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Friday, November 16, 2007

Ohio GOP State Rep. Candidate Eric Minamyer: Sues Other Republicans For Defamation

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A candidate for the Ohio House in the March GOP primary is suing two suburban Cincinnati township trustees for defamation because they said he has "anger management" issues. Eric Minamyer, a Naval Reserve captain, is a township trustee himself and ran for Congress in the 2005 special election that sent Jean Schmidt to Washington. Now he hopes to represent the 35th District, which is being vacated by State Rep. Michele Schneider due to term limits. The lawsuit is Case No. A 07 08291 in Hamilton County.

In 2005, Minamyer questioned Democratic Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett's service record when Hackett ran for Congress. The following excerpt from a Bizzyblog post has some of the details about what took place:

[Minamyer] "raised the issue of Paul Hackett’s combat record, which would never have come up without Hackett’s 'serve and fight' TV-ad reference. Minamyer took a lot of heat for asking legitimate questions (as if asking questions about a soldier’s record is a crime, when the soldier involved has positioned his military service as the principal reason why he should be elected)."

Apparently, Minamyer can dish it out. The lawsuit makes it appear that he can't take it. And political insiders now might be wondering how Minamyer helped himself in the House race by filing the defamation lawsuit that seeks punitive damages from Tom Weidman and Cliff W. Bishop, who are trustees in Sycamore Township. Bishop is a former Hamilton County Common Pleas Court bailiff and is a member of the Hamilton County Republican Club board of directors. That post makes him a key insider in the county's GOP establishment. Minamyer said Bishop and Weidman made remarks about his service as a special deputy sheriff, and "intended to do harm to plaintiff financially by depriving him of pay as a special deputy, but also in his profession as an attorney and elected official."

Minamyer says Bishop and Weidman should pay financial damages for his embarrassment, mental anguish and emotional distress.

The trustee, in a response filed to the lawsuit, said they have immunity as elected officials and were not malicious. They said Minamyer is a public figure.

. . ."Plaintiff had no reasonable expectation of privacy and that any statements made by the defendant were true and/or constitutionally protected opinion and/or were part of a public controversy within the context of which the plain was a public figure, thereby barring plaintiff from any recovery against these defendants on all or part of his claims for relief."

So far, there has been no action on the lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Three judges have stepped aside because they know the parties in the dispute.

7 comments:

  1. Is this Minamyer a moron or what? First of all, I'm not sure why he thinks that people in HD 35 would vote for him to represent them in Columbus, when he just got done getting slaughtered in the Symmes Twp. Trustee race. And from what I hear, he has Weidman to thank for that. Apparently Weidman was involved in recruiting his opponent in the Trustee race, and helped him with his strategy. So who got the last laugh here?
    What this article doesn't mention is that Minamyer is representing himself in that lawsuit. What is the old saying about having a "fool for a client"?

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  2. Radioman, you are right, Minamyer is a moron. He lost the race and lost the lawsuit. Not to mention that his house is in foreclosure in Hamilton County. (case A 0711144) That is what he gets.

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  3. Yet again Minamyer is showing how much of a moron he is. Someone who once tried for state government. What a fall from grace. His house is AGAIN in foreclosure in Hamilton County (case A 0903959). The forms were filed on 4/20/2009. That is what he gets.

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  4. He should loose his house and get out of Ohio, worthless lawyer.

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  5. What ever happened with this case?

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  6. The case is being postponed due to a lawyer that might know a little bit about cheating the system. Shows how much of a great American he is by not paying his mortgage. His next appearance is this Tuesday for a motion for summary judgement. I hope the court puts the property to sherriff's sale. That is what this no good lawyer needs. To check updates look up the courtclerk case in my link.

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  7. February 16th, 2010
    Attorney Discipline

    Butler County Bar Association v. William Eric Minamyer, Case no. 2009-2284

    The Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline has recommended that the license of attorney William E. Minamyer of Loveland be suspended for two years, with the second year of that term stayed on conditions, for professional misconduct in his handling of a civil lawsuit that he agreed to file on behalf of a client.

    The board found that Minamyer neglected his client’s case by failing to appear at two pretrial conferences or to contest motions by the opposing party that resulted in dismissal of his client’s case without her knowledge. The board also found that Minamyer engaged in deceitful or dishonest conduct by failing to disclose to the client that her suit had been dismissed, failed to respond to the client’s repeated attempts to contact him over a period of several months to determine the status of her case, and failed to comply with the rule requiring attorneys who do not carry a minimum amount of malpractice insurance to notify their clients of that fact in writing.

    Minamyer has filed objections to the disciplinary board’s findings and recommended sanction. He alleges that notices mailed to him from the Butler County Clerk of Courts regarding document filings and scheduled proceedings in his client’s case were mistakenly sent to a former address from which his mail was no longer being forwarded. He also states that he was unable to attend one of the court proceedings in his client’s case because he had stopped to assist at the scene of a traffic accident on that day, and that he did promptly notify the client about the dismissal of her case although she denies any memory of that call.

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