Colleyville mayor ordered to pay $200K in attorneys’ fees in dismissed defamation suit
Eight years after he filed a libel and defamation lawsuit related to a leaflet critical of his personal behavior, Colleyille Mayor Bobby Lindamood has been ordered to pay about $200,000 in fees to attorneys who represent the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit, filed in May 2015 on the day before an election, alleged Lindamood’s former stepmother, former stepsister and others conspired with his incumbent opponent, Mike Taylor, and allies to produce and distribute literature known as an alert. It contained what the lawsuit asserted was an altered Lindamood deposition in a probate matter involving Lindamood father’s estate. Notations on the political document suggested Lindamood had engaged in misconduct and improper behavior.
The suit was dismissed in 348th District Court in Tarrant County in an order underpinned by the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The anti-SLAPP statute protects people who discuss matters of public concern from retaliation. Elements of the lawsuit were also considered by the Second Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit’s final judgment was filed on May 25. Lindamood was not immediately available for comment on Friday.
The document was mailed to voters and could be expected to damage Lindamood and his business, JR’s Demolition & Excavation Inc., according to a lawsuit claim.
The conclusions were false and a smear, Lindamood argued.
“Dirty politics is alive and well in Colleyville, Texas,” Lindamood’s attorneys, Bruce James, Patrick Rose and Thomas Harkins, wrote in the lawsuit.
Taylor has said neither he nor his campaign team was involved in the literature’s release.
Beyond Taylor, the defendants were Kayla Lindamood, Maranda Collins, Jan Mogged, James Fletcher and the Protect Colleyville political action committee.
Whether the city should make Glade Road wider was a central issue about which Lindamood and Taylor disagreed in the campaign that occurred during the lawsuit’s filing. Lindamood lost the 2015 election and defeated incumbent Chuck Mogged in 2016. He was elected mayor in 2022.
