Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore ruled April 5 on a motion set forth by the national chapter of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity to quash a subpoena duces tecum filed by Rolling Stone magazine.
The motion is a part of an ongoing $25 million lawsuit filed against Rolling Stone in which the Virginia Alpha Chapter — the official name of the University’s PKP chapter — alleges Rolling Stone’s now-retracted article “A Rape on Campus” defamed the organization’s reputation.
A subpoena duces tecum is a court summons for the production of evidence which orders the recipient to appear in court and produce either documents or other tangible evidence for use during trial.
Rolling Stone’s subpoena sought any documentation from VAC, the PKP national organization and all other chapters of PKP nationwide that related to any sort of misconduct, including hazing, sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse.
The subpoena had 29 separate requests. Moore ruled that 13 of the requests would move forward as written while information gathered by the other 16 needed to pertain only to VAC or sexual misconduct reported at other PKP chapters.
PKP filed the motion to quash for several reasons, primarily because they said the requested information was broad and irrelevant to the case.
“In regards to PKP and the Other Chapters, the information is not relevant to the litigation nor is it likely to lead to admissible evidence,” the motion read. “PKP and the Other Chapters are not parties to this litigation. PKP and the Other Chapters are separate entities from VAC.”
PKP argued that, for example, if documentation showed a sexual misconduct incident had occurred in Ames, Iowa, it would not prove the accuracy of an article that alleged a gang-rape incident at the University. PKP’s motion said the VAC is a “separate entity” from the national organization and other chapters, and any harm to its organization and reputation “are to VAC specifically.”
However, Rolling Stone’s opposition to the motion argued VAC’s reputation is not the only one at stake.
“VAC’s reputation and ‘brand’ are inextricably intertwined with and dependent on the reputation and ‘brand’ of the PKP fraternal organization and network as a whole,” the opposition memorandum read. “VAC is not an island that exists independent of its sponsor, partner and parent, PKP.”
The memorandum said this connection is evident in PKP’s official manual, which states “the reputation of a ‘national’ fraternity, such as PKP, is developed and affected by the actions of its individual chapters and members.”
Additionally, VAC is commonly identified as PKP in a variety of instances, including on the chapter’s house at the University, federal tax returns and the University’s rush map.
The motion also said Rolling Stone’s subpoena was “unduly burdensome,” as it is requesting all relevant information and communications from 99 chapters and eight colonies from the past 11 years. PKP has collected 92 megabytes of documents and thousands of emails from VAC alone and said expanding the search to include the other chapters would be “a monumental undertaking.”
Rolling Stone argued PKP’s claim of the subpoena being “unduly burdensome” is premature, and they have not offered an “estimate of the volume of potentially responsive information” or the “potential cost of review and production” of gathering the documentation.
The memorandum also acknowledged that Rolling Stone has offered to “narrow the scope of the requests” and “limit the volume of material to be searched” in order to make the process less burdensome.
This is Rolling Stone’s third lawsuit as a result of “A Rape on Campus.” In November, a federal jury found the magazine liable of actual malice in its portrayal of former Assoc. Dean Nicole Eramo.
The 10-day jury trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 25.
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