Lake Havasu Mayor Cal Sheehy’s defamation lawsuit against national podcast host Stew Peters was allowed to proceed after Mojave County Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Gregory ruled that Arizona was the proper venue for the trial.
Sheehy filed a lawsuit over comments made by Peters on the Sept. 23, 2022 podcast, among others alleging that Sheehy was a pedophile, apparently based solely on his position as general manager of the London Bridge Resort, which hosted the Arizona Pride Tour drag show in Havasu in February. The lawsuit follows the Peters’ refusal to remove the episode in question and their refusal in writing to state that there is no evidence or grounds to accuse Sheehy of being a pedophile or of engaging in inappropriate conduct around or in relation to children, as required in a cease and desist letter sent by Snell & Wilmer to the Peters in October. The lawsuit contains two counts of defamation and false disrespect.
Peters’ attorney, Timothy A. La Sota, of Phoenix, filed a motion to dismiss the case in March, arguing that the Mojave County Superior Court does not have jurisdiction over Peters, who lives in Minnesota. In his motion, La Sota claimed that Peter was addressing a national audience rather than a specific person.
However, Gregory, along with Snell and Wilmer, backed Sheehy’s attorney Eric H. Spencer, arguing that Peter’s comments were clearly focused on Havasu, Arizona, and the London Bridge Resort, and specifically instructed viewers to contact Sheehy.
“The webcast in question clearly focused on a drag event in Lake Havasu City, and it is not reasonably possible to say that issue was not the focus of this show,” Gregory said in his July 14 ruling dismissing the complaint. “The content of the speech was not geographically neutral, and the remarks were aimed directly at Sheehy.” Peters clearly understood that Sheehy was a local politician and manager of a hotel in Arizona where the drag show was scheduled. “
Gregory added in his ruling that transgender issues are now in the national spotlight, but that Sheehy is not a national political figure.
“Mr. Peters’ focus on this local issue and call on viewers to engage directly with the dispute, combined with Mr. Sheehy’s phone number and email broadcast, sufficiently mitigated these concerns over jurisdictional rationality,” Gregory wrote.
The ruling allowed Sheehy’s case to proceed in Mojave County Superior Court. Sheehy praised the ruling in his press release this week.
“We tried to get Stu Peters to remove the falsely stated content from his website before we filed the lawsuit, but Stu Peters was reluctant to remove the content, leaving few options for correcting the false content,” Sheehy said. “A win in this portion of the case demonstrates that we have brought a valid case against the defendants, and we look forward to successfully resolving this matter.”
Sheehy and Peters are currently accepting donations to pay legal costs related to the lawsuit. Fundraiser on Sheehy’s website – Calsheehi.com – Raised a total of $3,194.36 as of Friday afternoon.Mr. Peters fundraiser GiveSendGo.com It has earned $11,519 so far.
