Judge Denies Injunction in Libel Suit Related to Golf

Washington County Circuit Judge Michael Mashburn on April 22 denied a request for a temporary restraining order preventing Arkansas Business Publishing Group from making changes on its Web site. The motion was filed by Melvin Robinson of Farmington as part of his $12 million libel suit against the Little Rock company, one of its publications and three of its employees.

Mashburn said Robinson’s attorney, Teresa Briggs, failed to meet the two requirements for a temporary restraining order.

“The court finds that the moving party has failed to show irreparable harm or a likelihood to prevail on the merits,” Mashburn said.

Mashburn said it would be “improper” for the court to tell ABPG what it could publish.

Jeff Hankins, president and publisher of ABPG, was called as a witness by Briggs. Hankins acknowledged that two headlines that appeared on Arkansasbusiness.com — an Internet publication owned by ABPG — were corrected after an error in them was brought to the company’s attention.

The headlines erroneously suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Golf Entertainment Inc., a penny stock company in Springdale, and its closely aligned Genesis Trust. The headlines should have said the Arkansas Securities Department was investigating the two entities.

Robinson, a trustee for Genesis Trust, was not mentioned in either article. Those two reports instead focused on Golf Entertainment, of which Genesis is a major stockholder.

The error never appeared in print.

John Dodge, general counsel for Golf, brought the error to the publisher’s attention on Feb. 5 in a letter faxed to ABPG, and corrections were made immediately. Robinson filed suit against the company on Feb. 25.

John Tull of Quattlebaum Grooms Tull & Burrow PLLC in Little Rock represents ABPG.

A trial date of Oct. 7 has been set.

Since August 19, when stories about Golf Entertainment’s questionable business dealings were first published, the penny stock has changed its name to Sienna Broadcasting Corp.

Reports about Golf/Sienna, based primarily on public records and personal interviews, outline what appears to be a conspiracy to defraud shareholders. They include evidence of a material relationship between Golf/Sienna and Genesis Trust — in the form of a shared brokerage account by Dodge and a former Genesis trustee — that was introduced into a federal court by the state securities department.

On Sept. 10, the Arkansas Securities Department issued a “cease and desist” trading order instructing Golf/Sienna and the Genesis Trust to stop trading shares that were not properly registered with the state.

To read more about Golf/Sienna, click here.