Gill defamation case goes to NH Supreme Court
The New Hampshire Supreme Court is considering the record-breaking defamation case against local business owner Michael Gill of Derry, who was ordered to pay three men $274.5 million last year after publicly calling them drug dealers and money launderers.
Gill was found guilty of defaming developer Dick Anagnost, auto dealer Andy Crews and banker William Grenier in September 2017 and fined $274.5 million — an amount that lawyers have stated is the largest personal injury judgment in state history.
Gill — who owns The Mortgage Specialists — had posted his allegations against and photos and names of the man on billboards outside of his Plaistow, Manchester and Nashua business locations and on his website, State of Corruption. He appealed the verdict shortly after the end of the trial, which he did not attend.
Late last month, Gill submitted around 200 pages of documents to the court detailing his bribery, extortion and corruption allegations of bribery and his fears of being spied upon, as well as the fact that he was placed under psychiatric observation while incarcerated for contempt of court in March 2016.
The controversial businessman argues that the conviction should be overturned because his allegations are true and that there was a conflict of interest and fraud in the case. He did not respond to a request for comment about the appeal.
The documents lay out an array of allegations against dozens of people, including Bill Shaheen — whose law firm is handling Anagnost, Crews and Greiner’s case — and attorney and Catholic Medical Center executive Alex Walker, who has also sued Gill for defamation.
Gill had also asked the Supreme Court to review Walker’s case against him. The court dismissed the appeal at the end of February, and a Rockingham Superior Court judge ruled on Thursday that Gill must pay Walker $5 million.
Most of the documents do not relate directly to Anagnost, Crews or Greiner.
He did submit a typed transcript reportedly between himself and a hit-man who had been hired by the plaintiffs to kill him, as well as screenshots of text messages with an unidentified man who said he had evidence that Crews is dealing drugs out of his business.