Lawsuit against coach dismissed

Deepa Bharath

A lawsuit filed by the father of a former Corona del Mar High pitcher

against the school’s baseball coach, alleging that the coach made

false and derogatory statements about his son in an interview

published by the Daily Pilot, was dismissed Wednesday by a superior

court judge.

The lawsuit alleges the pitcher was subjected to public

humiliation and ridicule in the December 2001 story and also accuses

the Daily Pilot and one of the paper’s sports reporters, Richard

Dunn, of libel, saying that they published coach John Emme’s comments

about 6-foot-3 right-hander J.D. Martinez knowing that they were

false and libelous.

Judge Kim G. Dunning on Wednesday dismissed the case against the

Sea Kings coach, stating that the lawsuit brought by the pitcher’s

father, Marc Martinez, would have a chilling effect on Emme’s freedom

of speech.

Dunning ruled in favor of the coach, citing the legal precedent

known as Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP.

Marc Martinez must also reimburse Emme’s attorney fees.

The Daily Pilot and Dunn remain in the lawsuit. Susan Seager,

attorney for the paper, said the Pilot will also file a similar

“motion to strike” if Marc Martinez does not back out soon.

“We hope Dr. Martinez and his son dismiss the case,” she said.

Neither Marc Martinez nor his attorney, John Fagerholm, could be

reached for comment Wednesday.

The case that was dismissed Wednesday was the second lawsuit Marc

Martinez filed against Emme. The first one came in July 2001,

alleging Emme hurt his son’s chances for college recruitment after a

disagreement over pitching counts.

The suit said Emme made “derogatory and/or negative” statements to

potential college coaches about Marc Martinez, J.D. Martinez or both

after a disagreement in late 2000 or early 2001 about the number of

pitches the staff was being required to throw.

That lawsuit was thrown out of court in September 2002.

Dunn wrote a story about that first lawsuit that was published on

Dec. 31, 2001, with comments from the coach about J.D. Martinez’s

game statistics. That story was the basis for Marc Martinez’s second

lawsuit, which said the coach gave Dunn false numbers and that the

reporter knew they were false.

Marc Martinez maintained that those statements hurt his son’s

chances of getting a scholarship and gave him a bad reputation.

Daily Pilot editor Tony Dodero declined to comment on the

specifics of the case because it is ongoing.

“We stand by our story and we stand by our reporter,” he said.

Emme said the lawsuit has hung over his head like a dark cloud and

sometimes even driven him to consider not coaching.

“It really affects you,” he said. “You’re here to help the kids,

to try and teach them a game. When you start to have cases about

disappointment, it’s frustrating.”

It’s the kids that bring him back to the field every time, Emme

said.

“Each day I go to practice, I know the kids are worth it,” he

said.

The lawsuit has received national attention, with HBO’s “Real

Sports with Bryant Gumbel” picking up the story. The crew from New

York City made the trip across the country last week to interview

Emme and Marc Martinez.

“The show itself is not focused on this story,” HBO spokesman

Kevin Flaherty said. “It’s just part of a segment that deals with

lawsuits in sports.”

“Real Sports” is a monthly sports magazine. The segment about the

lawsuit is scheduled to be broadcast on Tuesday, Flaherty said.