Judge issues default judgment in Paul Tonna lawsuit against weekly newspaper The North Shore Leader
A State Supreme Court judge has granted a default judgment in favor of former Suffolk Legis. Paul Tonna in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against The North Shore Leader, ruling that the newspaper, its publisher and reporters did not properly respond to the litigation on time.
Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Paul M. Hensley set a Feb. 11 hearing in Riverhead to set a schedule to begin discussing damages in the case, which stems from a September story in which The Leader linked Tonna, his lobbying and public relations firm, Praxis, and his Energeia Partnership to an alleged land-fraud scheme.
Tonna, who filed suit in October, has denied those allegations and demanded $25 million in general damages and $25 million in "special damages" for defamation of character, libel and "harassment."
"Paul Tonna is losing clientele and these false and malicious allegations have damaged his reputation," said his Huntington-based lawyer, Christopher Cassar, on Monday. "At some point we will ask the judge to order the [Leader] to retract the malicious allegations."
For now, Cassar said, "We have to prove what the damages are."
In an answer to the complaint filed Jan. 7, the same day as the judge's default order, Deborah N. Misir, a lawyer for Leader publisher Grant Lally and the newspaper, denied the bulk of Tonna's claims and asserted that their first defense was "the truth." Misir, who did not return a call seeking comment Monday, is not listed as representing two reportedly out-of-state reporters for the story, who could not be reached for comment. Misir is a partner of the law firm Lally & Misir, of which Grant Lally is managing partner, according to its website. Lally and Misir are married.
"Everything published about [Tonna] is the truth and/or protected political opinion about a public official and public figure seeking election to public office," The Leader’s answer states, noting Tonna "is an elected official and registered lobbyist for a land developer currently charged in multiple lawsuits with massive fraud."
Tonna’s original lawsuit stems from a Sept. 23 story titled, "Town Huntington Pols Enmeshed with $50M Melville Land Fraudster." The Leader story alleged Tonna was a business partner of developer Gregory DeRosa, who is accused in multiple civil suits of land-fraud claims, and Tonna's suit said the Leader "knew or should have known" that Tonna was not DeRosa's business partner and did not and "never has spearheaded the attempted mass apartment rezone of Melville" for DeRosa.
Tonna's suit also denied allegations in the story that he used his "official positions," including commissioner of the South Huntington Water District, to support the rezoning of DeRosa’s properties. Kenneth Silverstein, a lawyer for DeRosa, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Leader story also "falsely states" that Energeia Partnership, a leadership program operated by Tonna, was a "cultlike program" of "multiday initiation and training events to inculcate members and public officials with the dogma of mass housing construction," the lawsuit said.
"Most disturbing," Tonna's suit says, is that The Leader’s story "directly implied" that Tonna "is involved in criminal conduct with his business and official relationships," implications the suit calls "patently false," "unlawful and damaging."
The Leader's answer cited New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a U.S. Supreme Court case, in arguing it is protected from "public officers seeking to ‘shut down’ protected journalism," and refers to Tonna’s complaint as an "illegal Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," or SLAPP suit, "designed to prevent any further news coverage" of Tonna as a public figure and lobbyist.
The Leader also asserted in its defense that those sued by Tonna were not properly served the lawsuit. Lally in an interview said, "The truth can be a very expensive commodity, but we stand behind everything we wrote as the truth."
But the judge in his Jan. 7 order found that Tonna "has established that each defendant has been served" by a process server, and each had 30 days to answer "but none has answered."
"Significantly," Hensley wrote, The North Shore Leader, Lally Communications Inc. and Grant Lally are "represented by counsel, but do not oppose the motion" for default filed by Tonna’s lawyers. "Accordingly, [Tonna’s] application is granted and discovery as to damages shall proceed forthwith."
The Leader’s answer requests that the suit be dismissed, saying the complaint is "illegal, harassing and frivolous," and asking that the Leader and Lally be granted "all costs and attorney’s fees to defend" themselves in the case.
In an affidavit filed Jan. 7 as part of his response to the complaint, Lally argued that he couldn’t be properly served in the case "just by mailing it," and noted that the sole owner of Lally Communications Inc. is Ute Wolff Lally, "a retired justice and a current JHO of the Supreme Court, Nassau County." He also noted Tonna’s lawyers didn’t serve a copy to the state Secretary of State, as he said is required. Ute Lally is Grant Lally's mother.
Paul Sabatino, a Huntington Station attorney, said service by mail is an accepted practice when the party being served agrees to it in writing. And if service can't be made on individual defendants, service must be made on the corporation via the secretary of state.
'A different situation at every airport' FAA data analyzed by Newsday shows the number of bird strikes voluntarily reported by airports in New York City and Long Island has increased by 46% between 2009 and 2023. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
'A different situation at every airport' FAA data analyzed by Newsday shows the number of bird strikes voluntarily reported by airports in New York City and Long Island has increased by 46% between 2009 and 2023. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.