William M. Schmalfeldt, Sr.

,
Plaintiff,
v.
William John Joseph Hoge, et al.,
Defendants.

IN THE

CIRCUIT COURT FOR HOWARD COUNTY

MARYLAND

Case No. 13-C-15-102498 OT

DEFENDANT HOGES MOTION TO DISMISS FOR IMPROPER VENUE

COMES NOW Defendant William John Joseph Hoge and moves this Court to
dismiss the above captioned matter for improper venue pursuant to Maryland Rule
2-322(a). In support of his motion Mr. Hoge states as follows:

I. PLAINTIFF HAS FAILED TO PLEAD FACTS SUPPORTING VENUE IN

HOWARD COUNTY

For this Court to be the proper forum for the instant lawsuit, venue must lie
in Howard County. Md. Cts. & Jud. P. 6-201(a) states that a civil action shall be
brought in a county where the defendant resides, carries on a regular business, is
employed, or habitually engages in a vocation[.] Neither Mr. Hoge nor any of the
other Defendants1 reside in Howard County, carry on regular business in Howard
On information and belief Mr. Hoge is the only Defendant who resides in
Maryland.
1

County, are employed in Howard County, or habitually engage in a vocation in

Howard County. Plaintiff makes no allegation to the contrary, so 6-201(a) cannot
be used to establish venue in Howard County.
Md. Cts. & Jud. P. 6-201(b) widens the possible scope for venue in a civil
action, allowing, in the case of multiple defendants, that all may be sued in a
county in which any one of them could be sued, or in the county where the cause of
action arose. Taking those choices in reverse order, the Plaintiffs own allegations
show that every cause of action arose outside of Howard County.
a. The Causes of Action Alleged Against Mr. Hoge Arose in
Carroll County
All causes of action alleged against Mr. Hoge in the instant lawsuit relate to
articles or comments posted on the Internet or to a Petition for a Peace Order.
Plaintiff has not properly alleged that any Mr. Hoges Internet articles and
comments at issue in this case were posted from any location other than his
residence in Carroll County. The Petition for a Peace Order was filed in Carroll
County (as can be seen on its face). Plaintiff does not allege anything to the
contrary.
b. Because the Causes of Action Alleged Against the Other Defendants
Did Not Arise in Maryland, This Court Does Not Have Personal
Jurisdiction Over Them
Plaintiff never alleges that any of the Defendants other than Mr. Hoge were
in Maryland when their allegedly defamatory remarks were posted on the Internet.
2

Plaintiff seems to believe that he may file the instant lawsuit in Howard County
relying on Md. Cts. & Jud. P. 6-103(b)(3) and a theory that the out-of-state
Defendants caused him tortious injuries by acts or omissions in Maryland. As is
shown infra, the Maryland Long Arm Statute is not applicable, and this Court does
not have personal jurisdiction over those Defendants. Lacking such jurisdiction,
this Court is not a proper forum for the instant lawsuit.
All of the supposedly tortious acts alleged against the out-of-state Defendants
relate to articles and comments posted on the Internet. In Beyond Systems, Inc. v.
Realtime Gaming Holding Co., LLC, 388 Md. 1, 878 A. 2d 567, 582 (2004), the Court
of Appeals said that [t]hough the maintenance of a website is, conceivably, a
continuous presence everywhere, the existence of a website alone is not sufficient to
establish general jurisdiction in Maryland[.]
As for specific jurisdiction, any defamation published in a national or
international medium such as the Internet occurs in the place where the person
posting the allegedly defamatory statement is physically present at the time of
publication. See, e.g., Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 789-790 (1984). Thus, an
Internet article or comment posted for a general world-wide audience by a person
in, for example, Tennessee occurs in Tennessee and is not subject to Md. Cts. & Jud.
P. 6-103(b)(3) unless it can be shown that the posting was not directed to ta
general audience beyond Maryland.

Thus, none of the causes of action alleged by Plaintiff arose in Howard

County.
Plaintiffs remaining viable choice for venue is a county in which any one of
them could be sued[.] Since the only Defendant over which any Maryland court
should have personal jurisdiction in the instant suit is Mr. Hoge, Carroll County is
the only possible venue for the suit. Because venue is improper in Howard County,
this suit should be dismissed with respect to Mr. Hoge for improper venue pursuant
to Rule 2-322(a). Additionally, because the Court lacks personal jurisdiction over
the other Defendants, the suit should be dismissed with respect to them as well.

II. ALL CLAIMS ALLEGED AGAINST MR. HOGE RELATE TO HIS WRITINGS ON
HIS HOGEWASH! WEBSITE OR TO A PRIVILEGED STATEMENT

With one exception, all of Plaintiffs allegations against Mr. Hoge for the First
Cause of Action (Harassment, False Light Invasion of Privacy, and Defamation) in
the instant lawsuit relate to writings published by Mr. Hoge on his Hogewash!
website. The exception is a statement in a Petition for a Peace Order which is, of
course, privileged and for which Mr. Hoge cannot be sued for defamation. Thus, the
Hogewash! terms of use (Exhibit A) apply to any lawsuit Plaintiff wishes to bring
against Mr. Hoge for the First Cause of Action.
The Hogewash! terms of use clearly state:
4

You agree that all disputes concerning these terms of use or the
content of Hogewash! are to be resolved in the courts of Carroll
County, Maryland, under the laws of State of Maryland and the
United States of America.
Exhibit A at 2. The Court of Appeals has noted that a forum-selection clause is
presumptively valid and enforceable[.] Gilman v. Wheat, First Securities, Inc., 345
Md. 361, 692 A.2d 454, 463-463 (1997) Because of the choice of forum specified in
the terms of use, venue is not proper in this Courteven if the First Cause of Action
were otherwise viable.
In his Second Cause of Action (Malicious Prosecution and Civil Conspiracy)
Plaintiff does not actually allege malicious prosecution by Mr. Hoge, and Conspiracy
is not a tort. Therefore, there is nothing in the Second Cause of Action for the Court
to try with respect to Mr. Hoge, and the question of venue is moot.
In his Third Cause of Action (Tortious Interference with Business
Expectancy) Plaintiff does not actually allege any acts, tortious or otherwise, by Mr.
Hoge. Again, with nothing for the Court to try, the question of venue is moot.
In his Fourth Cause of Action (Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress)
Plaintiffs allegations, to the extent anything non-conclusory is alleged, relate to Mr.
Hoges writings on the Hogewash! website. Therefore, the same choice of forum as
noted for the First Cause of Action applies to the Fourth Cause of Action also.
Thus, for two of Plaintiffs causes of action in the instant lawsuit, nothing is
alleged against Mr. Hoge. For the two remaining the Hogewash! terms of use
5

specify Carroll County as the chosen forum for any dispute related to Mr. Hoges
writings published on that website.
The proper venue for the instant lawsuit is Carroll County. Because venue is
improper in Howard County, this suit should be dismissed with respect to Mr. Hoge
for improper venue pursuant to Rule 2-322(a).

CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, Mr. Hoge asks the Court to DISMISS the instant lawsuit for
improper venue pursuant to Maryland Rule 2-322(a) and for such other relief as it
may deem just and proper.

The Court has scheduled a hearing on Mr. Hoges Motion to Dismiss for
failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted for 3 June, 2015. Mr.
Hoges requests that this motion be heard at the same time.

Date: 8 May, 2015

Respectfully submitted,

William John Joseph Hoge, pro se

20 Ridge Road
Westminster, Maryland 21157
(410) 596-2854
himself@wjjhoge.com
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that on the 8th day of March, 2015, I mailed a copy of this filing to
William M. Schmalfeldt via First Class U. S. Mail.

William John Joseph Hoge

VERIFICATION
I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing information is true and
correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and that all exhibits attached are
true and correct copies of the originals.

William John Joseph Hoge

Exhibit A
Hogewash! Terms of Service

The Fine Print | hogewash

20150505, 15:46

hogewash
Never pick a fight with a man who buys pixels by the terabyte.

The Fine Print

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All original content on the Hogewash! website (hogewash.com) is copyrighted material owned by W. J. J. Hoge. Except
as noted below, all rights are reserved. Any other material is either in the Public Domain, is otherwise owned by W. J. J.
Hoge, is used by permission of the owner or owners agent, is used under a license such as Creative Commons, or is
used under the Fair Use doctrine of U. S. copyright law.
Any comment posted to the site remains the property of the originator of the comment who is solely responsible for the
content of his comment. Posting or attempting to post a comment to the site grants a royalty-free license to
Hogewash! and its owner to reproduce the comment or any portion of it in any medium without limitation to the place
or time of use or publication. Allowing a comment to appear on the site does not constitute an endorsement of its
contents.
If you have found material on this site which you believe infringes your intellectual property rights, please contact me at
once so that we may resolve any problem. See the DMCA Contact page.
TRADEMARK NOTICE
Hogewash! and hogewash.com are trademarks owned by W. J. J. Hoge.
USE OF THE SITE
By reading, linking to, quoting, printing out, or in any way making use of this blogs content in any means, place, or
forum, you agree to the following:
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The Fine Print | hogewash

20150505, 15:46

1. These terms are subject to change, and you should review them regularly.
2. You recognize that all material is provided on an as-is basis. No statement of opinion may be relied upon as fact.
Nothing represented as a fact should be relied upon without further investigation by you sufficient to satisfy your
independent judgment that is is true.
3. Other than the names, email and IP addresses, and (optionally) websites of persons posting comments, Hogewash!
doesnt collect any information about you. In fact, Im not interested in any other information about you. However,
advertisers and traffic monitoring services (among others) do automatically collect information about your comings and
goings on the internet, including connections to Hogewash! If this bothers you, you may want to clear you cookies and
browser history. This may also be helpful.
4. Permission is generally granted to read, quote, cite, link to, print out, or otherwise use Hogewash! content under the
following terms of use. The exception to this grant is that individuals, organizations, and persons associated with those
organizations listed in Copyright Blacklist below may only read, cite, or link to Hogewash! content, but may not quote,
print out, or otherwise use such content.
A. All quotations from Hogewash! must include credit to Hogewash! or to W. J. J. Hoge and, wherever practicable, a
hyperlink of the form http://www.hogewash.com/ to this site.
B. In exchange for access to the Hogewash! content described herein, you agree not to sue W. J. J. Hoge or
Hogewash! for its content, whether original or linked or quoted from any source, in any court on any grounds in law or
equity. Should you violate this agreement by filing such a lawsuit, you agree to pay Hogewash!s owner the sum of onethousand dollars ($1,000.00) as liquidated damages in addition to all attorneys fees, court costs, or other expenses
associated with such litigation and to indemnify and save harmless Hogewash! and its owner from any damage award
made against them in such action. Should this agreement not to sue be held unenforceable by a court of competent
jurisdiction, you agree to binding arbitration with all arbitration expenses paid by you. The arbitration panel shall be
composed of three (3) weblog operators selected by Hogewash!s owner from those in the links list on the Hogewash!
site. The award in such arbitration shall be limited to (1) a monetary sum not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) and (2) the
publication of a retraction or correction on the Hogewash! site. You agree that you will be entitled to no other relief of
any kind in law or equity. You agree that all disputes concerning these terms of use or the content of Hogewash! are to
be resolved in the courts of Carroll County, Maryland, under the laws of State of Maryland and the United States of
America. You agree that if you are outside the State of Maryland, service of process by First Class U. S. Mail shall be
adequate service upon you or your legal counsel.
C. You agree that efforts to use Hogewash! content in violation of these terms of use constitute a violation of
Hogewash!s copyright, and you agree that (1) by virtue of this agreement you are estopped from arguing otherwise and
that (2) such violations may lead to civil or criminal penalties.
D. If you are a corporation, you agree to provide, upon the filling of any lawsuit or the mailing or emailing of any

http://hogewash.com/the-fine-print/

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The Fine Print | hogewash

20150505, 15:46

communication threatening legal action, a bond in the amount of one-thousand dollars ($1,000.00) as security against
the liquidated damages provided for in paragraph 4.B. above. If you are an attorney or law firm representing a party
filing such a lawsuit or causing such a communication to be sent, you agree to provide a bond in the same amount as
security against the liquidated damages provided in paragraph 4.B. above unless you have never accessed, viewed,
read, or otherwise made use of Hogewash! content in any form.
5. All wordpress.com Terms of Service apply to your use of this site as well.
6. If you do not agree to these terms of use, exit the site immediately and destroy all copies of Hogewash! content
remaining in any form on your computer; any other computer, network device, or mobile device under your control; in
print form; or on any information storage or retrieval device that you possess or control. Then execute the following
affidavit and send it by certified mail to Hogewash!, c/o W. J. J. Hoge, 20 Ridge Road, Westminster, MD 21157, USA.
AFFIDAVIT
I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I possess no copies of the Hogewash! website in any form whatsoever;
that neither I nor any employee, agent, or associate will access that site in the future in any manner whatsoever; and
that I will immediately destroy all copies of Hogewash! content that happen to come into my possession. I understand
that action contrary to these statements constitutes perjury and a violation of the Hogewash! Terms of Use, subjecting
me to possible civil and criminal liabilities.
/s/____________________ Signature ____________________ Date
/s/____________________ Witnessed (Notary)
My commission expires ____________________.
Notary Seal:
CORRECTIONS POLICY
Hogewash! is not in the business of spreading false information about anyone or anything. If you believe that a post on
this site contains erroneous information, please contact W. J. J. Hoge via one of the means on the DMCA page with an
explanation of the error. If the error is confirmed, a correction or retraction will be issued forthwith. Please note that your
opinion that something is amiss isnt sufficient. Credible documentation of an error is required. Serial complainers who
make frivolous claims will be dealt with as spammers. Because of prior harassment, persons listed in the Copyright
Blacklist should not contact me.
COPYRIGHT BLACKLIST

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To the maximum extent allowed by law, permission to reproduce copyrighted material from Hogewash! in any form
whatsoever is hereby denied to the following individuals, organizations, or persons associated with those organizations.
This ban includes use by any of these persons while using a pseudonym.
William M. Schmalfeldt (aka Bill Schmalfeldt)
Brett Coleman Kimberlin
Matt Osborne
OsborneInk (osborneink.com)
Breitbart Unmasked (breitbartunmasked.com)
Neal Rauhauser
Karoli Kuns
Crooks & Liars (crooksandliars.com)
Justice Through Music Project
Velvet Revolution US
The user(s) of Twitter account @WhoIsNumberNone
William Ferguson (the user of Twitter account @wilsb8)
THREATS
Threats received by Hogewash! will be forwarded to appropriate law enforcement agencies, and the person or persons
who are the object of any threat will be warned.
COMMENTER IDENTITY
Commenters may post anonymously or using a pseudonym. However, use of someone elses identity is prohibited.
Update: 20140718

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