Kia Stevens v Todd Alan Clem and American Telephone & Telegraph Co dba AT&T

I have received a number of inquiries as to why there have been no comments made by me about this lawsuit. In short, I did not want to write anything for a few days, and give myself an opportunity to think about why this is taking place now.

This story was initially "leaked" by Courthouse News Service on Thursday February 25, 2010. It is alleged that Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens) received a telephone call from a blocked number on February 10, 2010 at approximately 5am. The caller identified himself as "Bubba the Love Sponge" and then proceeded to make numerous hateful remarks (which I see no need to post here, but can be easily found elsewhere on the internet).

Shortly after hearing about the lawsuit, I went on the Hillsborough County Circuit Court website, and confirmed that there was actually a lawsuit filed. The Plaintiff is listed as Kia Stevens, and the two Defendants are Todd Alan Clem *and* American Telephone & Telegraph Co. dba AT&T. This complaint was filed on February 22, 2010, and was supported by affidavits filed by Kia Stevens and K. Gus Dimitrelos.

A search on K. Gus Dimitrelos shows a profile for Konstantinos Gus Dimitrelos as a Cyber Forensics Associate with G6 Investigations. On of Mr. Dimitrelos specialties is assisting various law enforcement agencies "in solving digital investigations, conducting computer-cellular forensics and reconstructing historical cellular data." Clearly his services have been retained in an effort to identify the individual that placed the alleged call to Ms. Stevens on February 10, 2010.

I initially questioned the time between the alleged telephone call (February 10, 2010) and the date of the court filing (February 22, 2010), as it seemed an excessive amount of time to wait should such a hateful call have actually taken place. However, now that I have looked into the reputation of Mr. Dimitrelos, I believe the delay to be reasonable. Based on his reputation, I would expect that he would have needed to do some preliminary investigation before agreeing provide his assistance in this lawsuit. To date, I have not been able to receive details about his Affidavit as submitted on February 22, 2010.

Although Ms. Stevens likely did receive a hateful call on February 10, 2010 as alleged in her complaint, I am highly doubtful that anyone who was going to make such a telephone call would first identify themselves by name. If Bubba the Love Sponge made this call, and identified himself to Ms. Stevens at the start of the call, why would he have any need to block his telephone number? The only reason to block one's telephone number is to avoid identification, so what logic is there in believing that Bubba the Love Sponge was the actual caller? THERE IS NONE.

I feel very bad for what Ms. Stevens was told, and strongly hope that the individual(s) that are responsible for this, are brought to justice. Further, I believe that once the identity(ies) of the caller(s) is revealed, Bubba the Love Sponge should also pursue legal action based on the misrepresentation of his identity and the negative publicity which has followed.

Even though I believe Ms. Stevens is a victim here, I can not support the manner in which she has been handling this situation. I believe that there is no basis to have Todd Alan Clem (Bubba) as a Defendant at this time, as her actualy complaint is simply to obtain information from AT&T. She could have easily obtained this information from AT&T without involving Bubba the Love Sponge, and only when/if the facts point to the identify of the caller(s) should additional parties be added.

In my opinion, Ms. Stevens has filed her complaint in this manner for the sole reason of getting publicity. If this was only Kia Stevens v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. dba AT&T, then nobody would have cared. There would be no media or internet coverage. She would have still received the same result, which is determining who called her, if that was her actual desire.

Unfortunately, when the facts are revealed, and when Ms. Stevens has to admit that Bubba the Love Sponge was not involved in the telephone call to her, the controversy will not vanish. Ms. Stevens has positioned herself to be the victim throughout the entire process, as no matter who called her, she was still harassed. Yet, even though the courts will have acquitted Bubba the Love Sponge, it is unlikely that he will be able to recover from the negative public opinion of him as a result of this.

Please understand that Ms. Stevens is a victim here, but so is Bubba the Love Sponge. Let's all hope that the judicial system will do as intended, and holding the actual party(ies) responsible for their actions liable for all damages done.