Defamation and harassment

26 February 2024 · Findings of fact

$1,064,234.75

Found liable for defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress

Judgment was entered for $907,002.13 — $257,002.13 compensatory and $250,000 punitive to his ex-wife; $200,000 compensatory and $200,000 punitive to her mother. A further $157,232.62 in attorneys' fees followed in July.

The court found he had published — in postcards mailed to his victims' neighbours and on his website, LinkedIn, GoFundMe and YouTube — false statements accusing them of serious criminal conduct. The court found the accusations had "no basis": there was "no evidence that Plaintiffs have been charged or investigated by any local, state, or federal agency for criminal conduct." He did so, the court found, "maliciously, intentionally and deliberately… to harass and injure," continuing "with full knowledge that his conduct was tortious."

The court also found he had posted in excess of 20 hours of video, most of it containing false criminal accusations, threats or other inflammatory statements.

The court found for the plaintiffs on Counts II, IV and V — defamation, invasion of privacy–false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress — and on Count VII, punitive damages.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas · Judge Brendan J. Sheehan · Stark v. Horner, No. CV-22-969917

See also. What he actually published is described in his own words. The same court, the same day, declared him a vexatious litigator.

19 May 2023 · Granted 2 August 2023

What liability was found on

The plaintiffs moved for summary judgment and sanctions and attached seventy-eight pages of exhibits. Almost all of it is his own material — emails he sent to opposing counsel, transcripts of videos he posted, and a transcript of him answering questions under oath in open court.

The motion was granted on 2 August 2023. That is the date liability was found; damages were assessed seven months later. The same court, the same day, entered a permanent injunction and declared him a vexatious litigator.

The extract published here is 37 pages of that filing. It includes the document he titled “Defendant's Petition for Discovery by Brute Force Attack,” his record of paying a $250 contempt fine in 25,000 pennies, an email he sent to three opposing lawyers with the trial judge copied in, and twenty pages of the hearing transcript.

Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and sanctions · Stark v. Horner, No. CV-22-969917 · 102 pages in the original

See also. More of what he filed and sent is collected in his own words, and dated in the chronology.

April–May 2025 · Enforcement

The judgment followed him to Tennessee

Two judgment liens were filed, and a certificate of judgment was issued to the Hamblen County Circuit Court in Tennessee, where he now lives. Both liens remain active. Interest accrues at 8%.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas · Nos. JL-25-285311 and JL-25-285776

See also. He was living in Tennessee by January 2021 — see the chronology.