James Littleton, who is seeking to unseat Leflore County Court Judge Kevin Adams, has added three more defendants to his defamation lawsuit against the incumbent.
In a third amended complaint, filed last month, Littleton added John Pittman Hey, the manager of The Taxpayers Channel; the Greenwood Taxpayers for Good Government; and Imagicomm Communications LLC, which owns three Greenville-based television stations that serve Greenwood, Greenville and Cleveland.
Littleton originally filed his suit in September, alleging that Adams, along with Adams’ wife, Tammy, and campaign worker Charlie Stevenson defamed him by handing out campaign flyers that featured headlines from past Commonwealth articles about controversies surrounding Littleton.
Adams has denied the flyers were defamatory and has since filed a countersuit, claiming allegations made by Littleton on radio ads are defamatory.
The two will face off Tuesday in a nonpartisan election that has gotten unusually heated for a judicial race.
Hey originally broke the news of Littleton’s lawsuit against Adams in September.
Littleton claims Hey “distributed false and misleading information to the Greenwood Commonwealth and Imagicomm” about a lawsuit filed by Littleton’s mother, Bonnie Littleton, and sister, Melaney Littleton, in August over a property dispute but failed to mention Littleton suing his mother and others for trespassing in May.
Contacted Thursday, Hey disputed the allegation and noted that his initial reporting, published on Sept. 26, did mention the details of Littleton’s trespassing lawsuit.
“He doesn’t actually accuse me of telling anything that’s false,” Hey said.
He said he had not been served as of Thursday with the lawsuit but has obtained a copy of it.
Hey said he isn’t sure why Littleton is suing the Greenwood Taxpayers for Good Government as it is a “defunct organization.” Hey said he manages The Taxpayers Channel himself, writing stories and keeping up with the website.
Littleton claims in his lawsuit that Hey is “working in concert with others to conduct a smear campaign against James Littleton for and on behalf of Kevin Adams,” but Hey calls the claim “ridiculous” and said he has had very few if any interactions with Adams.
“Certainly I’m not in a conspiracy with anybody,” Hey said.
Littleton’s lawsuit also targets Imagicomm, which in August purchased the three Greenville-based news stations, along with 15 others around the country.
He claims that the broadcaster on or about Sept. 27 carried on its 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts the report from Hey that included the lawsuit against Littleton from Littleton’s mother and sister, but without mentioning Littleton’s trespassing lawsuit. He also alleges that the newscasts “prominently displayed” the flyer that Littleton claims is defamatory. He does not specify which news station or stations allegedly aired the report.
Littleton also has modified his original claim that the Commonwealth had prepared the disputed campaign flyer for Adams. The Commonwealth’s editor and publisher, Tim Kalich, has denied any involvement by the newspaper, and Adams himself has acknowledged he was solely responsible for the flyer’s preparation.
The new filing now states that Adams “prepared and falsified Greenwood Commonwealth’s copyright and information” on the flyers.
Littleton, who is currently serving as a Leflore County Justice Court judge, also indicates his lawsuit could be broadened to include more defendants. The filing alleges that there are one to 10 unidentified individuals “working closely with some of the Defendants named herein which will be added to this complaint in the event that evidence is obtained of their involvement.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
