Summary of Judge Raymond Patricco’s decision in Scofield v. Guillard (D. Idaho):
Rebecca Scofield, a professor at the University of Idaho, sued Ashley Guillard for defamation after Guillard falsely claimed that Scofield was involved in the murders of four University of Idaho students and had a romantic relationship with one of the victims. Despite Scofield’s denials and lack of evidence, Guillard persisted in making these claims, leading to the lawsuit. The court found that Guillard’s statements were defamatory and false, granting summary judgment in favor of Scofield due to the lack of evidence supporting Guillard’s claims.
Scofield was also granted permission to add a claim for punitive damages, as the court deemed Guillard’s conduct in making baseless accusations against Scofield to be oppressive, fraudulent, and malicious. Guillard’s actions were found to be without merit, as they were based solely on her spiritual intuition and lacked any objective evidence.
These factors come together to show that the Defendant’s social media posts were mainly focused on promoting themselves, driven by a desire for online popularity, and created with a highly damaging intent considering the damaging comments made about the Plaintiff.
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