A Chattooga County couple is suing the owner of a Rome-based Web site for publishing statements that allege their involvement in criminal activity.
In a lawsuit filed this week in Floyd County Superior Court, Ed and Brenda Hammitt are accusing Teresa Watson of committing libel against them by publishing statements on her Web site, RomeNewsByWatson.com.
The suit — filed by Summerville attorneys Bobby Lee Cook, Jon Dennis and Rex Abernathy — alleges Watson has engaged in “ongoing libels” on her Web site and seeks $1 million in damages.
Cook on Wednesday cited a previous Georgia case that held the “repeater” of slanderous statements liable to legal action. He also wants Watson to produce evidence of other alleged false statements published on her site concerning him.
“She has made bold and venomous statements that are admissible in this preceding,” he said. “It goes toward her motive and intent, and that has been the law for a hell of a long time.”
She has been publishing a series of stories alleging illegal activity by Cook.
Watson on Wednesday said her attorney, whom she declined to name, advised her not to comment on the case.
In statements posted on her site, however, Watson called the suit a “pattern of intimidation in an effort to stifle the free press.”
The site states that she plans to file complaints against Cook and Dennis with the State Bar of Georgia.
“I did not make the statements complained about, my reader did, so I cannot be sued” Watson wrote. “This is therefore abusive litigation.”
