Lemoore council member loses appeal in defamation lawsuit

Ed Martin of Lemoore can continue with his defamation lawsuit against Lemoore Council Member Billy Siegel, the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno has ruled.

Last week, a three-judge panel upheld a ruling by Kings County Superior Court Judge Donna Tarter that laws protecting free speech don’t protect Siegel from the lawsuit because no topics of public interest are at issue.

The matter now goes back to the Kings County court for further proceedings, including the possibility of a trial.

Ed Martin, a former council member for 18 years, is an administrator at Lemoore High. He also runs the Lemoore Leader website, which has published articles that can be construed as critical of Siegel.

Two years ago, Siegel sent an email addressed to Martin that he shared with others. In the email Siegel states, “people in the community speak of your homosexual tendencies and your infatuation with young boys.”

The mail also stated that Martin has considered “self termination” but the city council wants to help him.

The mail ends with “William Siegel, Mayor, City of Lemoore.” Siegel is no longer mayor.

Martin sued both Siegel and the city.

Martin said Monday that the lawsuit could have been avoided “with a simple apology.”

But Siegel said Monday that Martin would never accept an apology and also wanted him to resign from the council and receive a payment from the city.

Siegel’s lawyers argued that “anti-SLAPP” laws protecting the public from a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” — filed to silence critics — also protect Siegel from Martin’s lawsuit because the email involved matters of public interest.

But the three-judge panel disagreed.

“None of the evidence presented by appellant support the claims that the referenced email statements (homosexual tendencies, infatuation with young boys and self-termination) pertain to issues involving the public interest or a public issue,” the opinion states.

Additionally, evidence that Martin wrote critical articles about Siegel’s performance as mayor “does not give appellant legal immunity to defame respondent about personal matters,” the justices wrote.

Attorney Robert Dowd of Hanford, representing Siegel, said Monday “we will be back at the trial court.”

The lawsuit could drag on for some time. Dates for a mandatory settlement conference and other matters have yet to be scheduled, and neither side has taken depositions.

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Lemoore council member loses appeal in defamation lawsuit."