C&S earns victory for former Dominion Voting Systems employee Dr. Eric Coomer


C&S recently earned a significant victory in the Denver County District Court in its defamation case against Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, OAN, and others, regarding the defendants’ defamation of former Dominion Voting Systems employee Dr. Eric Coomer during the 2020 presidential election.

Each of the defendants filed motions to dismiss Dr. Coomer’s claims under the Colorado anti-SLAPP statute, arguing that Dr. Coomer could not meet his prima facie burden on each of his claims for the case to move forward.  On May 13, 2022, the district court denied every single defendant’s motion, setting the stage for Dr. Coomer’s case to proceed to trial.

After conducting limited discovery and filing hundreds of pages of briefing, the parties appeared before the Denver County District Court for a two-day hearing in October 2021, where C&S lawyers argued that Dr. Coomer more than satisfied the threshold burden of showing there was ample evidence to proceed to trial.  Per an earlier order of the Court, C&S had the opportunity to conduct limited depositions of Rudy Giuliani, the Trump Campaign, Sidney Powell, and the other defendants.  Each deposition added to the wealth of evidence that the defendants had made defamatory statements with actual malice, meaning they knew the statements were false or had a reckless disregard for the truth when they alleged Dr. Coomer rigged the 2020 election. The Court opened its May 13, 2022 Order by quoting the United States Supreme Court: “False statements of fact harm both the subject of the falsehood and the readers of the statement.”  Quoting the Colorado Supreme Court, the district court added, “[n]either lies nor false communications serve the ends of the First Amendment.”  

C&S is proud of its lawyers and for the opportunity to represent Dr. Coomer, in a case that will have lasting consequences for future elections, First Amendment law, and liability for false statements of fact.  The victory is a huge hurdle in litigation that was filed in December 2020, which will now likely be appealed by the defendants to the Colorado Court of Appeals.  You may access the Court’s ruling via this link:  May 13, 2022 Order.