Hilton Head ex-council member settles, drops defamation claims. Hoagland gets jail time
Instead, the outspoken government critic, who was not in court, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, and the defamation case against him was dropped.
Tenth Judicial Circuit Judge
McIntosh sentenced Hoagland to 60 days in jail and a
The day began with Hoagland's insurance company
The amount, undisclosed, apparently is enough to repay the nearly
That left one matter for McIntosh: what to do about a permanent restraining order against Hoagland that would ban him from contacting Likins or her employer.
The restraining order was put in place. But then the visibly frustrated McIntosh, a circuit judge for 11 years, said he'd never seen someone with such disregard for a court or its orders.
Hoagland has argued that his emails are his right to free speech, but McIntosh told Hoagland's attorney that his client was violating the gag order.
"I've never seen such a thing," McIntosh said. "I thought about putting him in jail right then and there."
In a text to The
What was supposed to happen?
Monday was intended to be the first day of a jury trial, expected to run as long as two weeks, over a 2015 defamation lawsuit.
The suit, which Likins filed against Hoagland in
Hoagland did so after she voted, along with three others on council, in favor of a contract with the
Likins did not lose her job, but her lawsuit alleged that Hoagland's attacks damaged her mental health and reputation and that Hoagland was illegally trying to influence her vote as a public official.
Shortly after filing her defamation suit, Likins obtained a restraining order against Hoagland that barred him from contacting members of the club's board of directors, publishing defamatory statements or harassing Likins about her job.
What actually happened?
On Monday morning, Likins and her legal team dismissed all her claims of defamation against Hoagland.
This came as a surprise to most -- including friends and associates of Likins.
Submitted to the court was notice of a settlement in a related case where Likins sued Hoagland, his wife and Hoagland's insurance company after he failed to identify his
The settlement was not public as of Tuesday morning.
Likins' attorney refused to talk about the case Monday afternoon.
Hoagland's attorney,
The defamation suit was controversial because Likins' legal counsel was paid by the
In the five years since the case's filing, the town has spent
Once the settlement was submitted to the court, Likins dropped her claims of defamation. Brewer said she did so because the settlement in the separate case negated the need to pursue additional monetary damages from Hoagland.
McIntosh then heard evidence for the permanent restraining order.
"She just wants him to stop harassing her and her employers," Likins attorney
McIntosh granted the injunction, but went further.
He found Hoagland in criminal contempt after he was handed 35 pages of emails Hoagland sent about the case to
The emails, which range from long-winded essays calling Alford a crook and liar to 10-word threats of the FBI coming to arrest Alford, are typical of Hoagland.
McIntosh sentenced Hoagland to 60 days in jail and a
If Hoagland serves 100 hours of community service, his sentence can be reduced to a
Town's involvement
Some residents have questioned why the town was financially involved in a civil lawsuit.
In late 2015, after Likins sued Hoagland, town council unanimously approved a resolution allowing the town to pay lawyers "to protect council members through appropriate legal process from improper and/or unlawful harassment by third parties."
However, the resolution does not specifically mention defamation and does not define "improper harassment."
After the council passed the resolution,
That suit said Hoagland's critiques of Likins were protected under the First Amendment and that she was using "the Town's unlimited taxpayer funded resources to sue a private citizen and bankrupt him with attorney fees."
Within 18 months, the town had spent nearly
Under the contingency agreement, had Likins won the case, 30% of any award would be paid first to the law firms that represented her: Alford & Thoreson Law Firm of
After the law firms were paid, the agreement said the town would be reimbursed for its costs. Any leftover balance would be awarded to Likins.
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