Judge dismisses lawsuit against Tullos, Pipkin

A lawsuit filed by State Rep. Barry Moore charging two Enterprise men with illegally recording telephone conversations with him has been dismissed.

Walton County Circuit Judge David W. Green dismissed the suit filed against Joshua Pipkin, Jonathan Tullos and the Wiregrass Economic Development Corporation citing lack of jurisdiction in the matter.

In the lawsuit, filed in Walton County, Fla., July 30, 2015, Moore charged Pipkin and Tullos with recording telephone conversations in June 2013 while Moore was in Florida.

In December 2015, the Wiregrass Economic Development Corporation, where Tullos serves as executive director, was added as a third defendant in that lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Moore’s attorney described the recording as an “illegal wiretap" being used to interfere with the fairness of the election. Pipkin had unsuccessfully challenged Moore in the Republican primary in Alabama House District 91 in that election. During the campaign, Pipkin released some of the recorded conversations he had with Moore in June 2013, which Pipkin had recorded without Moore’s knowledge.

At the center of the conversations were some 100 new jobs at Enterprise Electronics Corporation as well as funding for a related program at Enterprise State Community College. In the recorded conversations, Pipkin said he felt that he was being threatened to drop his bid for Moore’s political seat or risk the consequence of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard stopping the proposed economic development project for his hometown, Enterprise

In his lawsuit, Moore said he was unaware the conversations with Pipkin were being recorded. He said he eventually discovered the existence of the recordings around January 2014.

Moore’s attorney said the recording was an “illegal wiretap” in violation of Florida’s wiretapping statute. Alabama law requires only one party to consent to a recording. Florida law, however, requires both parties to consent to a recording.

Pipkin and Tullos filed legal motions “for the sole and limited purposes of moving to quash the service of process and dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.” The judge apparently agreed.

In his ruling, Green noted that “none of the parties to this action is a resident of the state of Florida, all being residents of the state of Alabama.

“To subject a non-resident defendant to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state, (Moore) must properly plead specific acts or conduct that form the basis for subjecting (Tullos and Pipkin) to Florida’s jurisdiction,” the judge ruled.

Tullos said Monday that he had harbored no doubt that the lawsuit he called ridiculous would be dismissed. “Most people could see it was politically motivated,” Tullos said. “The unfortunate part for me and the nonprofit that I work for is that we had to spend any time on this nonsense.

“It was a distraction from our mission to create and retain jobs in the region,” Tullos said. “Regardless, I am glad this is behind us and look forward to working with our local and state officials to continue to bring jobs to the area.

“Many politicians never seem to take responsibility for their actions,” Tullos added. “They often look for someone else to blame for their problems.”

Pipkin agreed. “Barry Moore assured me that he, along with indicted Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, would bring ‘holy hell’ down on me if I did not drop out of the (political) race (against Moore),” Pipkin said Monday. “For almost three years my family and I have endured constant harassment from Barry and his cronies. I’m hopeful he will now take responsibility for his actions and refocus his attention on representing Coffee County rather than political retribution.”

The judge’s ruling allows Moore to file a second amended complaint within 20 days of April 29 and Moore said Tuesday that they intend to do that. “We plan on appealing the ruling. We have Supreme Court case law in our favor,” Moore said. “The judge ruled that because I was from Alabama, the Florida law doesn’t apply.

“However, our position is that every citizen should have protection of the law no matter where they may travel and we think case law supports our position,” Moore said. “If you speed in Florida, you are held accountable to state statute.

“So, it should apply when you are a victim of a crime,” Moore added. “The same protection of the law should be afforded.”