Lawsuit filed re: death of jumper near Aiken

[trubandloki]

His little threat at the end had me giggling.

He also, clearly, removed all the comments and set the post to not allow commenting.

He has other posts about this case too.
I am not sure these photos and explanation help him as much as he thinks they do.

He is basically saying that yes, she left the horse tied at an elevation that it could not reach its water buckets or relax its head (to cough or just nap), all while claiming it had colic symptoms, and off to a show she went, not telling anyone it was tied short and already in distress.

[Ghazzu]

Lawyers typically advise clients to STFU. Did he sleep through that lecture in law school?

[Paint_Party]

@trubandloki

His little threat at the end had me giggling.

Me too. It vaguely reminded me of the K Family’s legal bloviating.

[endlessclimb]

The horse looks quite thin and poorly muscled. I think I’d keep that picture to myself if I were them, even if I were trying to recreate something.

[skydy]

That’s shocking. If I hired an attorney who posted about my case on social media I’d find a different attorney, very quickly.

[BraveSC]

John Harte plead guilty in 2009 to money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Stand up guy alright!

[Annie10]

How was he not disbarred?

[skydy]

It takes a lot of bad behavior for an attorney to be disbarred. The first punishment is most often a suspension. I have no idea what they did with this guy.

Perhaps one of the many attorneys we have here can give us sense of how it works. I’m sure punishments vary depending on the State.

[Annie10]

Isn’t at least one if those charges as felony? I thought they got disbarred for a felony conviction.
Although I suppose if he pled they could have withheld adjudication. But those are financial offenses and the bar does not look upon that kindly at all

[Paint_Party]

@BraveSC

John Harte plead guilty in 2009 to money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Stand up guy alright!

Oh good lord.

I’m all for people having second acts to their lives and reforming themselves. But aren’t there plenty of attorneys out there who did not plead guilty to such charges?

[skydy]

True, but every State Bar has great discretion when it comes to punishment, I don’t think a conviction is an automatic disbarment.

Just goes to show that due diligence is important when you hire an attorney.

[Annie10]

Absolutely. Very apropos for me, I did all the due diligence and hired a lawyer and roofer after roof damage from Ian.
It ended up being a total nightmare, which complaints with two state agencies filed against the roofer and just sent my bar complaint off on the lawyer a couple of weeks ago. It’s not anything that warrants prison time or anything, but his behavior definitely was a violation of the rules.

[trubandloki]

@Paint_Party

But aren’t there plenty of attorneys out there who did not plead guilty to such charges?

I am sure she wanted a lawyer who would go on social media and threaten the whole world who dared to actually think past their dog and pony show. Those are harder to find. I guess you have to ignore the whole plead guilty thing to find one who fits that criteria.

[Aussie_2020]

I didn’t look at this guy’s Facebook posting, seeing the flag front and center was enough for me. I learned in 2015 when someone displays the flag in an ostentatious way, coupled with apparent rage posting, that they won’t be of interest to me.

[Rel6]

@skydy

Perhaps one of the many attorneys we have here can give us sense of how it works. I’m sure punishments vary depending on the State.

That is exactly it. I knew of an attorney who committed fraud and was admitted in NY and NJ, and was only disbarred in NY. The general thing we are taught in law school is that it is harder to be admitted than it is to be disbarred - meaning the same felony conviction that could prevent you from passing character and fitness and becoming an attorney might not be enough to get you disbarred.

[LilRanger]

It’s too bad he doesn’t file water marks like this:

[axl]

https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/usef-expels-hunter-jumper-trainer-shannon-eckel/

[skydy]

I hope that USEF expels Andy Kocher when his FEI suspension is over. We’ll see then if TPTB are serious about horse welfare and “social license”.

I can’t imagine USEF being legally obligated to keep as member of their club someone who has given electric shocks to horses via his spurs (intentionally modified for the purpose.)

[skydy]

Aaand… this is why your attorney should not be posting online about your case:
(From the COTH article)

In May 2023, Cobain’s owner, Sarah Mennen, filed a civil suit against Eckel in South Carolina’s Court for negligence, gross negligence, carelessness and recklessness, breach of contract, breach of bailment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the suit, Mennen alleged that Eckel tied Cobain to the highest rail of the stall wall by a rope halter and lead, and after being left unsupervised Cobain struggled until he died. In November 2024, the case was settled in mediation outside of court with no finding of fault recorded against Eckel. As part of the settlement, Mennen and Eckel entered into a confidentiality agreement concerning the terms of the settlement."

" In March, social media posts from people not involved in the case began circulating online accusing Eckel of killing Cobain. Eckel subsequently sued a dozen people and entities who posted about Cobain’s death for libel, slander or defamation. Two of those defendants have retained Mennen’s lawyer Greg Collins to represent them, and he is now requesting, with Mennen’s consent, that the confidentiality agreement be lifted for use in the new suit. In that request, he said that Eckel and Harte have commented online about the details of the case.

“Due to truth being the main defense” for his clients, Collins wrote in a May 12 court filing, he asked that the confidentiality agreement be lifted for the purposes of defending them in Eckel’s defamation suit."

[LilRanger]

Oh snap!