This is my 500th post, and it is a long one. In a couple of entries I talked about that I was going through something, but I wouldn't write about it until it was resolved.
That day has come.
A couple of months ago I awoke to find that I had been served with legal papers. I was being sued by Alejandro, a local buggaron, for writing about him on my blog. And according to him, for "defaming" his character. The item in question was written almost 1 1/2 years go.
Honestly, I was not surprised. People had been telling me to be careful, that Alejandro was threatening to "do something to me." I had also received a phone call from another American who lives here to tell me that they saw Alejandro coming out of the District Attorney's office here in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo. Alejandro told him he was suing me and blah, blah, blah.
The conventional wisdom was that some nefarious character (American?) was behind this whole episode. Someone who hates me so much and this would be a way to give me my comeuppance. As I talked to people I started to think maybe it was true. I mean it wasn't possible that Alejandro could think this up on his own? Was it?
In my naivete I just assumed that right always triumphs over evil. And once I went down and explained my side of the story this would all be laughed about and thrown out. I received the paper on a Wednesday, and was scheduled to appear the next morning at 9am. As I just got the papers at the last minute, my lawyer was not able to go with me to meet the D.A. She advised me to go and get a postponement until she could go with me.
I went to the meeting and there was Alejandro, looking smug, and playing the victim role like a third-rate TV actor. I was impressed with his lawyer. He was dressed in a very nice suit, and had a gregarious manner with all the staff and you could tell that he was very comfortable (AND confident) in this environment.
Still, I thought all would be well, once I was able to tell my side of the story.
Before I met with the D.A. his lawyer had a private audience with her for almost 40 minutes. I was then ushered in the office with my friend. I brought my friend because I wanted to be certain that I didn't say the wrong thing in Spanish. From the first 2 minutes I could see that according to the D.A., I was in the wrong. I told her what I wrote I could prove. She told me it wasn't important. That I could not write that. I was told that I needed to respect Alejandro, as being a buggaron was not against the law.
For a moment I thought I was being "Punk'd." There had to be a camera taping this whole episode. But no, this was the real thing.
I can tell you I left the D.A.'s office more than a little concerned. This couldn't be happening. Was it possible that I could write about events that I could proved were true, and it was illegal to do in the Dominican Republic. I wondered if the numerous daily newspapers, television gossip shows, and blogs had the same problem.
I spoke with my lawyer, and she assured me that she could get this taken care of with just an apology and removal of the offending blog entry. That I had nothing to worry about. I, of course, wanted to fight this bullshit on principle, but just wanted to get rid of the nuisance.
My lawyer is a lovely woman, honest as the day is long, and a Christian. Of course she knows that I'm gay and what the blog is about. But, I had not taken into consideration that she might not want to be involved in something like this. She is a respectable woman. I asked her if she felt comfortable handling this for me, she said no problem.
A couple of weeks later my lawyer and I go back to the D.A.'s office. And my lawyer folded like a house of cards. Alejandro's lawyer dominated the proceedings, and my lawyer sat there nodding at everything he said. I sat there incredulous. How could this be happening. Everyone was throwing around large sums of money that I should give to Alejandro for the harm that I brought to his reputation, and for being responsible for him not being able to make money as a buggaron.
WHAT THE FUCK????!!!!!!
As I leave the meeting my lawyer she says to me in Spanish, "Anthony, you made an error. I will work out a deal with his lawyer. You don't have to pay the money all at once."
Come again?
I told her I needed the weekend to think about it and would call her. I immediately went back home and starting making phone calls. I called a friend who knows a well-connected corporate attorney here. I met with several lawyers. Didn't really "feel" right about any of them.
The one thing no one could tell me is whether I had done anything illegal. No one seemed to know, exactly. What they could tell me is that for a nice sum of money they could make the whole thing go away. I started to think, well maybe I had somehow broke the law. To me it seemed so open and shut, but then I am not a student of Dominican Jurisprudence.
While searching on the Internet, I found the number for the Dominican Bar Association. I thought, what the hell, let me call and see if they can suggest someone who specializes in defamation.
If only I had done this earlier.
The Bar Association put me in contact with 2 lawyers. One is a professor at the University of Santo Domingo, AND the vice-president of the Dominican Bar Association. The other was his partner, who is legal counsel to the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel. After 5 minutes with them I knew these were the guys. First, they told me that they could not tell me what it would cost to represent me, because they needed to know all the facts. They asked me to email them the blog item I wrote, and they would have it translated into Spanish. Then we would talk.
When I met them again, they had done so much in 2 short days. They got a copy of Alejandro's arrest record, had the blog entry translated and most importantly, told me that I had done nothing wrong. Then they told me that they were going to refer me to some junior associates, because if they personally handled the case it could be expensive. They told me their fee. It wasn't cheap, but I thought I could work with it. AND most importantly, I wanted to walk in to the D.A.'s office sending a signal that I was ready to battle this shit.
When they pulled up in their big, late-model S.U.V.'s, and their dark-blue suits, I finally felt like maybe the tide was going to shift. As luck would have it, Alejandro's lawyer knew who they were, and upon seeing them with me sighed, "Ay mamacita." My lawyers told me not to speak to anyone and to let them do all the talking. I happily obliged. All the lawyers went to have a little conference. I was then called over and my lawyers informed me that they were still sticking with the argument that they wanted a lot of money.
Okay. They said then the next step is to go to court. And that was what I was willing to do. I wanted to go in and ask if someone could tell me how it was possible that you can have someone who "allegedly" robs, threatens and intimidates tourists, and it was illegal to talk about it.
We left and nothing was resolved. Got another court date. My lawyers told me that I didn't need to go, that they would take care of everything.
After my second court date with the new lawyers, I started getting people coming to tell me that Alejandro wanted to drop the whole thing. All he wanted was money for his lawyer, and a little money for himself. I would tell them all the same thing. I have already used that money for my defense. In other words, Hell NO!
Then Alejandro starting speaking with other Americans so that they would talk to me to let me know that he is a changed person. He was really sorry and just wanted this whole thing to go away.
The motherfucker was never sorry. He just saw the opportunity for an easy payday slipping away. He thought by letting me know how sorry he was that I would just somehow forget that he was trying to fuck me, and not in a nice way.
Well, it is all over. Alejandro stopped by the other day and left all his papers from the case and told my maid that he just wants to get back into the places he's been banned from. Oh, did I mention that he couldn't even eat in the Colonial Zone because of what I had written? Even though he and others don't believe it, I don't have that kind of power.
Sometimes you have to fight. Even when everyone tells you how stupid it is and why not just give him some money to make it go away. What would that accomplish? For me, it would be admitting guilt. Did I mention that I did nothing wrong. What message would this send to others who felt that maybe this was a way to get some money out of the "rich" ex-pats? Call me a cynic, but I believe that if gave money to Alejandro some other people here would've gotten similar ideas.
I have said before and I will say it again. I don't trust Alejandro to spit on me if I were on fire.
Remember, if you see the motherfucker, RUN!
What is the moral of the story?
Don't fuck with me!
As I was writing this entry I couldn't help but think about all the things I have gone through on this journey moving here. I have had many ups and downs, but like the words in my favorite Maya Angelou poem, "Still I Rise."
Like air,
I'll RISE!
As ever,
The Monaga Blogger
That day has come.
A couple of months ago I awoke to find that I had been served with legal papers. I was being sued by Alejandro, a local buggaron, for writing about him on my blog. And according to him, for "defaming" his character. The item in question was written almost 1 1/2 years go.
Honestly, I was not surprised. People had been telling me to be careful, that Alejandro was threatening to "do something to me." I had also received a phone call from another American who lives here to tell me that they saw Alejandro coming out of the District Attorney's office here in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo. Alejandro told him he was suing me and blah, blah, blah.
The conventional wisdom was that some nefarious character (American?) was behind this whole episode. Someone who hates me so much and this would be a way to give me my comeuppance. As I talked to people I started to think maybe it was true. I mean it wasn't possible that Alejandro could think this up on his own? Was it?
In my naivete I just assumed that right always triumphs over evil. And once I went down and explained my side of the story this would all be laughed about and thrown out. I received the paper on a Wednesday, and was scheduled to appear the next morning at 9am. As I just got the papers at the last minute, my lawyer was not able to go with me to meet the D.A. She advised me to go and get a postponement until she could go with me.
I went to the meeting and there was Alejandro, looking smug, and playing the victim role like a third-rate TV actor. I was impressed with his lawyer. He was dressed in a very nice suit, and had a gregarious manner with all the staff and you could tell that he was very comfortable (AND confident) in this environment.
Still, I thought all would be well, once I was able to tell my side of the story.
Before I met with the D.A. his lawyer had a private audience with her for almost 40 minutes. I was then ushered in the office with my friend. I brought my friend because I wanted to be certain that I didn't say the wrong thing in Spanish. From the first 2 minutes I could see that according to the D.A., I was in the wrong. I told her what I wrote I could prove. She told me it wasn't important. That I could not write that. I was told that I needed to respect Alejandro, as being a buggaron was not against the law.
For a moment I thought I was being "Punk'd." There had to be a camera taping this whole episode. But no, this was the real thing.
I can tell you I left the D.A.'s office more than a little concerned. This couldn't be happening. Was it possible that I could write about events that I could proved were true, and it was illegal to do in the Dominican Republic. I wondered if the numerous daily newspapers, television gossip shows, and blogs had the same problem.
I spoke with my lawyer, and she assured me that she could get this taken care of with just an apology and removal of the offending blog entry. That I had nothing to worry about. I, of course, wanted to fight this bullshit on principle, but just wanted to get rid of the nuisance.
My lawyer is a lovely woman, honest as the day is long, and a Christian. Of course she knows that I'm gay and what the blog is about. But, I had not taken into consideration that she might not want to be involved in something like this. She is a respectable woman. I asked her if she felt comfortable handling this for me, she said no problem.
A couple of weeks later my lawyer and I go back to the D.A.'s office. And my lawyer folded like a house of cards. Alejandro's lawyer dominated the proceedings, and my lawyer sat there nodding at everything he said. I sat there incredulous. How could this be happening. Everyone was throwing around large sums of money that I should give to Alejandro for the harm that I brought to his reputation, and for being responsible for him not being able to make money as a buggaron.
WHAT THE FUCK????!!!!!!
As I leave the meeting my lawyer she says to me in Spanish, "Anthony, you made an error. I will work out a deal with his lawyer. You don't have to pay the money all at once."
Come again?
I told her I needed the weekend to think about it and would call her. I immediately went back home and starting making phone calls. I called a friend who knows a well-connected corporate attorney here. I met with several lawyers. Didn't really "feel" right about any of them.
The one thing no one could tell me is whether I had done anything illegal. No one seemed to know, exactly. What they could tell me is that for a nice sum of money they could make the whole thing go away. I started to think, well maybe I had somehow broke the law. To me it seemed so open and shut, but then I am not a student of Dominican Jurisprudence.
While searching on the Internet, I found the number for the Dominican Bar Association. I thought, what the hell, let me call and see if they can suggest someone who specializes in defamation.
If only I had done this earlier.
The Bar Association put me in contact with 2 lawyers. One is a professor at the University of Santo Domingo, AND the vice-president of the Dominican Bar Association. The other was his partner, who is legal counsel to the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel. After 5 minutes with them I knew these were the guys. First, they told me that they could not tell me what it would cost to represent me, because they needed to know all the facts. They asked me to email them the blog item I wrote, and they would have it translated into Spanish. Then we would talk.
When I met them again, they had done so much in 2 short days. They got a copy of Alejandro's arrest record, had the blog entry translated and most importantly, told me that I had done nothing wrong. Then they told me that they were going to refer me to some junior associates, because if they personally handled the case it could be expensive. They told me their fee. It wasn't cheap, but I thought I could work with it. AND most importantly, I wanted to walk in to the D.A.'s office sending a signal that I was ready to battle this shit.
When they pulled up in their big, late-model S.U.V.'s, and their dark-blue suits, I finally felt like maybe the tide was going to shift. As luck would have it, Alejandro's lawyer knew who they were, and upon seeing them with me sighed, "Ay mamacita." My lawyers told me not to speak to anyone and to let them do all the talking. I happily obliged. All the lawyers went to have a little conference. I was then called over and my lawyers informed me that they were still sticking with the argument that they wanted a lot of money.
Okay. They said then the next step is to go to court. And that was what I was willing to do. I wanted to go in and ask if someone could tell me how it was possible that you can have someone who "allegedly" robs, threatens and intimidates tourists, and it was illegal to talk about it.
We left and nothing was resolved. Got another court date. My lawyers told me that I didn't need to go, that they would take care of everything.
After my second court date with the new lawyers, I started getting people coming to tell me that Alejandro wanted to drop the whole thing. All he wanted was money for his lawyer, and a little money for himself. I would tell them all the same thing. I have already used that money for my defense. In other words, Hell NO!
Then Alejandro starting speaking with other Americans so that they would talk to me to let me know that he is a changed person. He was really sorry and just wanted this whole thing to go away.
The motherfucker was never sorry. He just saw the opportunity for an easy payday slipping away. He thought by letting me know how sorry he was that I would just somehow forget that he was trying to fuck me, and not in a nice way.
Well, it is all over. Alejandro stopped by the other day and left all his papers from the case and told my maid that he just wants to get back into the places he's been banned from. Oh, did I mention that he couldn't even eat in the Colonial Zone because of what I had written? Even though he and others don't believe it, I don't have that kind of power.
Sometimes you have to fight. Even when everyone tells you how stupid it is and why not just give him some money to make it go away. What would that accomplish? For me, it would be admitting guilt. Did I mention that I did nothing wrong. What message would this send to others who felt that maybe this was a way to get some money out of the "rich" ex-pats? Call me a cynic, but I believe that if gave money to Alejandro some other people here would've gotten similar ideas.
I have said before and I will say it again. I don't trust Alejandro to spit on me if I were on fire.
Remember, if you see the motherfucker, RUN!
What is the moral of the story?
Don't fuck with me!
As I was writing this entry I couldn't help but think about all the things I have gone through on this journey moving here. I have had many ups and downs, but like the words in my favorite Maya Angelou poem, "Still I Rise."
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still,
Like air,
I'll RISE!
As ever,
The Monaga Blogger
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