An appeals court has ruled former Texas House Rep. Frederick Frazier can sue his one-time political opponent for defamation.
A trial court denied Paul Chabot’s motion to dismiss Frazier’s defamation suit against him last year. The Dallas Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling last week and remanded the case back to the lower court. The appeals court also reversed the trial court’s order granting Frazier’s request for Chabot to pay his attorney’s fees. Chabot referred a request for comment to his attorney, who said he plans to appeal the decision.
Chabot, who lost to Frazier in the 2022 Republican primary runoff for the Texas House District 61 seat, created a political action committee called “Collin County Citizens for Integrity” in December 2023. The PAC’s intent was to defeat Frazier in the 2024 primary according to court documents. Frazier lost his 2024 reelection bid in a runoff to Keresa Richardson, who now holds the seat.
Chabot alleged that Frazier impersonated a McKinney city code enforcement officer to have Chabot’s campaign signs removed during the 2022 primary runoff. A Collin County district court judge dismissed the charges against Frazier in April 2024 and discharged him from the deferred adjudication plea he had accepted.
Frazier’s attorney sent Chabot a cease-and-desist letter on May 9, 2024, saying that Chabot had published statements claiming Frazier had been convicted of the charges against him and received a dishonorable discharge from the Dallas Police Department. Frazier had already appealed his discharge to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which changed it to a general discharge.
The cease-and-desist letter told Chabot to retract and remove all materials containing defamatory statements according to court records. Frazier filed the defamation suit in June 2024 when Chabot didn’t remove his statements from the website.
In its ruling, the appeals court cited Chabot’s post on the website after he received the cease-and-desist letter that was titled “NEW: Frazier admits GUILTY in just released court doc received May 16 2024.” The court said the linked document was from December 2023.
“The trial court could reasonably view the timing of the post and Chabot’s misleading title as evidence that Chabot acted with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard for its truth when he posted the document,” the court said.
Frazier said the appeals court’s decision is telling. Political figures have to prove actual malice in defamation suits, meaning the plaintiff made knowingly false statements or “with reckless disregard for its truth.”
“We're all used to criticism, but when it crosses the line of falsehoods and damages any reputation, when you use the legal system to stop those damages and they're ignored, and then it comes to consequences like this,” he said.
The city of McKinney recently filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit attempting to vacate the environmental study for the city’s airport that was filed by the North Texas Conservation Association. Chabot is the organization’s president.
Frazier said the appeals court’s ruling was a relief.
“Just to see my children and their faces was enough to melt me and look forward to our day in court,” he said.
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