FILE - The Josephine County Courthouse in Grants Pass, Ore., in an undated photo.
Erik Neumann / JPR
A judge has ordered John Oliver Riccio, owner of Grants Pass Tribune, to pay Josephine County Commissioner Chris Barnett $100,000 plus attorney fees in a libel case filed last October.
The decision, first reported by the Daily Courier, follows a dismissal rather than a ruling on the merits of the case. Riccio, who represented himself, failed to properly respond to the complaint.
Barnett claims Riccio, writing under different names on his news site, repeatedly published false information about his military experience, real estate business and political career.
“In more than a dozen attack pieces on Barnett, Riccio concocts false narratives for the express purpose of damaging Barnett’s candidacy for Josephine County Commissioner,” according to the complaint.
Barnett said the attacks began after he pulled campaign advertisements from the website.
“I’ve lost business over it. I’ve lost friendships over it,” Barnett said. “People were buying into his lies.”
Riccio, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, filed his own complaint seeking damages against Barnett in March. The lawsuit alleges Barnett harmed Riccio’s media brand by creating social media pages such as “Grants Pass News, Grants Pass News Desk, Grants Pass Media Events” to undermine his Grants Pass Tribune publication. The complaint, thrown out over the summer, sought $701,300 from the commissioner.
Riccio filed a motion to dismiss Barnett’s libel suit on First Amendment grounds.
The publisher is also facing a libel lawsuit by former Josephine County Commissioner John West who is seeking damages of $437,720.
Barnett said he had contacted the FBI and that there would be a criminal investigation into Riccio.
Justin Higginbottom is a reporter with JPR. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
