Another crushing blow to defendant Lane Myers came on Wednesday as the anti-SLAPP motion he filed to dismiss his multiple felony and misdemeanor charges out of Pima County, Arizona, was denied by Judge D. Douglas Metcalf.
Myers had filed his anti-Slapp motion under Arizona’s statute A.R.S. § 12-751, claiming that the state was retaliating against him for using his constitutional rights by bringing the charges against him.
He contended that his posting of the personal information of his victim in the case, identified as “S.W.” in the court documents, on his YouTube channel was protected speech and cannot subject him to prosecution under Arizona’s harassment statutes.
Metcalf ruled: Defendant has not met his initial burden of showing the indictment “was substantially motivated by a desire to deter, retaliate against or prevent the lawful exercise of a constitutional right.” Rather, the indictment is directed at his harassment of S.W., which is not constitutionally protected. Defendant is not being prosecuted for his protected speech discussing proceedings before the Tucson City Council, the City Court, the Justice Court, the city prosecutor’s office, the county attorney’s office, or any other governmental organization. As such, he is not entitled to relief under the Anti-SLAPP statute, A.R.S. § 12-751.
The jailed YouTuber received more bad news as multiple media requests related to up-coming hearings were denied.
Myers’ motion to have a representative from his Phoenix Times news organization record Friday’s hearing was denied by Judge Metcalf. Joey Paine, representing the organization, had wanted to video record the proceedings. Metcalf stated that since Pima County was already providing a live stream of the video, that stream would be sufficient coverage.
Another media request from Mark Brown was denied. Brown was seeking to record Myers’ case management conference set for April 15, 2025. Pima County will be providing a live stream of that as well. Brown’s request to livestream a “press conference” in the hallway outside the courtroom on that date was also denied.
This is a breaking news story.
