Did Anthony Todd Testify Against Himself?

Is it possible to testify against yourself in a trial in which you did not appear? Anthony Todd may find out soon enough.

On Friday, September 27, 2019 Melissa Scott’s attorneys filed a Motion for Reconsideration regarding the denied injunction against Todd. In Scott’s proposed judgment it was requested that Todd be enjoined from further infringement, and among other things, for Todd to preserve every file of Dr. Scott’s works. Judge Klausner denied the injunction reasoning that Scott had not proven that Todd was likely to continue to infringe. He further denied the preservation of all files because that was not what the complaint requested.

In Friday’s moving papers, Scott’s attorneys request the Judge reconsider his previous orders and issue the injunction. The documents contain screenshots of Posts by Todd wherein he is conversing with other people online in google groups and Facebook. In these posts Todd promises Scott that he will not stop sharing the files of Dr. Scott. Todd also unwisely proclaims that his default judgment will be vacated or set aside based upon the ruling in other cases. Scott’s attorney’s do not hesitate to point out Todd’s arrogant proclamation to Judge Klausner, even stating that Todd is “laughing at you [Klausner].” Scott further amends the request to preserve all files and requests the destruction of all Dr. Scott files and works in Todd’s possession.

Todd has himself in a bad position. He has been commenting on the cases online, giving demonstrable proof that he knew about the case and his non-appearance was intentional. Todd has given up every good cause argument that he may have had in the past. Furthermore, Scott’s attorneys enlisted the help of a computer forensic expert to prove that the commenter is Todd, eliminating any attempt from Todd to claim that it wasn’t him who was making these comments. The exhibits reveal that Todd has promised to continue to infringe, he has mocked the authority of the court, and he has mocked the validity of the court’s order. What will the court do about this?

While the court is not likely to grant a motion for reconsideration of their final judgment, this instance may have enough of the required elements to convince this judge that reconsideration is appropriate. However, even if the judge declines to reconsider, he is still on notice that Todd is aware of this lawsuit and he did willfully and knowingly refuse to respond to the complaint against him. If he decides to file a motion to set aside/vacate the judgement, he will face a difficult challenge of proving good cause. If I were in his shoes, I may decide to get offline and stop trying to try my case in Facebook and Google. But that’s just my opinion. We will see what happens.