One of the things that would have been more amusing if I hadn’t been a defendant in The Dread Deadbeat Pro Se Kimberlin’s LOLsuit were the crackpot legal theories advanced in support of his cases. The TKPOTD from seven years ago dealt with one of his wacko legal ideas.

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In their latest attempt to find a legal theory that might save The Dread Pro-Se Kimberlin’s frivolous and vexatious lawsuits, Team Kimberlin has sent the Cabin Boy™ out to float the idea that res judicata applies as to whether or not TDPK is a public figure. Schmalfeldt has posted a clip (No, I won’t link to it.) from the docket of the Kimberlin v. Allen suit which shows that Judge Quirk ruled against Seth Allen’s motion to declare Kimberlin a public figure. Res judicata to the rescue!

Au contraire. Take a look at this more complete bit of the record.Docket Number 140 is the record of the judge’s ruling on Docket Number 119. Docket Number 119 was Seth Allen’s motion.

Here’s why that’s important: Res judicata applies when the same matter is brought up a second time in litigation between the same parties. Thus, Seth Allen is no longer allowed to argue in court that Brett Kimberlin was public figure before February, 2012. Anyone else can, and Mr. Allen can still argue that TDPK may have become one since then.

There’s a long string of case law supporting the principle that someone who is convicted of an infamous crime becomes a public figure. I argue that Brett Kimberlin, who is, after all, a convicted serial bomber with dozens of other felony convictions, is a public figure just like other convicted serial bombers—like Ted Kaczynski (“The Unibomber”), for instance.

They must be working overtime at Acme Law.

UPDATE—Res Judicata t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other goodies are available at The Hogewash Store.

Stop by today and spend some of your hard earned cash in support of Team Lickspittle.

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It turned out that res judicata did matter in most of TDPK’s LOLsuits. It wound up being one of the bases for dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted in most of them.