Utah Third District Court · No. 220900591

Robinson v. Winder Newton (third-party claims against Sylvia Miera-Fisk)

Not reached UPEPA

Forum: Utah Third District Court
Case number: No. 220900591
Motion decided: Apr 17, 2024
Outcome: Not reached
Underlying case: A council member being sued for defamation brought third-party claims against a citizens-committee member who had questioned her conduct.
Relief: Dismissed without prejudice on procedural grounds
Conduct at issue: A citizens committee member emailed an elected official and the county district attorney about the DA's representation of her
Underlying claims: Defamation and false light, brought as third-party claims

What the court held

Winder Newton should not have brought Miera-Fisk into the case at all. A defendant can use a third-party complaint to bring in someone who may owe them for the claims already against them, not someone the defendant has a separate quarrel with.
The judge also refused to add her as a party the other way, by joining her to the case. What she was accused of happened years after the events the lawsuit was about, and had little to do with them.
The claims against her were dismissed without prejudice. The judge remarked that Winder Newton's claim against Miera-Fisk was “unseemly” for a public official and seemed to acknowledge it constituted a SLAPP suit. He nevertheless declined to rule on the special motion.
Miera-Fisk had asked for more than dismissal. She asked the judge to decide her special motion, throw the claims out for good, and order Winder Newton to pay her attorney fees. The judge declined to decide the motion, saying nothing in the act requires a ruling on the merits of claims that were never properly in the case.
That left her with no fees. Dismissal for good and a fee award both depend on winning the special motion, and the judge never reached it.

Hearing audio

4 segments

9:31 a.m.34 min

Appearances, then argument on whether Miera-Fisk could be brought into the case at all, and whether the judge had to rule on her special motion either way.

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