…About Tim Ball Associate John O’Sullivan
This is the latest on an interesting and complex legal battle related to climate science denialism.
Affidavits filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court libel litigation brought by climate scientist Michael Mann against climate science denier Timothy Ball reveal that Ball’s collaborator and self-styled “legal advisor” has misrepresented his credentials and endured some significant legal embarrassments of his own.
The affidavits also reveal that Tim Ball was “aware of the charges against John O’Sullivan almost from the start” and has tried to distance himself from his erstwhile advisor and writing partner.
The affidavits [1, 2] come from research of science and medical writer Andrew Skolnick, who documents O’Sullivan’s misrepresentations, backtracking and questionable behavior.
Tim Ball and John O’Sullivan had a close working relationship, even before Mann sued Ball for libel in March 2011. For example, they co-authored the climate science denial book Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory, which was published in 2010.
Skolnick’s evidence shows that O’Sullivan made a series of false claims, including:
Read the rest of it here, in a post by Brendan DeMelle and Richard Littlemore.
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Even Judith Curry recognized that “Slaying the Sky Dragon” was idiotic nonsense. Michael Mann will have no trouble slaying these clowns (and liars Steyn and the National Review) in court. Good on ya, Mike.
Now courts have to settle the science, very interesting.
No, Michael, they don’t and won’t. The legal issues before the courts are whether the defendants libeled Dr. Mann through their ongoing campaign of defamation and if they acted with malice. Neither the Supreme Court of British Columbia or the U.S. Superior Court of District of Columbia is going to give a platform for global warming deniers.
to pretend to debate climate science. When questions of science come up in U.S. law courts, judges apply the Daubert Test to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence and testimony. The Daubert Test has 4 requirements that must be considered, the most important of which requires evidence to be generally accepted by the scientific community. The rants and screeds of the global warming industry clearly hardly meet this requirement and it is highly doubtful any respectable judge would allow their bogus science into his or her courtroom.
Right, this is not about science at all, it is about people carrying out behavior that is …. well, liable to get them sued, as it were.
As I expected, there’s not a mote of truth in John O’Sullivan’s grossly defamatory “news report” claiming his and Tim Ball’s victory in court against Dr. Mann. Yesterday, Roger McConchie, who is representing Mann in his libel suit against Ball, issued this reply to the humbug’s shameless attack piece:
“The review of Tim Ball’s new book by Hans Schreuder and John O’Sullivan makes preposterous statements concerning Dr. Michael Mann’s lawsuit in the British Columbia Supreme Court against Tim Ball and other defendants. The Mann lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, with further examinations for discovery (depositions) of the defendants to be scheduled shortly, following which I will either set the action for trial by jury in the usual manner, or bring a summary trial application on behalf of Dr. Mann for damages and injunctive relief.
“Dr. Ball has not set the matter for trial and there is no motion by Ball currently before the Court. The allegation by Schreuder and O’Sullivan that Dr. Mann has refused to show his metadata and calculations in open court is not true.
“Their assertion that Dr. Mann faces possible bankruptcy is nonsense. Dr. Mann’s lawsuit against Dr. Ball and other defendants is proceeding through the normal stages prescribed by the BC Supreme Court Civil Rules and Dr. Mann looks forward to judicial vindication at the conclusion of this process.
“February 22, 2014
Roger D. McConchie
Barrister and Solicitor
Legal Counsel to Dr. Michael Mann”
O’Sullivan is a former high school art teacher whose career ended in 2003 following his arrest and trial for assaulting and sending dozens of obscene text messages to a 16 year old girl. For the past several years, he has been fraudulently passing himself off as a highly accomplished lawyer and science writer while attempting to make a career as a global warming denier.