Mater Dei Hazing Incident

Good example.  If you ask 100 people over the age of 55 what they recall about the McMartin preschool case, nearly all will recall it being about child molestation, but only a handful will know (or recall) that the defendants were found not guilty.  The accusations were front page material, the outcome of the trial not so much.

Those people were drawn and quartered in the court of public opinion.

Quite so RSM, and another big difference is that in the hazing case against MD, while the lawyer and the plaintiff stood to gain monetarily in that case, the former Athletic Director had nothing to gain monetarily by her testimony of the facts as she saw them. The Servite cases have no one other than those who stand to gain monetarily. Purely fortune hunters IMHO, who also have an ax to grind for (according to their own stories) being disciplined for cheating on a test in one case, and possession of drugs on campus in the other.    

I thought all might find this post from another board instructive. Especially, given the vitriol of the early comments regarding the alleged incident.


Post by res ipsa loquitur » Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:37 pm

Returning to make a single post as the media has decided to go silent and move on—acting notably more friendly towards MD/Rollo without updating the public regarding the full resolution of this case. In short, plaintiff dropped his case last month.

Details below for those who care to read one last longwinded post from me.



*****


As you know, the court had dismissed the hazing claims. As I also noted in my previous “last” post, Mater Dei had filed a motion accusing plaintiff of improperly withholding documents, namely a trove of texts and emails where he contemporaneously discussed the fight. That turned out to be true. Plaintiff had many texts and emails with his parents and others that were not properly turned over, and these (along with video and other evidence) proved his story and the media reports to be lies. Similar to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago/FBI case, a special master was ordered to be appointed to go through the withheld documents, and plaintiff was required to pay for these substantial costs.

Since then, Mater Dei filed a motion to unseal the case and force plaintiff to proceed by his real name. This was significant because, as Mater Dei’s motion noted, the order sealing the case had prevented Mater Dei from defending itself publicly regarding the allegations. But, there is well established precedent that you can’t proceed in a lawsuit under an alias to prevent a defendant from talking about the case publicly/defending itself while simultaneously launching a media campaign against that defendant.

That motion was going to be heard this month, and Mater Dei was going to win (defendant didn’t even file an opposition). In addition, Mater Dei explicitly accused plaintiff’s public statements and the media reporting of being “defamatory.” This was a signal that, while plaintiff’s fabricated hazing case was falling apart, Mater Dei was ready to file a defamation suit and set the record straight publicly.

With that motion about to be heard, a private conference was suddenly scheduled with the judge at plaintiff’s request. Mater Dei expressed no interest in settling and simply paying plaintiff to go away. About a week after the private conference with the judge, plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal.

While there is technically a settlement (details confidential), rest assured, there was no big payday for plaintiff. Rather, the benefit to him was simply avoiding embarrassment and his own future costs of litigating a losing case and defending against a defamation lawsuit. (Note the difference between the end of this case and end of past OC Diocese sex abuse cases that GA96 has reposted numerous times. In those case, wrong-doing was admitted, the same law firm that initially brought the hazing case was involved, and the plaintiffs in those cases got articles about them touting the settlement amounts and how justice was served—and rightly so).

To be clear, none of this was a proud moment for Mater Dei. It’s sad that there was ever any fight on campus. It’s sad that over the decades one can find other fights or even bullying with MD football (God knows at no higher rate than at other schools and with no instances, other than in the instant matter where plaintiff lied, where players (including starters) weren’t properly punished to the point of even expulsion, when warranted). However, as even many haters have admitted, it’s impossible to prevent everything (especially over the course of years and years with hundred of different kids). Regardless, everything that has been posted on here about what Mater Dei should have done to prevent the fight in this case, take care of any injuries, and punish offenders was done and then some. Plaintiff and the media lied about the circumstances of the fight, the fight itself, plaintiffs (shockingly minor) injuries, the lack of prompt treatment by trainers, and MDs handling of things after the fact—no favoritism in punishment, no retaliation against plaintiff, Rollo’s quote totally out of context and misrepresented, the former AD’s testimony selectively cited in reports in a purposely misleading way. Nevertheless, Mater Dei knows it’s held to a higher standard (notice the lack of commensurate posts about the fight involving players at the end of the Amat vs. Damien game). And it should soon release a report about what it still could have done/will do better to ensure athlete safety.

The journalistic malpractice (and probable illegality) involved here was beyond the pale. I know some will continue to hate, ignore the truth, and dismiss me as untrustworthy or a liar (even though you could independently verify everything I’ve said with a credit card payment and request for digital copies of the OC Superior Court’s records). GA96 will forever have Rollo with devil horns as an avatar. So be it. But given the total media wall silence (and dare I say circling of their wagons), I just wanted to make sure the truth is out there for those who care to find out but don’t know how/don’t have time to access and decipher court records

The ‘clock’ will run forever since they will never write this since it makes them looks bad. it also does not fit their narrative, and they will continue to despise MD.

what else is new in journalism? its almost across the board. how did we get here....

It's frustrating to not be able to share what I know about this case, except that virtually everything in the complaint was refuted within a month or two. This wasn't a lawsuit, it was the Salem witch trials.