On Thursday, May 31, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued an important decision denying the motion of John Rivello to dismiss Kurt Eichenwald’s claim for battery.
A Rothwell Figg team comprised of Steven Lieberman and Jennifer Maisel represents Mr. Eichenwald, a highly regarded journalist, on a pro bono basis in a civil case arising from a weaponized Twitter attack on him that occurred in December 2016. Mr. Eichenwald is an epileptic who was sent a flashing strobe light with the phrase “You deserve a seizure for your posts” by an anonymous Twitter user who turned out to be Mr. Rivello, a white supremacist. Mr. Rivello was upset about Mr. Eichenwald’s Twitter posts regarding the Presidential election. Mr. Rivello was subsequently indicted for aggravated assault with a hate crime enhancement in Texas. The civil case filed in the District of Maryland is pending.
Steven spoke to Law360 and noted U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar’s decision “is an important ruling for protecting people with epilepsy and for protecting journalists.”
To read the decision, please click on the document below.
To read the full article by Law360, please click here.
The case was previously covered by The New York Times in 2017. Click here to read the full article.
