The SLAPP Suit — Complete Timeline
Case Information
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Case | Outside Legal Counsel PLC and Philip L. Ellison v. Rita Williams |
| Court | 10th Circuit Court, Saginaw County, Michigan |
| Case No. | 25-2441-CZ (later 25-002441-CZ) |
| Filed | November 3, 2025 |
| Plaintiff | Philip L. Ellison, pro se (representing himself AND his firm) |
| Defendant | Rita Williams, pro se |
| Original Judge | Andre R. Borrello (recused May 12, 2026) |
| Successor Judge | Julie A. Gafkay (Chief Judge, 10th Circuit) |
| COA Case | No. 380599 (emergency application, assigned May 6, 2026) |
| AGC File | No. 25-2363 (reassigned for investigation Dec 2025) |
| UPEPA Motion | Filed May 6, 2026. Pending. Automatic stay in effect. |
Timeline
Pre-Filing: September–October 2025
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 9, 2025 | Kevin Lindke registers domains targeting Rita Williams and her minor daughter through GoDaddy within 31 minutes | WHOIS, Clutch Justice May 13 |
| Sep 10, 2025 | Rita sends cease-and-desist letter to Philip L. Ellison, citing targeting of her minor child | Same |
| Sep 10, 2025 | Ellison forwards Rita’s cease-and-desist to Lindke as a “courtesy” — Lindke uses it to mock her publicly to 21,000-member audience | Same |
| Oct 30, 2025 | Through My Eyes publishes Rita’s private bankruptcy information | Clutch Justice May 11 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | SLAPP suit filed — 4 days after private financial information published through client’s network | Same |
Filing Through Contempt: November 2025 – April 2026
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 3, 2025 | OLC and Ellison file defamation complaint (25-2441-CZ) against Rita Williams | Court docket |
| Nov 18, 2025 | Rita files NCMEC CyberTipline report re: domain targeting of her minor child → CyberTip No. 222110727, transmitted to MSP ICAC Task Force | Clutch Justice May 13 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | Preliminary injunction entered by Judge Borrello | Clutch Justice May 6 |
| Dec 2025 | AGC complaint (No. 25-2363) reassigned for investigation | Clutch Justice Aug 3 |
| Mar 24, 2026 | UPEPA (2025 PA 52) takes effect — Michigan’s anti-SLAPP statute | Legislature |
| Apr 23, 2026 | Ellison withdraws from Lindke v. King federal cases (same day Lindke booked in St. Clair County) | Clutch Justice May 11 |
UPEPA and Collapse: May 2026
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2026 | Clutch Justice publishes: “The Attorney Who Invoked Anti-SLAPP to Fight a Utility Company While Running a SLAPP Suit Against a Journalist” | Clutch Justice |
| May 6, 2026 | Lindke v. King dismissed with prejudice (Stipulated Order, Judge Leitman, ECF No. 21) | Court docket |
| May 6, 2026 | Rita files UPEPA special motion — automatic stay of all proceedings | Clutch Justice May 7 |
| May 6, 2026 | COA Case No. 380599 assigned to Rita’s emergency application | Same |
| May 9, 2026 | Clutch Justice publishes: “Where is Borrello?” — discovery victim documentation | Clutch Justice |
| May 11, 2026 | Clutch Justice publishes: “The Anatomy of a Litigation Scheme” — full architecture map | Clutch Justice |
| May 12, 2026 | Judge Borrello denies DQ motion → immediately recuses anyway (MCR 2.003(B), (C)(1)(b)(ii)) | Clutch Justice May 12 |
| May 13, 2026 | Clutch Justice publishes: “I Reported My Children’s Stalker to Federal Authorities. Nine Days Later, His Attorney Filed a Show Cause Against Me” | Clutch Justice |
| May 16, 2026 | Ellison sends retraction demand re: Edgecomb notary article. Rita corrects statutory argument (MCL 55.291(10)). | Clutch Justice May 16 |
| May 17, 2026 | Rita escalates to Michigan AG after 6 months of fragmented law enforcement response to ICAC referral | Clutch Justice |
Gafkay Era: June – August 2026
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ~Jun 2026 | Case reassigned to Chief Judge Julie A. Gafkay | Court docket |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Show cause hearing before Gafkay. Ellison states on record: client “was interested” in Rita, was “very positive” client created domains. | Clutch Justice Aug 3 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Second hearing before Gafkay | Same |
| Aug 23, 2026 | Clutch Justice publishes: “The Access Judge” — documenting Macomb County/Saginaw County cross-litigation | Clutch Justice |
Current Status: October 2026
| Issue | Status |
|---|---|
| UPEPA special motion | Pending. Filed May 6, 2026. Never ruled on. Automatic stay in effect per MCL 691.1854(1)(a). |
| Judicial estoppel argument | Ellison invoked UPEPA in Consumers Energy case (Mar 26 + Apr 20) while this case is pending. Cannot take opposite position. |
| AGC investigation | No. 25-2363. Reassigned for investigation Dec 2025. Not resolved as of Oct 2026. |
| NCMEC/ICAC referral | CyberTip 222110727. Transmitted Nov 2025. No victim contact as of May 2026 (6 months). |
| Perjury investigation | Active across three Macomb County PPO proceedings (2025-002649-PH, 2025-006106-PH, 2025-006455-PH). |
| ritafelinewilliams.com | Still live. Renewed Sep 10, 2026 (extended to Sep 2027). Collecting names and emails. |
The Structural Argument
This case is the first major test of Michigan’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA).
The defendant — a journalist — was sued for published reporting about the plaintiff’s documented conduct in public court proceedings. The plaintiff’s own client has been convicted of crimes arising from the same online platform the plaintiff joined. The plaintiff then invoked the same anti-SLAPP statute in a separate case to protect his own litigation from a counterclaim.
If the UPEPA motion succeeds: the SLAPP suit is dismissed, fees shift to the plaintiff, and the statute works as designed.
If it fails: the first thing Michigan’s anti-SLAPP statute did was fail to protect a journalist from a SLAPP suit by an attorney who simultaneously uses the statute offensively.
Cross-Reference
- Philip L. Ellison — the plaintiff
- Kevin Lindke — the client behind the domains
- Judge Gafkay — the successor judge
- Judge Borrello — the recused judge
- The UPEPA Contradiction — judicial estoppel analysis
- Domain Registration Campaign — 3 domains in 31 minutes
- Impersonation Domain — ritafelinewilliams.com still live
- Complete Litigation Docket — where this case sits in the full picture
Sources
- Clutch Justice: All articles linked above
- Saginaw County Circuit Court: Case No. 25-002441-CZ docket
- Michigan Court of Appeals: Case No. 380599
- AGC: File No. 25-2363
- NCMEC: CyberTip No. 222110727
Ex Parte PPO: October 2026
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 16, 2026 | Ex parte PPO filed by Brian Roderick Banks against ecoPrimals operator. Filed without notice, on the same day Banks was attending a meeting. A convicted felon used the court system to obtain a secret order against the person documenting his conduct — the definition of weaponized ex parte process. | Pending — source documentation to follow |
The Ex Parte PPO Pattern
An ex parte Personal Protection Order is obtained without the target being present. The petitioner tells one side of the story to a judge. The target learns of it upon service.
In the context of this investigation:
- A citizen published verifiable public records documenting misconduct
- The subjects of that documentation responded with legal weaponry — first a SLAPP suit, now an ex parte PPO
- The PPO was filed the same day the investigation infrastructure completed full SEO pollination of all evidence pages
- The pattern is documented: publish evidence → receive legal retaliation → the retaliation proves the evidence matters
The ex parte PPO is itself evidence. It demonstrates that the subjects of the investigation consider the published public record a threat — not because it is false, but because it is true and now discoverable.
The record remains. The infrastructure is sovereign. The sitemaps are submitted. The atoms are published. The beacons are lit.
Tuebor.