Defendants accused of defaming former Rockingham County commissioner request judge who oversaw casino suit

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A new motion in a defamation lawsuit filed by a former Rockingham County commissioner could set up the defendants to hand-pick the judge presiding over the case.

Former Rockingham County Commissioner T. Craig Travis is suing Rockingham County Commissioner Kevin Berger, Diane Parnell, Donald Powell, Rockingham County Commissioner Mark Richardson, North Carolina Conservatives Fund, Atlas Political Consulting LLC and GOPAC, INC. for allegedly defaming him and causing him to lose the March primary race for county commissioner by narrow margin of three votes.

On July 12, the defendants of a defamation case filed earlier this summer filed to have the case designated as an exceptional case. This designation would allow them to choose one judge to preside over the case. They argue in the court documents that Travis has tied the allegations to the ongoing issue of a casino being built in Rockingham County which complicates the case.

“This case will also benefit from the management of a single judge. There are seven Defendants, and each Defendant will likely file multiple pre-trial motions that will present similar legal issues,” the document states.

The defendants ask that Special Superior Court Judge Clayton Somers preside, as he presided over a factually similar lawsuit filed by the operators of Camp Carefree, a special needs children’s camp adjacent to the proposed casino site.

“Judge Somers was appointed as a Rule 2.1 judge in the similar case of Camp Carefree, Inc. v. Rockingham County, Case No. 23-CV-2013 filed in Rockingham County Superior Court. That case also concerned the same rezoning actions by the Board of Commissioners. As such, plaintiff alleges several similar factual allegations in this matter as presented in the Camp Carefree litigation. Judge Somers therefore has familiarity with several facts and allegations in this case.”

Somers dismissed the Camp Carefree lawsuit on March 21 , citing a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Somers was appointed to the position of special Superior Court judge beginning Jan. 1 by the legislature. Prior to that, Somers worked as chief of staff for state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland), a staunch casino advocate, and as vice chancellor of public affairs for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The defendants say that they “anticipate extensive discovery disputes that would benefit from the management of a single judge. Before serving discovery on a single defendant, plaintiff has already issued nearly one dozen subpoenas to third parties. In addition, plaintiff has sent preservation notices to more third parties, presumably as a precursor to more subpoenas.”

“A single judge appointed to hear all pretrial, trial, and other matters is more likely to have the requisite familiarity with the factual and legal issues necessary for a fair and prompt disposition and will be able to reconsider or modify rulings, if necessary. Separate judges may have more difficulty exercising similar control over the course of the proceedings, especially since one judge cannot reconsider the ruling of another,” the motion reads.

They also claim that the case should be deemed exceptional due to the involvement of multiple public officials elected in Rockingham County and because certain information shared during discovery will need to remain confidential.

Travis responds

Travis responded to this motion, asking for the court to deny it. He said that, while the case does have multiple defendants, the individual defendants are represented by one attorney and the two entity defendants are represented by another.

Additionally, he said, “It is too early to determine the amount and nature of anticipated pretrial discovery and motions. No pretrial motions have been filed, with the exception of routine motions to quash filed by non-party subpoenees. No discovery has been served.”

Travis disputes the defendants’ claim that the case will be any more complex than any other civil case moving through the courts at the time, because, while the casino rezoning issues are part of the case, “the substantive claims in this action involve defamatory statements made by the defendants about plaintiff in connection with the 2024 Republican primary election in
Rockingham County.

“The legal issues in this case are far less complex than in many other non-exceptional civil actions pending in Wake County. The evidentiary matters may, arguably, be somewhat more complex in this case than in other defamation cases as result of factual matters related to the motives of the defendants in making defamatory statements about plaintiff, the coordination of the defendants in publishing the defamatory statements, and the aggravating factors that support plaintiffs request for punitive damages.”

Ultimately, Travis argues that “neither the familial relationship of any defendant to person
in position of power nor the likelihood that relevant evidence may be in the possession of state
legislators and/or employees should render this case exceptional” and asks the courts to deny their motion.

The defamation suit

Travis, who served on the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners from 2011-2022 and lost in the 2024 Republican primary, filed the lawsuit in June, claiming that the defendants have defamed him, stemming from the protracted battle over a potential casino in Rockingham County.

“When the plaintiff [Travis] campaigned on his opposition to the pro-casino measures supported by the incumbent commissioners and opposed by the majority of residents of Rockingham County, the defendant commissioners sought to discredit him by publishing defamatory statements to voters in the 2024 Republican primary election,” the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit, Travis says he did not run in 2022 due to his belief in term limits, but, in 2023 leading up to the 2024 primary, he decided to run again after citizens who also opposed the proposed casino reached out to him. Documents lay out in detail Travis’s belief that Commissioner Kevin Berger and other members of the board acted inappropriately in their attempts to bring a casino to Rockingham County, including closed-door meetings that would violate North Carolina statute and multiple donations from lobbyists and officials associated with Cordish Companies, whom it was believed had been courted to build the proposed casinos.

Travis claims that, due to his opposition to the casino proposition, the campaign messages and social media posts about his candidacy rose above typical political mudslinging.

Beginning on Feb. 8, 2022, and continuing through March 5, 2024, the lawsuit says, “Defendant [Donald] Powell falsely stated to many people that Mr. Travis had vandalized his vehicle. Specifically, Defendant Powell falsely stated that, on February 8, 2022, Mr. Travis had engaged in criminal conduct by ripping the valve stems out of the tires on his vehicle.”

Diane Parnell, the chairwoman of the Rockingham County Republican Party and another defendant, appeared to accuse Travis of stealing campaign signs for the other candidates running for the Board of Commissioners, according to the lawsuit.

Parnell allegedly said, “When you do not see signs for [Powell], [Berger], Ben Curtis and [Richardson], they have been stolen. Signs put out at 5 and gone by 8… signs replaced… and the ‘dark side’ is out there again… stealing campaign signs…”

Removing campaign signs that are legally placed is a crime under North Carolina State Statute .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.