2008.11.20
Roger Woody files Notice of Appeal
The lawsuit against a group of Christiansburg bloggers may continue, as developer Roger Woody filed a Notice of Appeal Wednesday with the Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Woody sought more than $10 million in actual damages and $350,000 in punitive damages from Terry Ellen Carter, Tacy Newell-Foutz, Carol Lindstrom and Meghan Dorsett for their alleged involvement in blog postings critical of his business practices and a topsoil stockpile at his property on Cambria Street in Christiansburg.
The lawsuit filed by Woody's attorney, B.K. Cruey of Shawsville, accused the four women of working "together for the purpose of developing a website on the internet to be used willfully and maliciously" to cause injury to him and his business. The Web site listed in the filing, www.think christiansburg.com is operated by Carter and Newell-Foutz.
A motion for demurrer, the plea for dismissal, was heard July 31 for Carter and Newell-Foutz, filed by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys Rebecca Glenberg and Jonathan Rogers, citing constitutional rights as a reason for dismissal.
Lindstrom and Dorsett were later dropped from the case due to no clear involvement in the blogs. Last month Judge Ray Grubbs ruled that Carter and Newell-Foutz' request for demurrer be sustained, and the two were cleared of all charges.
Cruey filed the Notice of Appeal on Woody's behalf citing Rule 5:9 of the Supreme Court of Virginia, which states that a notice may be filed 30 days from the civil case ruling. The nonsuit granted to Lindstrom and Dorsett was upheld, as only Carter and Newell-Foutz' names appeared on the Notice of Appeal.
Roger is so corrupt and money hungry! His house, which is huge, is hidden in the middle of a nieghborhood, he has a hummer....
Those women have every right to mention "woody-ville" one their website. This is no different than people saying bad things about president bush... and you don't see him sueing people for no real reason.
Comment by cburgresident — November 24, 2008 @ 4:13 pm
So, where are these blogs? I'd like to see what they said.
Comment by Eric G — December 10, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
http://www.thinkchristiansburg.com/confoundedinchristiansburg/junky-yard-wars.aspx
http://www.thinkchristiansburg.com/confoundedinchristiansburg/189000-buys-these-days.aspx
Sorry, I'm just now seeing this.
Comment by leronegraham — January 16, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
Money is the root of all evil, and it seems to have a hold on Mr. Woody. I live in Woodyville, and can see Mt. Woody from my balcony, albeit that I live about a quarter-mile or more away from it. The pile of dirt is Christiansburg's pimple.
What Mr. Woody should do, if he had an ounce of decency for his community, is build a park for the kids. Though of course, if he plans to CHARGE people to go there, then ignore the request altogether.
I dont understand why the man would have sued anyone for talking about the dirt mound. It is, in every sense of the word, an eyesore. There is nothing asthetically pleasing about it. Those bloggers were right. And the fact that he would have taken people to court over their opinion about DIRT - and for as much as he did - exemplifies the kind of person he is.
Comment by A Woodyite — May 29, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
That dirtmound has more potential than roanoke street, radford road, and depot street all combined.
Comment by Marked Man (mark) — June 2, 2009 @ 12:53 am