Though irritated, I did not lose a lot of sleep over John Henry Browne's filing of a lawsuit against me and my law firm for defamation over our handling of the civil wrongful murder action we filed against his client.

First, I believe in the power and righteousness of the First Amendment.

Second, truth is a complete defense.

Third, I would back our exceptionally fabulous Free Speech attorney Bruce Johnson against JHB any day of the week.

Today King County Superior Judge Jim Rogers agreed and threw out the defamation lawsuit.  The case had barely begun.  After receiving the complaint we filed an answer.  Then Bruce filed a CR 12b6 motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

Judge Rogers converted it to a CR 56 motion for summary judgment.  Meaning he considered all the facts and evidence as opposed to ruling simply on the merits of the pleading.  He then ruled the complaint should be dismissed.  The fair reporting privilege applied.  Free speech won the day.

Here is Judge Rogers' Order:  order-granting-defendants_-motion-for-dismissal-under-cr-56-11-18-16