to be determined at a future date after an evidentiary hearing.
The Company's Complaint was filed by the Company on April 27, 2000, and alleges that Bloomberg and Evans published a series of "Defamatory Articles" on May 11 and 12, 1999, that contained false and defamatory statements regarding the Company, including the false implication that the Company lied to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Systems Communications, Inc., on February 16, 1999, which announced the merger agreement between that company and Old Hitsgalore.com. As a result of the publication of the Defamatory Articles, the Complaint alleges, the price of the Company's stock dropped about 53% in one day, representing a loss of the Company's market capitalization of more than Five Hundred Million Dollars ($500,000,000).
In July of this year, the California Court denied Bloomberg's first Motion to Strike, holding that Bloomberg and Evans failed to meet their burden of showing the application of the statute to Hitsgalore's lawsuit. After giving the defendants a second opportunity to present evidence relating to whether the Defamatory Articles reported on a matter of "public interest" within the meaning of the anti-SLAPP statute, Judge Boland determined that the statute did apply to Hitsgalore's Complaint. The Court then held that Hitsgalore.com was a "limited-purpose public figure" and, therefore, under applicable First Amendment case law, had to prove that Evans and Bloomberg acted with "actual malice" -- i.e., that the Defamatory Articles were made with knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard of whether they were false or not.
"In dismissing the Company's Complaint pursuant to the anti-SLAPP statute, the Court did not hold that the Defamatory Articles were not defamatory of the Company," stated Daniel J. Becka of Schoeppl & Burke, P.A., the Company's attorneys. "In fact, Judge Boland did not even decide the issue. What the Court essentially held was that, even if the Articles are defamatory, the plaintiff did not present clear and convincing evidence that David Evans knew that what he was writing was false. We believe that the Court's ruling that Hitsgalore was a 'public figure' was based on a 'public interest' test that has been squarely rejected by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Gertz v. Welch, 418 U.S. 323 (1974)," explained Mr. Becka.
Prior to issuing his final ruling on the defendants' motion to strike, Judge Boland informed the parties that of all the motions to strike brought under California's anti-SLAPP statute he has had to decide, the motion to strike brought in this lawsuit was the most difficult. "We knew going in that this case was going to be decided at the appellate level, regardless of who won at the trial court level," stated Dorian Reed, the Company's Chairman and CEO. "Of course, we plan to appeal Judge Boland's decision," added Mr. Reed.
Statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Hitsgalore.com, Inc. intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements (future operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.
Source: Hitsgalore.com, Inc.
Contact:
Daniel J. Becka, Esq., or Carl F. Schoeppl, Esq., of SCHOEPPL &
BURKE, P.A., Boca Raton, Florida 561-394-8301, for Hitsgalore.com, Inc.
URL: hitsgalore.com
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