WBAL.com

ACORN has voluntarily dropped a lawsuit stemming from a hidden-camera video that showed its employees giving advice to a pair dressed as a pimp and a prostitute.

The multimillion-dollar lawsuit was filed last year in Baltimore. It contends the audio portion of the video was obtained illegally because Maryland law requires the consent of both parties to record private conversations.

ACORN attorney Andrew Freeman says the activist organization is still plotting its legal strategy, and he will likely refile the lawsuit. It was withdrawn before a deadline for serving it on the defendants.

Earlier today, a report said that the information on the lawsuit by former ACORN employees Shera Williams and Tonja Thompson against James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles and Andrew Breitbart wasn’t online yet.

This afternoon, I found the information online and posted it here. In doing so, I did a search on the plaintiffs’ names trying to find the lawsuit information. There were some other interesting facts about the plaintiffs involved. I later found a PDF of the actual lawsuit.

Shera Williams, of northwest Baltimore, is one of the plaintiffs. All of the information on her in this blog post is for the only Shera Williams living in Baltimore City in the court records and in online phone directories.

Williams was a defendant in foreclosure proceedings on 3 separate occasions (2000, 2001, 2002.) All of those cases were later dismissed or closed. Additionally, Williams has been involved in an ongoing workman’s compensation case against Maryland General Hospital. More information on all of these cases is posted at the bottom of this post.

In 2008, Williams filed a criminal complaint against Shawn Williams, of her address, for theft. Those charges were later nol prossed (dismissed.)

Tonja Thompson is the other plaintiff. There are a handful of criminal cases against a Tonja Thompson but some of them have different middle or maiden names. One of them is also a paternity suit. All of these cases are either in Talbot or Queen Anne’s County and don’t appear to be the same Tonja Thompson who is suing ACORN. There is no Tonja Thompson listed in phone directories for Baltimore City.

Neither plaintiff is listed as a real property owner in Baltimore City.

If you have more information on either plaintiff please drop us an email (mail@insidecharmcity.com).
(Continue reading…)

UPDATE: Here’s a PDF of the actual lawsuit.

Information from the Maryland Courts website

Case Information

Court System: Circuit Court for Baltimore City – Civil System
Case Number: 24C09006238
Title: Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now, Inc, et al vs James E O’Keefe III, et al
Case Type: Other Tort Filing Date:09/23/2009
Case Status: Open/Active
Case Disposition: Disposition Date:
Plaintiff/Petitioner Information

(Each Plaintiff/Petitioner is displayed below)
Party Type: Plaintiff Party No.:2
Name: Thompson, Tonja
Address: C/o Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
City: Baltimore State: MD Zip Code:21202

Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff/Petitioner

Name: Freeman, Esq, Andrew D
Practice Name: Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
Address: 120 E. Baltimore Street
Suite 1700
City: Baltimore State: MD Zip Code:21202-6701
Party Type: Plaintiff Party No.:1
Business or Organization Name: Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now, Inc
Address: 2069 Canal Street
City: New Orleans State: LA Zip Code:70112

Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff/Petitioner

Name: Freeman, Esq, Andrew D
Practice Name: Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
Address: 120 E. Baltimore Street
Suite 1700
City: Baltimore State: MD Zip Code:21202-6701
Party Type: PlaintiffParty No.:3
Name: Williams, Shera
Address: C/o Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
City: Baltimore State: MD Zip Code:21202

Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff/Petitioner

Name: Freeman, Esq, Andrew D
Practice Name: Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
Address: 120 E. Baltimore Street
Suite 1700
City: Baltimore State: MD Zip Code:21202-6701

Defendant/Respondent Information

(Each Defendant/Respondent is displayed below)
Party Type: Defendant Party No.:1
Name: O’Keefe, III, James E
Address: 121 Goodwin Terrace
City: Westwood State: NJ Zip Code:07675
Party Type: Defendant Party No.:3
Business or Organization Name: Breitbart.Com LLC
Address: S/o: R/A: Andrew James Breitbart
City: Los Angeles State:CA Zip Code:90049
Party Type: Defendant Party No.:2
Name: Giles, Hannah
Address: 21376 Marina Cove Circle
City: Miami State:FL Zip Code:33180

Document Tracking

(Each Document listed. Documents are listed in Document No./Sequence No. order)
Doc No./Seq No.: 1/0
File Date: 09/23/2009Close Date:Decision:
Party Type: Plaintiff Party No.:1
Document Name: Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial
Filed by PLT001-Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now, Inc, PLT002-Thompson, PLT003-Williams

The complete case file can be obtained from the Circuit Courthouse.

WBAL.com

ACORN has filed a lawsuit against the makers of a hidden-camera video that showed employees of its Baltimore office giving tax advice to a man posing as a pimp and a woman posing as a prostitute.

The liberal activist group contends that the audio portion of the video was obtained illegally because Maryland requires two-party consent to create sound recordings.

The two employees seen in the video were fired after it was posted online. The lawsuit says the employees, Tonja Thompson and Shera Williams, suffered “extreme emotional distress.”

Andy Freeman, a Baltimore attorney who represents ACORN, Thompson and Williams, told WBAL News that the fact the two workers were fired is not relevant to the lawsuit.

“No one is defending some of the things that the employees said, but in Maryland we have the right to say dumb things in the privacy of our homes or our offices, without the fear of being taped,” Freeman said.

The multimillion-dollar lawsuit seeks damages from James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, who played the pimp and prostitute in the videos, and from conservative columnist Andrew Breitbart, who posted the videos on his Web site.

“This is really more about the principle than about the money,” Freeman added.

Brietbart said he would respond with his lawyer to a request for comment. He told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that he looked forward to a lawsuit because he expects unsavory details about ACORN to be unearthed in the discovery process.

O’Keefe and Giles could not immediately be reached. Asked by Fox News earlier this month about the possibility of a lawsuit, O’Keefe said, “Bring it on.”

The Baltimore Sun has more on the lawsuit including this:

The filing could not be confirmed by a check of electronic Maryland court records.

The Sun also has an editorial discussing City State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy’s refusal to investigate the videos along with the current investigation by Attorney General Doug Gansler:

ACORN, though officially nonpartisan, has engaged in voter registration activities that have significantly benefited Democrats, the party to which Ms. Jessamy and every other Baltimore elected official belong. No matter what her justifications are, it doesn’t smell right for her to look the other way when the rest of the country has witnessed an ACORN employee tell someone she thought was a pimp to claim underage girls from El Salvador as dependents.

Baltimore Sun:

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Doug Gansler said the probe will “involve everything,” although she declined to say whether it includes the videos, which could constitute a violation of Maryland’s two-party consent law.

The article mentions that Gansler asked permission to initiate the investigation from Governor Martin O’Malley, whose office made the announcement via a press release. Neither O’Malley’s or Gansler’s website has a news release or other announcement about the ACORN probe as of yet.

ACORN’s spokeswoman told the Sun they “welcome” the investigation as a way to clear their name.

Previously, Gansler had said the ACORN videos made in Baltimore “are no more relevant to us…than a murder that takes place in Florida…”

Gansler also previously refused to remove an ACORN link from his office website. Local State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy refused to investigate ACORN, saying any potential evidence in the video may have been illegally obtained, and threatened to prosecute the makers of the video.

UPDATE
WBAL.com did receive the Governor’s release (which is still not on his official site):

GOVERNOR O’MALLEY GRANTS ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE ACORN

ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 21, 2009)- Governor Martin O’Malley announced today that he has granted the Office of the Attorney General the authority to investigate, and if appropriate, prosecute conduct involving the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Earlier today, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler requested the authority to investigate allegations of the events surrounding ACORN. The Governor granted the authority pursuant to Article V, §3 of the Constitution of Maryland.

The Office of the Attorney General is authorized to use all necessary subpoena powers, to present to an appropriate grand jury any evidence and testimony considered necessary to carry out this authorization and directive, and to act with the full powers, rights and privileges possessed by a State’s Attorney. If criminal conduct is uncovered by this probe, the Office of Attorney General is authorized to bring and to prosecute appropriate charges in any court of this State against any and all persons and entities involved in or associated with the crimes.

###

WBAL.com also reported the following:

The Governor has given the authority for the Attorney General to investigate the activities of ACORN in Baltimore.

The move comes after hidden camera video surfaced in Baltimore and across the country of ACORN employees giving advice to a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute.

Members of Maryland’s Senate Republican Caucus sent a letter to the Governor last week requesting he have the State Prosecutor investigate the organization.

O’Malley’s office says the AG requested the authority today.

Attorney General Gansler’s office tells WBAL Radio, “ordinarily as we stated this falls in the jursidication of the local prosecutor. As time when on it became clear the local authorities were not going to pursue the matter. It was obvious someone needed to look into it.”