Jawort v. Gideon Knox, LLC, et al.

In May 2021, the Montana Daily Gazette posted an article falsely attacking Adrian Jawort, a lobbyist for Montana Native Voice. While the article is largely an anti-trans tirade, Adrian objected only to a false statement about her conduct in the Montana Capitol. Adrian asked the author and publisher of the article, Jordan “J.D.” Hall, to remove the false statement. When he refused, Adrian filed suit.

From there, the case twisted and turned but in May 2022, after filing for bankruptcy, Jordan Hall agreed to a settlement. Pursuant to that settlement, Hall posted a correction to the original article and publicly apologized to Jawort, writing, “The information I published about Adrian was false. Adrian did not threaten or harass Senator Butch Gillespie. I regret the error and sincerely apologize to Adrian for publishing it.”

Filings / Press

Amended Complaint (Sept 20, 2021).

Defendants' Answer (Oct. 7, 2021)

Darrell Ehrlick, Native transgender lobbyist sues conservative news website for libel, Daily Montanan (Sept. 7, 2021)

Defendants' Counterclaim (Sept. 14, 2021)

Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim and Brief in Support (Sept. 28, 2021)

Defendants' Response in Opposition (Oct. 20, 2021)

Plaintiff's Reply in Support (Nov. 3, 2021)

Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim (Jan. 25, 2022)

Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Brief in Support (Oct. 28, 2021)

Defendants' Response in Opposition (Nov. 22, 2021)

Plaintiff's Reply in Support (Dec. 6, 2021)

Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Jan.25, 2022)

Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and Brief in Support (Oct. 7, 2021)

Plaintiff's Response in Opposition (Oct. 28, 2021)

Defendants' Reply in Support (Nov. 22, 2021)

Order Denying Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Jan. 25, 2022)

Darrell Ehrlick, War of words: Case involving transgender lobbyist against Baptist minister moves ahead, Daily Montanan (Nov. 7, 2021)

Mark Berryman, First two rounds go to Jawort in lawsuit against Hall/Knox, Sidney Herald (Jan. 28, 2022)

Plaintiff's Motion to Change Venue and Brief in Support (Nov. 24, 2021)

Defendants' Response in Opposition (Dec. 13, 2021)

Plaintiff's Reply in Support (Dec. 27, 2021)

Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion to Change Venue (Jan. 28, 2022)

Darrell Ehrlick, Pastor says media shield law protects him, while lobbyist wants trial moved from Sidney, Daily Montanan (Nov. 30, 2021)

Mike Dennison, Libel case against Sidney pastor moved to Great Falls, KTVH Helena, (Jan. 30, 2022)

Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions and Brief in Support (Jan. 27, 2022)

Darrell Ehrlick, Lobbyist, lawyers file for sanctions in suit involving Sidney pastor, Daily Montanan (Jan. 27, 2022)

Mike Dennison, Judge asked to sanction pastor for alleged threats in libel suit, KTVH Helena (Jan. 27, 2022)

Defendants' Petition for Writ of Supervisory Control (Feb. 1, 2022)

Order Denying Defendants' Petition for Writ of Supervisory Control (Feb. 8, 2022)

Defendants declare bankruptcy, staying all proceedings (Feb. 14, 2022)

Darrell Ehrlick, Sidney pastor files for bankruptcy, putting a stop to a sanction hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Daily Montanan (Feb. 15, 2022)

Mike Dennison, Montana pastor facing libel suit files for bankruptcy, thereby blocking the lawsuit, KRTV Great Falls (Feb. 15, 2022)

Settlement Agreement (May 23, 2022)

Darrell Ehrlick, Pastor apologizes, retracts article about transgender Native lobbyist, fabricated incident, Daily Montanan (May 24, 2022)

Mark Berryman, Hall settles lawsuit, admits to fabricating story about Gillespie conflict, Sidney Herald (May 25, 2022)

Jonathon Ambarian, Montana pastor apologizes to transgender activist, settles libel suit, KTVQ Billings (May 26, 2022)

Arren Kimbel-Sannit, The gospel — and the GOP — according to J.D. Hall, Montana Free Press (Sept. 13, 2022)