Resident Mel Thompson has withdrawn a federal lawsuit he filed against city Democrats, the Connecticut Post, the New Haven Register and several staffers at both papers.
Court Case No. 1
Thompson, an attorney, filed the $80 million lawsuit in July.
Among his assertions — members of the Town Democratic Committee did not pay him for Web site work, that Democrats conspired to keep him off the ballot for a mayoral run and that Democrat Town Committee Chairman Sam Rizzitelli made defamatory comments about him which were repeated in the Post and the Register.
Both papers asked the court to dismiss the case. In a court filing, the Register stated Thompson’s lawsuit failed to provide any details about the alleged defamation.
On Dec. 4, Thompson dropped Dan Sexton as a defendant, saying the two had worked out a settlement. Sexton is one of many city Democrats named in the initial lawsuit.
Thompson voluntarily withdrew the case as a whole Dec. 10, a court filing shows.
In an interview Tuesday morning with the Valley Independent Sentinel, Thompson confirmed he dropped the lawsuit — but said it could be temporary.
Court Case No. 2
Thompson is also being sued by Rizzitelli, who said Thompson made several defamatory comments about him on a Derby political blog.
Thompson said some prominent local Democrats are providing him with affidavits that will support his case. He dropped the lawsuit so more local Democrats will support him, Thompson said.
An e‑mail seeking comment was sent to Rizzitelli Monday night.
Rizzitelli’s lawsuit against Thompson was filed in June in Milford Superior Court.
Both parties appeared at a hearing on the case Monday. Thompson filed a motion to throw out the case — and said he was planning to file a counter-claim against Rizzitelli Tuesday.
Since that initial filing, Thompson, who is representing himself, filed a series of motions — included two that tried to amend Rizzitelli’s initial complaint.
Rizzitelli, through his attorney, filed documents objecting to Thompson’s motions.
Thompson, in court documents, has said that his blog postings were parody — and protected by the First Amendment.
The files show Thompson had requested copies of Rizzitelli’s medical records since birth.
Rizzitelli said Thompson’s blog posts caused him emotional distress. Thompson, again, in court docs, said he needs the medical records to build his defense.
A judge said a limited number of Rizzitelli’s medical records can be turned over.
Court Case No. 3, Luneau v Hughes
A third lawsuit involving local politicians and blog comments is also working its way through the court system.
Ken Hughes, the president of the Board of Aldermen, recently filed a response in Milford court to a lawsuit brought against him in September by Renee Luneau, a former member of the Derby Board of Education.
Luneau said Hughes ran a Web site that allowed a series of crude, defamatory comments to be posted.
Hughes, in court documents filed by his lawyer, Deborah Etlinger of Hartford, denied most of the accusations.
Etlinger also points out any alleged comments are protected by the First Amendment and the federal Communications Decency Act.
Hughes ran a blog titled “America’s Smallest City,” using Web space provided by the popular political blog CT Local Politics.
Christopher Bigelow, founder of CT Local Politics, is also named as a defendant in Luneau’s lawsuit.
Bigelow’s lawyer, Jennifer E. Mira, filed a document with the court asking Luneau to name the person who authored the comments about her — otherwise, Luneau doesn’t have a case, Mira argues.
The next court date for the case hasn’t been scheduled.
