Sarah Palin's Lawyers Sue Stalkers for Lost Billable Hours
Should Sarah Palin's accused stalkers be forced to pay her lawyer's firm for lost billable hours? You betcha!
That's what the firm that represents former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is requesting, after two men pleaded guilty to placing hundreds of harassing phone calls to the firm. The total cost in lost billables: More than $15,000, the Associated Press reports.
An attorney for one of the men calls the law firm's restitution claim excessive. But others may disagree, considering the extent of the pair's harassment:
Shawn Christy, 20, and his father Craig, 48, of McAdoo, Pa., pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to federal charges of harassing Sarah Palin's lawyer by phone, the AP reports.
The Christys are under restraining orders that require them to stay away from Palin, her family, and her friends. Shawn Christy allegedly stalked Sarah Palin and flew to Alaska on her birthday; Craig Christy allegedly pestered Palin's parents with "antagonizing" phone calls, according to the AP.
Angered by the restraining orders, the Christys apparently targeted Sarah Palin's lawyer, John Tiemessen. His firm's offices in Anchorage and Fairbanks were deluged with the Christys' phone calls -- some rife with obscenities, others threatening rape and kidnapping, the AP reports.
"So if you don't want that life, pay me some ... money now, and I'll be quiet and I'll go away," Shawn Christy said, according to an FBI affidavit.
On one day in August, the Christys called the firm about 250 times, the AP reports.
Shawn and Craig Christy each face up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for harassing Sarah Palin's lawyer by phone, according to the AP. It's not clear when the law firm's billable-hours restitution claim will be heard.
Related Resources:
- Two men plead guilty over calls to Sarah Palin lawyer (Reuters)
- John J. Tiemessen (Clapp, Peterson, Tiemessen, Thorsness & Johnson LLC)
- Sarah Palin Wants Restraining Order Extended (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
- 47 U.S.C. § 223 : US Code - Section 223: Obscene or harassing telephone calls (FindLaw)