Ohio Court of Appeals Adopts “Discovery Rule” in Libel Case Involving a Forged E-Mail
From Weidman v. Hildebrant, decided Monday by the Ohio Court of Appeals (Twelfth District), in an opinion by Judge Robert Hendrickson, joined by Judges Mike Powell and Robin Piper III (for more, see this Cincinnati Enquirer [Scott Wartman] article):
This action involves the defamation of [Thomas] Weidman, a Sycamore Township trustee, by [Christopher] Hildebrant, a Cincinnati real estate developer. In 2011, Hildebrant was facilitating the sale of property owned by SDI Foods, Inc. to Sycamore Township, for which he would receive a consulting fee from both parties if the sale was successful. Hildebrant claims Weidman and Stanford Roberts, the individual who negotiated the sale for SDI, each repeatedly sought a kickback from Hildebrant’s consulting fee after the sale occurred.
In response to the pressure he felt from Weidman and Roberts, Hildebrant created a fictitious gmail account under the name [email protected] and, on December 20, 2011, sent an email to himself from the [email protected] account (the “2011 email”). The 2011 email portrayed Weidman as having received illicit payments and demanding bribes in exchange for his support of several real estate developments in Sycamore Township. On December 20, 2011, after creating and sending the 2011 email to himself from the [email protected] account, Hildebrant forwarded the email to Roberts. Hildebrant hoped that the email would demonstrate to Roberts that he did not have any money left to pay Roberts a bribe as Weidman had also demanded payment.
Near the end of 2019, Hildebrant, acting on behalf of his development group, the Morelia Group-DE, LLC, sought to purchase a parcel of real estate owned by Sycamore Township (the “Sycamore Township Property”). Purchase of the property required the unanimous consent of the township’s sitting trustees. This was problematic for Hildebrant, as Weidman opposed the sale of the property.
On January 25, 2020, Hildebrant met with Sycamore Township trustee James LaBarbara and S
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