Friday, October 14, 2022, 6:27 pm News Flash Archive

Yesterday, Leflore County Court Judge Kevin Adams filed his answer to James Littleton's libel lawsuit. Littleton accused Adams of distributing a campaign flyer that Littleton claims makes false statements against Littleton and defames him.

In his answer, not only does Adams assert that the campaign flyer in question is completely true, but he also filed a cross complaint against Littleton, accusing Littleton of slander and libel against Adams.

Littleton has also sued Tammy Adams, Judge Adams' wife, for passing out the campaign flyers. Mrs. Adams also filed her answer yesterday.

Littleton, a current justice court judge and local attorney, is seeking to oust Judge Adams as county court judge in the upcoming November 8th election.

As previously reported by The Taxpayers Channel, Littleton claims that Adams' flyer, which contains headlines and slugs from a collection of articles published by the Greenwood Commonwealth about Littleton's history, is somehow false, but Littleton does not identify how any of the flyer's statements are false. See our previous reporting here: Fireworks erupt in county court judge's race in Leflore County

The headline and slug that most aggrieves Littleton were from a long 2014 article by Bryn Stole, then a Greenwood Commonwealth reporter, that described the Littleton family's nasty fight over, among other things, the estate of James Littleton's father.

That headline and article slug reproduced in the flyer reads:

Judicial Candidate Accused Of Forgery

Leflore County Justice Court Judge James K. Littleton III has been accused by his family in official public records of forging signatures on land records related to his late father's estate.

Even though every word of that headline and paragraph is true, Littleton accuses Adams of not providing the full story. He claims that he was vindicated in 2018, and that Adams ought to have included that information in his flyer.

But Littleton's mother and sister sued Littleton again in early August 2022, claiming that forged deeds in favor of Littleton for yet another piece of property have been filed, bearing signatures falsely purporting to be their own.

Littleton never responded to our questions and requests for comment.

Kevin Adams readily admits that he approved, paid for, and distributed the flyers in question, but he asserts that the flyer is completely true in what it says about James Littleton. Under Mississippi law, truth is an absolute defense against a charge of libel. That means that Littleton will have to prove that the Commonwealth quotations are actually false before he can hold Adams accountable for libel or defamation.

Adams also denies that the Commonwealth prepared the flyers, as Littleton repeatedly claims in his lawsuit. We previously reported that Commonwealth editor and publisher Tim Kalich also has denied any involvement by the Commonwealth with the flyers.

The answers filed by Kevin and Tammy Adams may be seen here:

Answer of Kevin Adams to Littleton Complaint
Answer of Tammy Adams to Littleton Complaint

Near the end of his answer, Kevin Adams goes on the offensive, by counter-suing James Littleton for libel and slander:

At times within the current election contest and approximately simultaneously with the statements of which he complains, Littleton has injured, slandered, libeled, or otherwise defamed Adams and his wife, Tammy Adams. Those instances include, but are not limited to, the following falsities and offensive statements published to others by Littleton personally or in various media:

a. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others in a radio advertisement(s) that Adams breaks the law.

b. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams illegally holds African American children at gunpoint for entering white neighborhoods.

c. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams uses the N word.

d. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams is a racist.

e. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams illegally drinks and drives.

f. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams is a drunk or alcoholic.

g. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams illegally possesses a "machine gun".

h. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams illegally fired bullets into his home.

i. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams has illegally attempted to intimidate him by depositing dead animals at his residence and office.

j. Personally stated, implied, or solicited from others that Adams has made false reports about him to law enforcement.

k. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams is an illegal stalker.

l. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams fosters the intimidation of school children.

m. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams has illegally published false information about him in campaign materials.

n. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that his prior removal from public office was attributable to Adams rather than his own history of poor judgment and conduct.

o. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams should be sanctioned or removed from office due to his allegedly illegal activities.

p. Personally stated, implied, or solicited statements from others that Adams has illegally violated the constitutional rights of litigants within his jurisdiction.

q. Made false and baseless allegations to the Judicial Election Oversight Committee or similar regulatory or law enforcement authorities.

r. Other similar instances to be investigated and revealed in the discovery process of this litigation.

Kevin Adams therefore asserts the following torts committed against him by James Littleton:

a. Slander.

b. Slander per se.

c. Libel.

d. Libel per se.

e. Defamation of all types and characters including, but not limited to, Littleton acting with actual malice, intent to harm Adams, and intent to defraud the electorate of Leflore County, Mississippi. Alternatively, Adams claims that Littleton acted negligently in these regards.

f. Intentional infliction of emotional distress.

g. Negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Adams requests that the court award him actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and a public retraction from James Littleton.

 

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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