Spreadbury v. Bitterroot Public Library et al

Filing 57

RESPONSE to Motion re 51 MOTION for Partial Summary Judgment DEF LEE ENTERPRISES INC'S BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO PL'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AGAINST LEE ENTERPRISES filed by Lee Enterprises Incorporated. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit FOUNDATIONAL AFFIDAVIT OF JEFFREY B. SMITH, # 2 Exhibit A - Affidavit of Stacey Mueller, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit C, # 5 Exhibit D, # 6 Exhibit E, # 7 Exhibit F, # 8 Exhibit G, # 9 Exhibit H, # 10 Exhibit I, # 11 Exhibit J, # 12 Exhibit K, # 13 Exhibit L, # 14 Exhibit M, # 15 Exhibit N, # 16 Exhibit O) (Smith, Jeffrey)

EXHIBIT K

Hamilton drops trespassing charge against former mayoral candidate

tillissoulion
Hamilton drops trespassing charge against former mayoral
candidate
By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic lPosted; Wednesdsy, August 18,2010l0:30 pm

HAMILTON - The city of Hamilton has dropped a misdemeanor trespassing charge against former Hamilton mayoral
candidate Michael Spreadbury.
City attomey Ken Bell said the decision this week followed a Montana Supreme Court order upholding an order ofprotection
that restrained Spreadbury from entering the Bitterroot Public Library for five years.
"The library was never out to get him," Bell said. "lt was him who fiightened and threatened the staff. All the library was
interested in was protecting its patrons and staff
"This order does that," he said.
Spreadbury was found guilty of criminal trespass at the library by a six-personjury in Hamilton City Court last February. He
immediately appealed that decision to district court, which is where the city dropped the charges this week.
The trespassing charge followed a dispute in 2009 beh{een the library and Spreadbury over his insistence ofplacrng on
reserve a copy ofa letter accusing local public officials ofroutinely denyingjustice to citizens.
Last November, he was charged with felony intimidation for allegedly thr€atening a Hamihon librarian. That case continues
to work its way through the couns.

In April, Spreadbury filed lawsuits against city and county officials, as well as the librarian he is accused of intimidating. He
is seeking a total of $1.3 million.
He has also filed a civil complaint in federal district court seeking $3.6 million from l8 different parties, including the Ravalli
Republic and Supporters of Abuse Free Environments, a Ravalli County advocacy group for abused women and families
known as SAFE.
The federal court has not yet acted on that complaint.
On Wednesday, Spreadbury told the Ravalli Republic that he had not committed any crimes and the librarian's order
protection "has lies all through it."

of

"The order ofprotection is not going to do anything. ... ltjust proved that this town is corrupt," Spreadbury said.
Spreadbury also took the Ravalli Republic to task for its reporting on his case, including running a front page story on his trial
in city court that included his photograph.
He said the FBI had told him lhe newspaper was wrong for "criminalizing something that's not a crime."

Bell said the decision to drop the charges was as much a business decision as anything else.

"lt oost the taxpayers plenty to go through this once," Bell said. "lt was going to cost plenty more the second time. I wasn't
going to try it. We wer€ going to have bring in someone else.
was almost like a business decision," he said. "We've got other places to spend money on. ... Ifhe's found on the library
premises again, we will immediately charge him and proceed to prosecute "

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Ravalli Republic editor Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or at [e-mail].

htto://missoulian.com/news/state-and-reuional/article e0caOcbc-ab40-

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