Ellis County Observer publisher Joey Dauben battles sex-abuse charge, effort to seize domain name, saying both are part of plan to silence him
Joey Dauben
A legal drama playing out in two counties south of Dallas involving a former muckraking website publisher appears to be raising First Amendment issues, and it might also offer a good lesson in decorum for anyone who likes to get online to express an opinion or repeat what they’ve heard or seen.
Joey Dauben, publisher of the Ellis County Observer, is fighting back against law enforcement agencies’ efforts to seize the domain name EllisCountyObserver.com in connection with his prosecution in Ellis County on charges of “fraudulent use or possession of identifying information.”
Dauben sent out a flurry of press releases this week to local, state and national publications in an effort to draw attention to his battle. The releases included a copy of his answer to the petition in the case by the plaintiff, The State of Texas, which asks Judge Bob Carroll of the 40th Judicial District Court in Ellis County to order Dauben to forfeit the domain name.
The case is odd because journalists charged with crimes in connection with their reports usually are working in foreign countries, not within U.S. boundaries. Civil lawsuits typically are the route disgruntled subjects of media reports take when they seek remedies, but in Dauben’s case the Red Oak Police Department filed criminal charges.
Dauben, who is serving as his own attorney in the proceeding, asked the court to dismiss the action pursuant to the Texas Citizens Act because it “constitutes a retaliatory action initiated by the State of Texas in regards to communications made on this forum by the owner of the website and domain name.”
The Ellis County District Attorney responded in a letter that First Amendment rights are not relevant in asset forfeiture cases, and he argued that the publisher should not be afforded a court-appointed attorney in the criminal case because he is no longer in jail, according to Dauben.
Authorities maintain Dauben should forfeit the asset because he allegedly committed a felony in the summer of 2011 by publishing on his website copies of documents that revealed the name, address, phone number and work history of a Red Oak man whose ex-wife accused the man of molesting their child.
Dauben also allegedly threatened the man with violence on his website, according to an indictment returned by an Ellis County grand jury in January. The publisher said in a telephone interview that he wrote the man should “die” if he had molested the child.
The man’s ex-wife, who provided Dauben with the copies of the documents, was later charged with filing a false police report, and Dauben issued a public apology to the man on his website. Dauben claimed in his recent press release that Ellis County officials are now “criminalizing a civil matter.”
Dauben also alleged in the press release that law enforcement officials who fear and resent his commitment to exposing corruption are attempting to permanently silence him and ensure that all of the websites and newspapers he published under the Freedom of the Press LLC banner are shut down as well.
“By criminalizing the publication of news articles or opinions, no matter how controversial, with indictments, imprisonments, and now seizures of the media properties, especially a website that has demolished the political corruption in this county for several years, it validates everything I’ve been writing about and exposing,” Dauben said in the press release. “Freedom of the Press is under a full-fledged assault by the forces I have spent more than a decade exposing, but despite this latest attempt and other restrictions placed upon me by other powers and principalities, I will not cease my main role in exposing evil.”
Dauben has enraged many public officials in the small counties south of Dallas, including gay former Seven Points Mayor Joe Dobbs and his partner, a police officer, who were the subject of Dauben’s criticism. Dobbs wound up resigning as mayor before his term expired after being charged by Henderson County officials with abuse of office and in connection with allegedly interfering with a law enforcement investigation.
Dobbs’ partner, Michael Tayem, also was charged in connection with a complaint filed by a citizen alleging he was brutalized by police.
Dauben, who is 31, initially was arrested at his home office on Cedar Creek Lake in late December 2011 on charges he engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old male teenager four years ago in 2007 during a church camping trip. That case was filed by the Navarro County District Attorney following a Texas Rangers investigation.
Dauben, who has proclaimed his innocence of the charges, was jailed for two months on a $200,000 bond. The publisher said although he asked for a court-appointed attorney after declaring he was indigent, he didn’t receive representation until after the Dallas Voice made phone calls to the judge’s office and published a story on its blog, Instant Tea.
The Ellis County indictment, which was issued in connection with a raid on his home office last summer that resulted in his computer equipment being seized, was returned against him while he was in jail.
The bond on the four-count sexual assault charge was lowered to $50,000 after Dauben obtained legal representation, and he was released on the condition that he refrain from using the Internet, wear an ankle monitor, remain in the area of Ellis and Navarro counties, report to probation officers in both counties weekly and not get within 200 yards of any children.
Dauben vowed that he would continue to fight all of the charges against him and resist the state’s efforts to seize his website’s domain name. He has asked for a jury trial.
Ellis County officials managed to get several other of his websites in Texas shutdown, but a Florida judge barred them from closing down one in Tallahassee on First Amendment grounds, Dauben said. “They’ve got a fight on their hands,” Dauben said. “I don’t give in or give up easily, no matter the odds.”
Prosecutors in Navarro County reportedly offered Dauben a 10-year prison sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. If convicted at trial, his punishment could amount to life in prison.
Dauben said in the press release he was also still committed to exposing corruption in government. “If I’m left with a crayon and construction paper, I’ll keep exposing the cesspool I’ve fought for years to drain,” Dauben said.
Dauben, whose media career has spanned 11 years since he started work as a reporter for a local newspaper, launched the Ellis County Observer in October 2005. In 2009 Dauben was jailed for 12 days in lieu of a $1.5 million bond for publishing the mug shot of a Combine police officer in connection with one of his investigative news reports.
After his release from jail, Dauben sued and received a financial settlement from the city of Combine in 2011.
If Dauben, who said he believes all of the criminal charges facing him are the product of a conspiracy to silence him, manages to get out of the jam in which he currently finds himself, he has vowed to operate his publications with more restraint. And that’s a good point for anyone who wants to become a blogger to remember.
David Webb has covered LGBT issues for the mainstream and alternative media for three decades. Contact him at davidwaynewebb@yahoo.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 20, 2012.
Oh the irony of a rapist (of all things) denouncing our people’s government as a “cesspool”!
Media career? Since when does being a blogger of fake newspapers be considered a”media career”. Since when does working as a parking lot attendant be considered as part of the credentials necessary to become a publisher?
Finally but most importantly, when is the sexual assault of a boy that includes four felony counts part of some”conspiracy” to shut him up? Dauben is as delusional as ever. He should really follow his attorney’s advice and keep quiet. We all knew that once he was bailed out, he would want to do something to keep the focus on him.
Dauben realized that he was duped by this mother and tried to cover his butt after realizing he was used to make false allegations. What did he learn? Apparently not a thing as he went on to make other allegations against anyone and everyone if someone came to him to”expose” someone…usually a mother that wanted to lash out against an ex. Dauben’s story never added up. Last fall he talked about how he was so glad to have a girlfriend that was understanding and supportive but the problem was this”girlfriend” didn’t exist. Last I read, he manipulated some teenage girl to pretend to be his”girlfriend” so a jury might have doubts about convicting him of the child sexual assault charges. Next time he really should find a female that doesn’t look like a child before he attempts such a ruse.
Well Dauben was managing editor of the Ellis County Press for a number of years. I think that qualifies as journalism. And he did have a REAL girlfriend last fall, her name was Kisha, cute and around 28 years old.
It is sad only the people who hate him have the tenacity to keep posting on articles about him.
Like it or not, the Internet and its blogs are steadily gaining prominence over traditional printed publications and playing a substantial role in the dissemination of information in the media to the public. Anyone who launches a blog becomes a publisher, and that can be accomplished in a very short period of time. Its important for bloggers to be knowledgeable about accepted standards of journalism and realize they need to comply with them. Although Dauben started off as a traditional reporter for a local newspaper and presumably learned those standards, he apparently chose to ignore them when he launched his blog. That’s part of the reason he is in the jam he is in today. Journalists have a responsibility to be accurate and fair. If they don’t, there will likely be consequences.
Kisha? Really so what happened to this “girlfriend”? Did their relationship deflate after she developed a leak?
What has Dauben ever done that has shown he followed any journalism standards? All I have ever read from him seemed to be him being a vehicle of some vendetta one person had against another. He talked about putting a bullet in a police officer’s head. He paid someone to get information for the police department’s computer. He knew that these events that he participated in during the past few years were going to haunt them. Very unlikely the focus of his “media empire” would change soon after he was contacted by the Texas Rangers. He is delusional as far as his impact in exposing corruption. The only impact Dauben has had is he has shown the people need to very careful in who they associate with online. He posted photos of children in articles where he made allegations against people solely on what someone told him. Since when is that journalism? He attacked that teacher claiming that she was abusing a child in school. He attacked numerous fathers without any proof. He’d mix in some conspiracy garbage to muddy the situation even more. I hope the district attorney’s office looks into the period of time following the 5 charges of misusing that father’s personal information. He did the same to other parents where he made death threats and encouraged others to “take the law into their own hands”.
The months leading up to his arrest was an attempt to create doubt for a jury deciding his fate. What option does he have to say that this is all some vast conspiracy to shut him up?
Funny , how quickly people forgot that Joey is a scammer . What about those wonderful FAKE websites he was “affiliated” with ? Oh thats right , he was taking the fall for an imaginary Company . Why has someone not kicked his ass above his head yet ? Texas , you lost some points for that .
Here is an example regarding considering people like Dauben as a journalist.
“CRYSTAL COX DEFAMATION LAWSUIT: BLOGGER DENIED JOURNALISTIC PROTECTION AND RIGHTS
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
A judge presiding over the well-publicized Oregon defamation lawsuit involving Crystal Cox recently ruled against the self-styled, self-published investigative blogger. Cox was ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages and the decision has stirred online First Amendment crusaders.
The Crystal Cox Defamation Lawsuit Background
A self-described investigative blogger and whistle blower, Crystal Cox is a real estate agent by day and Internet vigilante by night. Among her cadre of websites was obsidianfinancialsucks.com, an outlet Ms. Cox used to accuse Kevin Padrick — one of Obsidian’s founding executives — of fraud, misappropriation of funds, lie telling, and a litany of other unscrupulous actions. Cox even insinuated Padrick may have hired an assassin to silence her.
As a result of her online accusations, Mr. Padrick decided to sue for defamation. He maintained his company lost considerable business thanks to Ms. Cox’s allegedly misleading statements. Padrick explained that the Internet was awash with Cox’s disparaging claims — a digital reality which damaged him financially.
Defamation Pro Se Trial
In court, representing herself “pro se,” Cox argued her blog posts were journalistic, of “pubic concern,” and that the Oregon retraction laws should apply to her situation (retraction laws allow journalists to correct or retract defamatory statements in lieu of compensatory damages.). Cox also characterized herself as a “whistle blower” exposing the unscrupulous practices in the finance world.
The Definition of Journalist When It Comes To Online Defamation Lawsuits
Judge, Marco A. Hernandez, however, rejected the assertion that Cox was a journalist.
By applying Oregon law, Hernandez ruled Cox could not be treated as a journalist since:
She did not have a formal education in journalism
She did not hold proof of affiliation with a recognized news entity
She arguably didn’t adhere to journalistic standards such as editing and fact checking
She did not keep notes of conversations and interviews conducted
She could not produce evidence that she had a mutual understanding or an agreement between the defendant and his or her sources
She did not contact the grieved party, before publishing, to get both sides of the story
Offering SEO Services Sunk Cox
In addition to the legal Oregon defamation elements noted above, perhaps the most damning piece of evidence against Cox was an email, presented as evidence by the defense, wherein Cox offered Padrick online reputation management services for $2,500 a month.
In the eyes of the court, the email helped in disqualifying Cox for journalistic immunity. After all, the offending email framed Cox as someone who was actively looking to profit off her statements, and thanks to the presence of the email, the defense could argue that Cox was essentially holding Padrick’s business reputation hostage.
The Right Defamation Decision…But At What Cost
Based on the above defamation definition elements — and the fact that Cox couldn’t prove wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Padrick — it’s no surprise that Obsidian and it’s executive emerged victorious.
That being said, many are concerned about the unintended First Amendment ramifications this decision may have on Internet bloggers in the future. Many wonder how well bloggers, who work for online magazines or news organizations, fit into the qualifying factors listed by Hernandez. For instance, not every blogger working for a news organization has a a journalism degree.
The defamation lawsuit of Crystal Cox is sure to play a role in future blogger defamation lawsuits; it’s established legal precedence that is certain to be tested and challenged in the coming years.
“
Dauben lost his “media empire” in a decision issued Friday!
https://www.ennisdailynews.com/news/blogger-loses-fight-for-blog/
Phil Banker, p…@ennisdailynews.com
Joseph Dauben’s fight to keep his website came to an abrupt end Friday morning, when a judge ruled the Ellis County Observer was rightfully seized.
Assistant District Attorney Ann Montgomery said Judge Bob Carroll held the site was contraband, and that it was rightfully forfeited to the state of Texas.
I bet he got out all those coloring book pages…err I mean press releases. Dauben’s empire consisted of a computer, microphone and his grandmother’s basement. There are so many delusional posts by Dauben throughout the net. One video he made paper copies of his bullsh*t and said that was proof that he was a publisher. It’s also interesting how Dauben gets out on bail and his little sidekick makes some more goofy videos. Wonder if what his buddy is doing has anything to do with the gag order hearing.