A well-known First Amendment lawyer has leapt to the defense of an anonymous YouTube user who re-published a Georgia TV station’s 2009 news story (see above) about a dentist outside of Atlanta who was accused of beating his patients.

The dentist, Gordon Trent Austin, was indicted in 2009 on multiple counts of assault and battery —including against children. He was also indicted on charges of Medicaid fraud, to which he pleaded guilty in exchange for the other charges being dropped. The Georgia State Board of Dentistry revoked Austin's license later that same year.

In late 2015, the Carrollton, Georgia, man sued the YouTube user and has attempted to lift this person's anonymity by subpoenaing Google.

Last week, the attorney, Paul Alan Levy, of Public Citizen, filed to quash the subpoena.

According to Levy’s court filing, "the dentist filed a lawsuit against [John Doe] claiming that the video is defamatory and intentionally interferes with his business."

In his motion to quash, Levy argues that Austin has no case, as the former dentist has not provided any evidence of defamation, and the statute of limitations has expired.

Austin’s attorney, John Robert Autry, did not respond to Ars’ request for comment.

As Levy wrote on the Consumer Law & Policy Blog:

It is not at all clear why Austin suddenly revived his interest in the adverse story; a Carrollton lawyer to whom I spoke speculated that Austin might have retained that same firm to help him get his license back. Perhaps the suit might have been intended to exercise the "right to be forgotten" by pushing a compelling account of the previous charges against him out of the public eye. Apparently, Austin and his lawyers have no understanding of the Streisand effect.

“Stop that”

In March 2009, the YouTube user, who posted under the handle "gordonaustinisacoward," uploaded a 10-minute clip from Fox 5 Atlanta that detailed the entire saga.

In the description, the user also wrote:

A grand jury in Carroll County, Georgia returned a 12-count indictment, including three felonies, against Carrollton oral surgeon Dr. Gordon T Austin, alleging he assaulted patients under sedation. Dr. Gordon Trent Austin, 55, of Carrollton faced nine counts of simple battery, two of aggravated assault and one of first-degree child cruelty in the indictment. This dentist would perform oral surgery without enough anesthesia and then would hit his patients in the face with a heavy metal object if they screamed in pain or tried to resist. He would also yell at them to "stop that" and to "shut up." Three former dental assistants have come forward as witnesses to these events. Including a brave lady named Melanie Head. … This coward had to plea bargain instead of taking the stand.

As of this writing, the video is the first hit on Google when searching for "Gordon Trent Austin."

A local judge in Santa Clara County, California, is set to hear Levy’s motion to quash the subpoena on February 23, 2016.

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