“Run Away!”: Tesla Drops Restraining Order Against Short-Seller After Court Asks For Actual Evidence

Back in April, we reported on the story of Tesla being granted a temporary restraining order against one of its critics, Randeep Hothi, who posted on Twitter under the name @skabooshska. Since then, Hothi’s legal defense GoFundMe has raised more than $118,000, allowing him to retain capable counsel, which has paid off for him. 

Yesterday, it was reported that Tesla dropped its pursuit of a restraining order against Hothi after the court asked the company to provide audio and video recordings related to the two “incidents” the company cited as reason for the TRO to begin with. 

In other words: the court asked for evidence of Tesla’s allegations against Hothi, and Tesla instead decided to just drop the issue. 

Why might that be?

In a court filing from April, Tesla alleged that Hothi “had a history of trespassing at its facilities, taking photos and video to post to his Twitter account, before he recently started menacing its employees.”

The order claims that in February, Hothi struck a security guard with his vehicle when he was approached in Tesla’s Fremont parking lot. The incident was so devastating that it caused a “minor knee injury”, according to Tesla. The company also says it contacted Fremont police, but that officers were unable to deliver a no-trespassing order to Hothi (we wonder why). Hothi lives about 3 miles from Tesla’s Fremont factory.

Updates on the restraining order hearing had been coming in routinely from fellow Tesla short seller Lawrence Fossi (Montana Skeptic) in blog postings and podcasts. Montana Skeptic was, himself, also once targeted by Elon Musk and his merry band of brothers for daring to publicly criticize Tesla. 

A lengthy update from Fossi on Saturday says:

The lawsuit of Tesla v. Hothi, which began with a series of Tesla lies, has ended with a series of Tesla lies, told by Tesla’s latest legal counsel in dismissing the lawsuit late yesterday to avoid complying with a Court order that Tesla turn over the audio, video, and photographic recordings that supposedly show the dangerous conduct of Mr. Hothi.

…

So, here is how it all went down:

  • Smear Mr. Hothi with reckless and false allegations in TRO application of which Hothi receives no notice and no chance to offer his side of the story.
  • Stir up the loyal, cultish Tesla fans to attack him as dangerous, criminal, and worse.
  • Attempt to destroy his academic ambitions and employment prospects.
  • Then, refuse to produce the evidence, and instead lie to the Court and to the public about what happened.
  • This is what Tesla under Elon Musk has become. This is Musk’s stamp on the Tesla corporate culture. This is who they are.

Attorney Sperlein has sent Tesla’s counsel a letter warning that Hothi may well pursue a malicious prosecution claim or similar claim, and that Tesla should take care that none of the evidence is tampered with or destroyed.

This thread, in its entirety, also gives a wonderful recap of the events of the TRO as they took place from the start. 

In addition, it looks as though Mr. Hothi is now going to be filing an action of his own against the company. 

Fin Twit had a field day with the news, calling out the company for a hearing that many believed they were certain to lose, had the “evidence” been made public.

 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2Y1q0gj Tyler Durden

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