The Four Color Media Monitor

Far Out Magazine reports Scarlet Pavlovich's lawsuit against the disgraced Neil Gaiman was dismissed by the Wisconsin court:

The sexual assault lawsuit against author Neil Gaiman has come to an abrupt end after a judge dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds [...]

US District Judge James D Peterson of Wisconsin has now dismissed the case. He shared that case should be litigated in New Zealand, where the alleged events are alleged to have occurred, not in the US. The quick dismissal was based on the doctrine of “forum non conveniens”, which allows courts to dismiss cases better suited to another jurisdiction. [...]

Judge Peterson noted, “The only connection that Wisconsin or the United States has with this lawsuit is that Gaiman has a residence in this state and he may live here currently. All of the relevant events occurred in New Zealand, Pavlovich is a New Zealand citizen, both parties were living in New Zealand during the relevant time, all relevant evidence and most potential witnesses are located in New Zealand.”

He continued, “Under these circumstances, it is clear that New Zealand is the more appropriate forum for resolving this dispute, so the court will dismiss the case without prejudice. If Pavlovich sues Gaiman in New Zealand, and he refuses to accept service there, Pavlovich may move to reopen this case.”

This dismissal does not prove or deny Gaiman’s innocence, so studio sentiment towards the author is unlikely to change. The case has resulted in a huge loss of work for Gaiman, such as a movie based on his novel, The Graveyard Book, being abandoned entirely.

It's too bad for now the case was not accepted in the USA, though the court of public opinion can still be a greater form of punishment for a wrongdoer. It'll remain to be seen if Gaiman's willing to attend a trial in NZ, and there, everybody will be able to see if he's willing to cooperate with authorities. But if not, then we can only hope Pavlovich will try again stateside.

Movieweb, interestingly, says that:

The sexual assault lawsuit brought against Neil Gaiman has come to an unexpected and swift end after a Wisconsin federal judge dismissed the case on the grounds that it should have been brought in New Zealand when the claimed offenses took place, and not in the U.S. This technical ending of the case on jurisdictional grounds means that the actual facts of the case, and any jury’s possible view and verdict are now not about it be heard, which really does not put Gaiman in a favorable position.

[...] The court case against Gaiman was dismissed without prejudice, which means that Pavlovich can now pursue the case again through a New Zealand court. However, that may not be the end of his U.S. court dealings, as if Gaiman refuses to be served in New Zealand, then the case in the U.S. could be reopened in the future. There is also currently a case outstanding in Massachusetts federal court against Gaiman’s wife, Amanda Palmer, which is potentially going to receive the same dismissal on similar grounds.

However the legal case against Gaiman turns out, his career in comics, literature, TV and films is pretty much over, and his writings will very likely go out of print if they prove unsellable on the market.

Labels: Europe and Asia, history, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, violence