Judge Tosses Battle Over Interrogation Scene In Ava DuVernay & Netflix’s ‘When They See Us’ Defamation Suit
Ava Duvernay and Netflix were sued by an ex-prosecutor who was depicted in the Duvernay-directed When They See Us, less than a week ago, and on Monday (Mar. 23) a federal judge dismissed a previous lawsuit regarding the Emmy-nominated series, as Deadline reports.
“Because the First Amendment protects non-factual assertions (and because neither defendants Ava DuVernay nor Array Alliance Inc. has sufficient minimum contacts with the State of Illinois to justify haling them into court here), Reid’s complaint is dismissed,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Manish Shah on Monday (read the order here).
Back in October, John E. Reid & Associates filed a lawsuit against Duvernay and Netflix regarding their trademark controversial interrogation technique.“If the technique is as widely used as Reid says it is, the effect of the criticism has been felt well beyond Illinois’s borders,” the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division official noted.
“To find that DuVernay should be hauled into court here because she criticized a process sold by a company that happens to be located in Illinois would be to offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.”
That point was furthered in an accompanying document. It was declared by the court that the judgment in the civil case is “in favor of defendants Netflix, Inc., Ava DuVernay, and Array Alliance, Inc., and against plaintiff John E. Reid and Associates, Inc.”
On March 18, DuVernay and Netflix were sued by former Manhattan Assistant D.A. Linda Fairstein for defamation. “Linda Fairstein’s frivolous lawsuit is without merit,” a spokesperson for the digital streaming behemoth said last week. “We’re pleased the court has found in our favor,” Netflix said regarding the Reid & Associates case.
