One 2020 candidate for governor did not defame another by bringing up a past charge of lewd conduct with a child that ended up being dismissed, the Vermont Supreme Court has ruled.
The court issued its decision earlier this month in the dispute between Kevin Hoyt and John Klar, who both ran for governor last year — Klar as a Republican, and Hoyt as an independent. They ended up fighting each other in court while failing to come anywhere near winning at the polls.
Hoyt sued last year after Klar brought up allegations on social media that Hoyt had been charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, a charge that was later dismissed.
Klar asked a lower court judge to dismiss the case, arguing that what he said was true.
Judge Cortland Corsones granted that dismissal, leading Hoyt to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court decision.
Hoyt alleged Klar had wronged him in various Facebook postings, referring to him as an “alleged child molester” and referring to an old newspaper article that discussed the criminal charge against Hoyt.
“We agree with the trial court that (Hoyt’s) allegations are insufficient to state a claim for defamation,” the high court stated. “(Hoyt) conceded in his pleadings that several years earlier he was the subject of a criminal charge that stemmed from allegations by a young girl that he sexually abused her. Although the charge was eventually dismissed, (Klar’s) statement referring to (Hoyt) as an ‘alleged child molester’ was not false because (Hoyt) had been alleged by the state to have molested a child.”
The court stated that Hoyt did not contend that the newspaper article was false or defamatory.
“Furthermore,” according to the ruling, “(Klar’s) statements suggesting that he believed the alleged victim was telling the truth cannot be the basis for a defamation claim because they were plainly statements of opinion, which is not capable of being proven true or false.”
Hoyt’s brief stated he was most aggrieved that Klar’s postings did not report how the case ended: “Omitting the final disposition and outcome clearly placed (Hoyt) in a false light before the public, and the false light is highly of an offensive nature to any reasonable person.”
Hoyt ran for governor in the general election in November and received 4,576 votes, 1.23% of the total votes cast, according to the Vermont Secretary of State’s website.
Hoyt had previously filed similar lawsuits against officials in Bennington County, where he lives, but those cases were tossed out as well, according to reports in the Bennington Banner.
On his Facebook page, Hoyt shares debunked QAnon theories, including those about election fraud.
Klar lost in the 2020 Republican primary to incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, who won easily in November. In the primary, Klar received 12,762 votes, 22%, and Scott received 42,275 votes, 72%, according to the Vermont Secretary of State’s website.
Klar, a Brookfield farmer and lawyer, ran to the right of Scott and continues to write commentaries published on conservative political websites in Vermont. He attracted national attention last summer when he tried unsuccessfully to have “Liberty and Justice for All” painted on State Street in Montpelier next to the words “Black Lives Matter.”
Klar said Monday he was pleased with the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling in a “nuisance” lawsuit. He termed it a waste of time and resources for the court system.
“The court, in my view, took special pains to make Mr. Hoyt not look very good,” Klar said of the decision. Of Hoyt, he said, “he threatens anybody with a lawsuit if they dare threaten to simply copy and paste an article.”
Hoyt could not be reached Monday for comment.
