The case of Mike Postle cheating – allegedly, I suppose – in poker games at Stones Gambling Hall in Northern California has jumped the shark. It has devolved into a case of the accused trying to transform himself into the victim at every turn. The latest court filing is proof of the downward spiral.
It started with suspicious activity from a poker player named Mike Postle, formal accusations of said activity in September 2019, and a court case against Postle that prompted Postle to then sue everyone. Ultimately, as he found no legal representation, only a realization of the complexity of the court system, Postle tried to drop everything. But his case resulted in two of people sued by Postle filing anti-SLAPP cases, and since Postle didn’t defend himself against those particular accusations, the court ruled that Postle owed those two people – Veronica Brill and Todd Witteles – their legal fees.
The California courts did find Postle responsible for those legal fees to the tune of $54,727 – more than $27K to Brill and nearly $27K to Witteles.
The attorneys representing Brill and Witteles – Marc Randazza for Brill and Eric Bensamochan for Witteles – had little faith that Postle would make any attempt to pay up. So, they filed an involuntary petition against Postle to force a bankruptcy investigation, to see if Postle is hiding assets that could be liquidated to pay debts.
Postle’s latest filing is another attempt to turn the tables, this time as the alleged victim of Randazza’s name-calling.
Postle Requests Time but Alleges Misconduct
Postle sent a letter to the US Bankruptcy Court to request extra time to respond to the bankruptcy filing. However, before he completed even the first sentence of that letter, he had accused the filing of bad faith and Brill’s attorney of threats and witness tampering.
Essentially, Postle makes numerous claims in his letter:
-Randazza sent the involuntary bankruptcy case information to a wrong address for Postle.-Randazza received thousands in fees from donations the public made to Brill for her defense.-Postle hasn’t been able to work because Brill has and continues to defame and harass him.-Postle only withdrew his defamation case because he “lost” legal counsel.-Postle needs time to list all creditors.-Randazza threatened him.-Randazza inappropriately filed the petition to “harass, intimidate, and further harm me.”
A Sad Tale of Alleged Victimization
In an attempt to garner sympathy from the court, Postle claims to be a victim of Randazza’s threats. He puts himself into the same category of victims as those fighting against Alex Jones, known conspiracy theorist and misinformation peddler, who is represented by Randazza. Mark Bankston is a Texas-based attorney representing parents of Sandy Hook school shooting victims. Bankston compares Postle’s alleged harassment by Randazza to the that in allegations by parents of murdered children in their cases against Jones.
The very detailed and sordid tale in the Bankston document portrays Postle as a victim who was “clearly upset” by Randazza’s accusations that Postle lied about a phone call. He expressed “dismay” at statements from Randazza, a victim of harassment and threats.
“Mr. Postle state, ‘I tried to put on a brave face for Mr. Randazza, but I found his emails very intimidating, and they have caused me to worry about the reprisals I will face from Mr. Randazza because I angered him with my testimony.”
Allegedly, Randazza threatened legal action and was “clearly angry in his emails.”
For the record, Randazza accused Postle of lying about the severity of language used in a conversation between Randazza, Postle, and longtime Randazza adversary (and now Postle advocate) Alexandrea Merrell. He told Postle of the potential legal liabilities for lying to the court.
https://twitter.com/marcorandazza/status/1428387402595373057?s=20
Bensamochan and Randazza want to retrieve the money owed to their clients in a court ruling. Postle is still claiming that ruling was unfair to him, while now also claiming that he is the victim of angry messages and threats of legal action.
The court did grant Postle an extension until mid-September to file a response to the involuntary bankruptcy filing.
Disclaimer: This author is not a lawyer and has virtually zero qualifications to analyze legal documents or arguments. Nevertheless, she persists.
