Judge dismisses Morrissey defamation suit against private detective; appeal is planned

PETERSBURG – State Sen. Joe Morrissey said Thursday he plans to appeal a judge’s dismissal of a defamation suit brought against a Richmond private detective, adding he does not think the dismissal “clearly exonerated the defendant.”

Wednesday afternoon, General District Judge Thomas Bondurant dismissed the suit against Jimmie Lee Jarvis Jr. “with prejudice.” In Virginia, if a case is dismissed with prejudice, it is essentially over and cannot be resubmitted.

Morrissey and Jarvis disagree over the context of a comment Bondurant made before dismissing the case when he said sometimes public officials “have to take it on the chin” when constituents make comments such as the ones in a Jarvis tweet. In Virginia, public officials have the extra burden of proving the defendant knows his statements were false but still maliciously makes them.

In a 2022 tweet, Jarvis called Morrissey many names, including “liar,” “violent thug” and “predator.” After Morrissey announced plans to sue, Jarvis submitted more than 300 documents of news accounts and other records reporting on the senator’s previous encounters with law enforcement, among others.

Morrissey also claimed Jarvis called him a “slaveowner” in a previous tweet after showing a picture of Morrissey and his now-estranged wife dressed in Antebellum garb.

In announcing his decision, Bondurant said, “When you’re a public figure, sometimes you just have to take it on the chin.”

“Joe is a public figure,” Jarvis told The Progress-Index Thursday morning. “The truth is on my side.”

“Don’t think for a moment the judge exonerated the defendant,” Morrissey responded in a later conversation with The Progress-Index. He said Bondurant acknowledged Morrissey’s “super hard burden” proving malicious defamation, adding that before his “take it on the chin” comment, the judge said, “Senator Morrissey, I get it.”

On the photo in question, Morrissey said it was taken at a vintage photo gallery in Virginia Beach where visitors can dress up in all kinds of costumes and pose. It was his wife’s idea to use the antebellum costumes, Morrissey said.

“I believe he went too far by calling me a slaveowner,” Morrissey said of Jarvis.

The lawsuit

Morrissey sued Jarvis for $25,000 plus generating interest in damages in 2022 after Jarvis called Morrissey a “violent thug,” a “liar” and a “predator” on Twitter after Morrissey was censured by the Richmond City Democratic Committee over an altercation with a Petersburg resident at a meeting in Del. Kim Taylor’s office. Jarvis claimed the tweet was based on fact, not opinion, and had submitted more than 300 pages of documentation covering Morrissey’s assorted run-ins with the law.

In Virginia and other states, defamation per se [as Morrissey claimed in his suit], is defined as statements “so egregious that they will always be considered defamatory and are assumed to harm the plaintiff’s reputation without further need to prove that harm.” Statements considered defamation pro se include criminal offense involving moral turpitude, false statements about the plaintiff’s health, unfitness to hold a job or hurtful in the plaintiff’s profession or trade.

Morrissey’s past, which he has not shied away from publicly acknowledging, includes several run-ins with fellow attorneys and a charge of delinquency involving an underage office worker who bore his children and later became his wife. Morrissey was later pardoned by then-Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, of the delinquency charge.

Most recently, Morrissey and his now-estranged wife, Myrna, were involved in a public dispute over Morrissey claiming Myrna’s boyfriend physically abused the couple’s young children. The senator sued Myrna Morrissey for custody of the children, but a judge in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court dismissed the case.

In the situation that drew the censure from Richmond Democrats, a meeting to discuss the proposed Petersburg casino in January turned heated when Morrissey verbally challenged Dr. Lafayette Jefferson Jr. over the latter’s 2019 Facebook post commenting on the senator’s marriage. Jarvis, a member of the Richmond Democratic committee, pushed for the censure.

Jarvis said Thursday he was glad to see the judge “see [the defamation case] as meritless” and claimed Morrissey’s lawsuit was just a political tactic to silence his detractors.

“He’s just using the system to suppress his constituents,” Jarvis said.

Morrissey confirmed his appeal to the Petersburg Circuit Court, saying the next people to hear it “will be a Petersburg jury.” No date has been set for any hearings yet.

Jarvis said he was not worried about any appeals Morrissey is making of the decision, adding “if it does go to appeal, they will see the same thing.”

Political fallout

Morrissey is currently embroiled in a heated Democratic primary campaign with former Petersburg Del. Lashrecse Aird in the newly drawn 13^th Senate District. Aird, who championed women’s reproductive rights while in the House of Delegates, has repeatedly challenged Morrissey on not defending the traditional Democratic argument for a woman’s right to choose whether she has an abortion.

As a Catholic, Morrissey has said he personally is opposed to abortion but has not publicly committed to supporting pro-choice efforts.

He also is facing backlash from the Senate Democratic Women’s Caucus over that stance and his previous character record. In recent weeks, Aird has rung up endorsements from major Democratic legislators and supporters for the June 20 primary.

The 13th Senate District stretches from eastern Dinwiddie County to eastern Henrico County, and includes Petersburg, Hopewell, Prince George County, Surry County and Sussex County. South Richmond, Morrissey’s previous home base, has been put into a new Senate district, prompting him to establish new residency in the 13th. He has said he is moving to Petersburg.

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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Judge dismisses Morrissey defamation suit against private detective