November 07, 2009

D'Elia v. Renna

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute.

Posted November 21st, 2008 by Matt C. Sanchez

Summary

Threat Type: Lawsuit	Date: 11/2006
Status: Concluded	Location: New Jersey
Disposition: Dismissed (total)	Verdict/Settlement Amount: n/a
Legal Claims: Defamation
Sebastian D'Elia, director of the Office of Public Information of Union County, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit against two members of The Union County Watchdog Association after they allegedly defamed him in blog posts. Defendants Tina Renna and Patricia Quattrocchi were regular... read full description

Parties

Party Issuing Legal Threat:	Party Receiving Legal Threat:
Sebastian D’Elia	Tina Renna; Patricia Quattrocchi
Type of Party:	Type of Party:
Individual	Individual
Location of Party:	Location of Party:
New Jersey	New Jersey
Legal Counsel:	Legal Counsel:
	Philip J. Morin III

Description

Sebastian D'Elia, director of the Office of Public Information of Union County, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit against two members of The Union County Watchdog Association after they allegedly defamed him in blog posts. Defendants Tina Renna and Patricia Quattrocchi were regular posters to the watchdog group's blog, The County Watchers. According to news reports, D'Elia took issue with a blog post titled "County Hacks are Soulless Pyschopaths," which allegedly compared him to Adolf Hitler.

Both D'Elia and the defendants moved for summary judgment in the case. After hearing oral argument on the two motions, the court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the ground that D'Elia had not provided sufficient proof of damages. The court reportedly also noted that D'Elia was a public official, which meant he was subject to criticism even if it was "mean-spirited," "unflattering," and "poorly written."

Related Links:

Cranford Chronicle: Libel case against county watchdog group dismissed
Media Bloggers Association: New Jersey blogger defamation suit dismissed
Union County Superior Court: D'Elia v. Renna Case Calendar (search for docket number "L-003880-06" in venue "Union")
The County Watcher: The County Watchers Successfully Defend Libel Case
The Star-Ledger: Union watchdog cleared of libel

Details

Website(s) Involved:	Content Type(s):
The County Watchers	Text
Publication Medium:	Subject Area(s):
Blog	Defamation

Court Information & Documents

Location of Filing/Threat:	Source of Law:
New Jersey	New Jersey
Court Name:	Court Type:
New Jersey Superior Court, Union County	State
Case Number:
L -003880-06
Relevant Documents:
D'Elia v. Renna Complaint (11-03-2006) Renna's Answer and Counterclaim (01-04-2007) D'Elia's Answer to Counterclaim (01-08-2007) Renna's Brief Supporting Motion for Summary Judgment on Defamation Liability (09-26-2008) D'Elia v. Renna Order Granting Defendants' Motions and Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (11-07-2008) D'Elia v. Renna Stipulation of Dismissal of Counterclaim (11-18-2008)

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Last updated on December 16th, 2008

fix inaccuracies

Submitted by Sebastian D'elia (not verified) on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 22:01.

the judge's comments were not about criticism,she was directly referring to Renna's blog about me as being "poorly written" "unflattering" and "mean spirited."

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D'Elia v. Renna

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