TIGHAR Legal Defense Fund

[Ric Gillespie]

It just keeps getting better.  Contributions now total $3745.  $11,255 to go.  Let's keep the momentum.  We can make it.

[Ric Gillespie]

BREAKING NEWS

Today the court handed down its ruling on TIGHAR's Motion to Dismiss the Mellon lawsuit.  The court dismissed the RICO (racketeering) and Negligence counts "with prejudice" (meaning that Mellon is barred from re-filing).  The court let stand the Fraud and Negligent Misrepresentation charges so the case is now whittled down to whether TIGHAR found the Earhart Electra in 2010.
When we've had a chance to study the 15-page ruling I'll comment further - but this is a good day for truth, justice and the American way.

[Tim Collins]

That's fantastic news. Congratulations Ric.

[George Lam]

Great!  I lack much knowledge in legal processes (and the 15 page ruling), but I'm curious if the decision on whether or not the 2010 debris is legitimate comes down to reasonable doubt, like in a jury case.

[Chuck Lynch]

May I ask if the burden of proof is on the accuser, Tim Mellon?

[Glen Henderson]

That is great news Ric!  Count me in for $50 towards the cause.  Let the "battle of the image experts" begin.  We are confident in our interpretations and stand by our conclusions.

[George Lam]

May I ask if the burden of proof is on the accuser, Tim Mellon?

Absolutely.  The party making the claim always has the burden of proof in a court case like this.  In the entire U.S. legal system if I'm not mistaken.

[Rob Seasock]

Congratulations Ric and Tighar that is great news, continue fighting the good fight.

[Bruce Thomas]

The text of the Associated Press article that appeared last night, about the judge's ruling, on NewJersey.com

[Monty Fowler]

Great! Each side "won" something - feel free to declare victory!

Can we all go back to the more important matters at hand, namely finding Amelia and Fred? 76 years is far too long for them to have waited.

LTM, who keeps his eye on the prize,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER

[Greg Daspit]

Good news on what was dismissed outright.
And one of the movies likley to be made can now include an antagonist and a courtroom scene. Goliath just has money to force the fight. TIGHAR has its sling filled with hard facts and will win.

[Dave Potratz]

A Good Day!  With confidence and best wishes for more to come!


LTM, who would much more want to know what happened to her daughter than to endure a frivolous lawsuit.

dp

[John Wallace]

Judge's order. Not small file but could not reduce it. Did not see this posted elsewhere.
(ADDENDUM: To avoid confusion, I removed my copy of the order since Mr. Mellon also ended up posting the judge's order below in this thread. Our copies were the same, Document 28 on the Pacer list for the case.)

fyi, Pacer, www.pacer.gov, holds court case documents. You have to register and then copies are 10 cents per page. You do get basically $15 per quarter for free. Ostensibly, court orders are required to be available for free but I could not find the order in this case other than thru Pacer.

[Gloria Walker Burger]

Wish he'd thrown out the whole thing, but still this is good news. Glad to hear it!

[Ric Gillespie]

Judge's order. Not small file but could not reduce it. Did not see this posted elsewhere.

It's important for everyone to understand what a 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss is and what it isn't.  This court order is a huge victory for TIGHAR in ways that may not be apparent to the non-lawyer reader. I'm going to put together a paper that includes all of the court documents related to this case along with brief plain-language explanations of their significance.  I'm thinking of calling it Lawsuits 101.