In October 2015, Gilbert Arenas filed a lawsuit against his ex, Laura Govan, claiming that she slandered him in the media by leaking emails to blogs and alleging that Gilbert slept with her cousins, friends and had given her STDs.
According to court documents, Laura’s attorney filed two motions. One was an anti-SLAPP motion. Anti-SLAPP is basically a California law that protects the rights to free speech. The other motion filed was a motion to dismiss the case. Unfortunately for Laura, on May 16 both motions were denied by the judge.
The anti-SLAPP motion was denied because it was filed too late. By California law, the anti-SLAPP motion is to be filed within 60 days of the complaint. With permission from the judge, the due date can be extended. Laura’s motion was filed 183 days after the complaint, and without the judge’s okay. Laura pleads that she needed the extra time because she was having trouble affording a lawyer. You may recall the judge got on Laura last week for not making up her mind about who she wanted to represent her in court. According to Michael Heicklen, the lawyer that filed the motion, he was hired to only do JUST that — file the motion.
Then there’s the case of the STDs. According to court docs, not only was she not able to prove Gilbert Arenas has an STD, she always wasn’t able to prove that he had ever given her one. The judge also argues that one’s sexual life isn’t public interest and that Laura has not been able to prove why it should be.
Shockingly, the lawsuit says that Laura admitted to writing the emails that falsely accused Arenas of giving her an STD, and sent them to blogs in an attempt to publicly embarass him.
Unfortunately for Laura, she has been found guilty of defamation and will have to go back to court to hear the judgement.
