All across Twitter Postle's supporter accounts have gone quiet. And now we can guess why. It seems possible that the embattled star's legal counsel has asked him to keep mum.
This morning, Todd Witteles tweeted a screencap of the front page of a court document with the caption: “This will be drowned out by the Trump news, but Mike Postle is suing me [and others] for defamation.”
The document states that Mike Postle is going to the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento with a complaint of defamation, and a side helping of related accusations.
The defendants include individuals like Witteles, Veronica Brill, Joey Ingram, Daniel Negreanu, and Haralabos Voulgaris. However, where possible, Postle seems to be going after his alleged defamers’ companies as well.
For example, the accusations against Upswing Poker and RunItOnce can be assumed to be about Doug Polk’s videos and Phil Galfond’s Tweets.
Polk Tweeted back to Witteles, “Oh nice, this story just keeps getting more and more reasonable.”
Several news outlets also appear on the list of alleged libelous slanderers.
ESPN and Poker News are the stand out media examples. Additionally, the suit carries the language, “DOES 1 through 1,000 Inclusive." That's a legal term that lets Postle's lawyers add more defendants later. It also helps stanch the tight one-year statute of limitations on defamation in California.
So those who've called out Postle might want to check their past tweets for examples of “libel per se.”
Alleged cheaters could still prosper
Reportedly, the courts dismissed the cheating case against Mike Postle because of a centuries-old law preventing gamblers from seeking redress. When that happened it seemed like the story had reached its final page.
But by bringing this suit, the player has put himself in the position of having his conduct re-examined.
Which side the burden of proof will fall on will be decided by several factors of California law. Not least of which is whether Postle’s TV appearances make him a “public figure.”
Either way, any trial will hinge on whether the accusations of cheating are true. So if he gets his wish of a trial by jury, many in the poker community will get their wish as well — to make their case in court.
Perhaps most surprising of all is that the reputable law firm of Lowe & Associates have taken the case. According to their website, they work largely in the crossover areas of entertainment law, intellectual property law, business law, and defamation. They're the firm that represented Yasmin Mohamed when she went after The Weeknd for copyright infringement last year.
The firm's involvement led Matt Glantz to joke that Postle must “have a family member or close friend who works for this firm.”
With the potential for additional discovery and with Phil Galfond’s data collection underway, it looks like Postlegate is far from over.
