Texas Lawyer and His Wife Win Nearly $14M in Libel Suit over Online Comments
A Texas lawyer and his wife have been awarded $13.8 million in a libel suit against online commenters who accused the couple of sexual perversions, molestations and drug dealing.
Tarrant County jurors awarded the money to Mark and Rhonda Lesher on Friday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and ABC News report. The judgment sets a record for Internet libel, according to the couple’s lawyer, Meagan Hassan, the Star-Telegram says.
The four defendants had written anonymously at Topix until a judge ordered the online company to turn over their Internet Protocol addresses. One of the defendants is a former legal client who had accused the Leshers and their ranch hand of sexually assaulting her. The Leshers and their employee were acquitted in the assault case in 2009.
The other defendants were the accuser’s husband and two of their employees, the Star-Telegram says. The suit claimed that more than 25,000 libelous posts forced Mark Lesher to close his Clarksville law firm and Rhonda Lesher to close her beauty salon there. They have moved to a new location.
