A raucous defamation lawsuit between two dueling radio personalities ended at the close of January in a Tampa, Florida courtroom with a jury verdict for the defendant. The case arose from accusations by Todd "MJ Kelli" Schmitt that rival radio celebrity, "Bubba the Love Sponge" Clem, had defamed him and Schmitt's wife during Clem's on-air remarks. A two-week trial served as the climax to many years of boisterous on-air cross-town shouting matches between the two and nearly two years of pre-trial legal maneuvering in court.
Schnitt sued Clem, claiming that he and his wife were defamed by Clem when the latter, among other things, called Schnitt's wife a whore, and portrayed Schnitt as rigging the ratings for his show and taking bribes.
The trial included a curious turn into a mini soap opera within the larger drama. One of Schnitt's attorneys was arrested for DUI in the midst of the proceedings. He alleged later that he had been set up by Clem's counsel. Drinking one evening after court with a woman who he did not realize worked as a paralegal for Clem's attorneys, the Schnitt attorney left the restaurant with her, driving her car. She apparently had helpfully tipped off police to ambush them and thereby to find the attorney driving when he should have been merely a passenger. He was arrested and carted off to jail, leaving his briefcase containing his client's trial papers in the car with the paralegal from the law firm representing Clem. Schnitt's lawyers moved for a mistrial on the basis of this incident. The judge declined to rule on that motion while the trial was in progress.
Schnitt and his wife argued that they had been shamefully badgered by an on-air bully. Clem's attorneys responded that Clem was only exercising his First Amendment right to present entertaining content for his radio show. The jury agreed with Clem, or at least decided that the Schnitts had not been defamed and were not entitled to damages.
After the verdict, Schnitt was quoted as having tweeted, "I feel good that we took the high road and will always be comfortable with the fact that we did the right thing. My wife & I were protecting our reputations & also standing up for so many others who have been defamed, but didn't have the means to fight."
Clem's lawyers' post-trial analysis emphasized the importance of their defense of the First Amendment. Clem himself was quoted by the Tampa Bay Times as following that with the commitment, "I'm not going to change what I do. I'm the people's hammer."
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