Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 1 of 5

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU PATRICE BAKER, an individual and LAURENT LAMOTHE, an individual, Plaintiffs, v. HAITI-OBSERVATEUR GROUP, an unknown business entity, and LEO JOSEPH, an individual, Defendants. ________________________________/ MOTION FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT JUDGMENT Plaintiffs Patrice Baker (Baker) and Laurent Lamothe (Lamothe) move for the entry of a default judgment against Defendant, Leo Joseph (Joseph), pursuant to Rule 55, Fed. R. Civ. P. The following grounds support this Motion: 1. On September 12, 2012, Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint [DE 4]

against Leo Joseph1. 2. [DE 23]. 3. Under Rule 55, the well-pleaded allegations of Plaintiffs Amended On January 16, 2013, the Clerk of this Court entered a Clerks Default

Complaint are deemed admitted by Joseph. The allegations and exhibits of Plaintiffs Amended Complaint are incorporated here by reference.

Defendant Haiti-Observateur Group has been dismissed from the Amended Complaint without prejudice.

Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 2 of 5 CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU Count I Defamation 5. Plaintiffs seek judgment in their favor as to their claim for defamation

arising from Josephs false and malicious defamatory statements, including but not limited to: a. The false and defamatory statement that Plaintiffs Lamothe and Baker are orchestrating or have already profited from the sale of the telecommunications company, Haitel, by and through their affiliations with the Haitian government; b. The false and defamatory statement that the sale of Haitel, a Haitian telecommunications company, was somehow controlled by Plaintiff Lamothe acting both in his official capacity and as an individual; c. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe transferred and/or used the center of Haitels operations to the Haitian consulate in New York in order to influence the sale of the company; d. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe and Baker have acted as broker-dealers for the sale of Haitel; e. The false and defamatory statement that through his connections with the Haitian president, Lamothe arranged and fixed the price for Haitel to be sold at $25,000,000; f. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe utilized the electoral victory of Haitian president Michel Martelly to compel the sale of Haitel; g. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe fixed the price of the sale of Haitel and will benefit in the form of receiving the lions share of the proceeds; h. The false and defamatory statement that in his dealings relating to Haitel, Lamothe disregarded the safeguards of the Haitian state and government; i. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe exerted pressure on Nord Citadel Capital LLC to begin issuing payments for the purchase of Haitel; and j. The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe is a partner of the firm SOWCI which is gaining 14 cents on each minute of international call. Certified translations of the articles published by Joseph are attached to Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction as Exhibit 2. 6. The statements published by Defendant Joseph on his website,

www.Haiti-Observateur.net, were unprivileged and made with actual malice. 7. Defendant Joseph knew or should have known that the statements

published on the website regarding Plaintiffs were false. 2

PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 200 South Andrews Avenue, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 (954) 566-7117 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33131 (305) 377-0086

Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 3 of 5 CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU 8. As a result of Defendants statements published to third-parties, Plaintiffs

have been damaged and suffered injury to their good names, their reputations, and their standing in their respective political, business, and personal communities. See Baker Aff. at 24 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 9. Joseph has demonstrated a willingness to destroy the personal and

professional lives of the Plaintiffs and will use his website to cause irreparable harm to their personal and professional reputations for which money damages will be inadequate to repair. 10. Based upon Defendants admission of the well-pleaded allegations in the

Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs are entitled to seek the remedy of injunctive relief upon demonstrating a claim for defamation. See Lorentz v. Sunshine Health Prods., Case No. 09-61529-CIV-MORENO, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100985 *5 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 23, 2010) ([T]he Court finds this claim for injunctive relief is not, by itself, a cognizable cause of action.); Mobile Shelter Sys. USA v. Grate Pallet Solutions, LLC, 845 F. Supp. 2d 1241, 1261 n. 7 (M.D. Fla. 2012)(In Florida, there is no separate cause of action for injunctive relief. It is a remedy, not an independent cause of action.). 11. From the well-pled allegations and undisputed allegations of the Amended

Complaint, Plaintiffs have succeeded on the merits, demonstrated a substantial threat of irreparable and the continuing harm and the threatened injury to the Plaintiffs outweighs any harm to the Defendant. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs request that this Court enter default judgment against Defendant Leo Joseph, issue a permanent injunction in the form of the proposed order attached hereto and grant such further relief that this Court deems just and proper. 3
PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 200 South Andrews Avenue, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 (954) 566-7117 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33131 (305) 377-0086

Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 4 of 5 CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU Dated: February 5, 2013. /s/ Miguel Armenteros____________ J. Ronald Denman (863475) jrdenman@pbyalaw.com Miguel Armenteros (0014929) miguel@pbyalaw.com PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600 Miami, FL 33131 Telephone: (305) 377-0086 Facsimile: (305) 377-0781 Attorneys for Plaintiffs CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on February 5, 2013, I electronically filed the foregoing document with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF. I also certify that the foregoing document is being served this day on all counsel of record or pro se parties identified on the attached Service List in the manner specified, either via transmission of Notices of Electronic Filing generated by CM/ECF or in some other authorized manner for those counsel or parties who are not authorized to receive Notices of Electronic Filing. Dated: February 5, 2013. /s/ Miguel Armenteros____________ J. Ronald Denman (863475) jrdenman@pbyalaw.com Miguel Armenteros (0014929) miguel@pbyalaw.com PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600 Miami, FL 33131 Telephone: (305) 377-0086 Facsimile: (305) 377-0781 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 200 South Andrews Avenue, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 (954) 566-7117 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33131 (305) 377-0086

Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 5 of 5 CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU

SERVICE LIST J. Ronald Denman (863475) jrdenman@pbyalaw.com Miguel Armenteros (0014929) miguel@pbyalaw.com ERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600 Miami, FL 33131 Telephone: (305) 377-0086 Facsimile: (305) 377-0781 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Available for service via CM/ECF Leo Joseph 139-68 86th Avenue Jamaica, NY 11435 Served via U.S. Mail

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PERLMAN, BAJANDAS, YEVOLI & ALBRIGHT, P.L. 200 South Andrews Avenue, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 (954) 566-7117 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33131 (305) 377-0086

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Case 1:12-cv-23300-UU Document 29-2 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/05/2013 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO.: 12-CV-23300-UU PATRICE BAKER, an individual and LAURENT LAMOTHE, an individual, Plaintiffs, v. HAITI-OBSERVATEUR GROUP, an unknown business entity, and LEO JOSEPH, an individual, Defendants. ___________________________________/ DEFAULT FINAL JUDGMENT THIS CAUSE came before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion for Default Judgment and the Court having considered the Motion, the affidavits submitted in support of the Motion and otherwise being fully advised of the premises, it ORDERS AND ADJUDGES as follows: 1. Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiffs Patrice Baker and Laurent Lamothe;

IT FURTHER ORDERS AND ADJUDGES: 2. Court finds: a. Defendant Leo Joseph operated, managed and published a website under the Based upon the properly pleaded allegations of the Amended Complaint, the

domain name of www.haiti-observateur.net (the Website). b. Plaintiff Baker is a prominent businessman in the Southern District of Florida. Baker is known and recognized in the community and maintains a stellar reputation in the business and local community. 1 of 4

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c. Plaintiff Lamothe currently serves as the Prime Minister of Haiti and enjoys a stellar reputation in the political and local community in which he serves and resides. As a result of the large Haitian population which resides in this District, Plaintiff Lamothes reputation is subject to offense and damage within the Southern District of Florida. d. On August 15, 2012, the Defendants published the article titled La Haitel en vente pour 25 millions $? on the Website and intentionally began to spread false and defamatory statements about Plaintiffs to an international and unlimited group of readers, including in Florida and Haiti. e. On September 5, the defendant published a second article titled: "Global Voice et SOWCI ensemble pour ruiner la TELECO" on the Website intentionally spreading further false and defamatory statements about Plaintiffs. f. Defendants publications are replete with statements that are outrageous, scandalous and reminiscent of a tabloid publication. g. Defendants statements included the false and defamatory statement that Plaintiffs Lamothe and Baker are orchestrating or have already profited from the sale of the telecommunications company, Haitel, by and through their affiliations with the Haitian government; the false and defamatory statement that the sale of Haitel, a Haitian telecommunications company, was somehow controlled by Plaintiff Lamothe acting both in his official capacity and as an individual; the false and defamatory statement that Lamothe transferred and/or used the center of Haitels operations to the Haitian consulate in New York in order to influence the sale of the company; the false and defamatory statement that Lamothe and Baker have acted as broker-dealers for the sale of Haitel; the false and defamatory statement that through his connections with the Haitian president, Lamothe arranged and fixed the price for

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Haitel to be sold at $25,000,000; the false and defamatory statement that Lamothe utilized the electoral victory of Haitian president Michel Martelly to compel the sale of Haitel; the false and defamatory statement that Lamothe fixed the price of the sale of Haitel and will benefit in the form of receiving the lions share of the proceeds; the false and defamatory statement that in his dealings relating to Haitel, Lamothe disregarded the safeguards of the Haitian state and government; the false and defamatory statement that Lamothe exerted pressure on Nord Citadel Capital LLC to begin issuing payments for the purchase of Haitel; and The false and defamatory statement that Lamothe is a partner of the firm SOWCI which is gaining 14 cents on each minute of international call. h. Defendants statements made in the Website and through its article are entirely false and conjured to destroy the reputations of Baker and Lamothe. i. Defendants statements were made with actual malice. 3. 4. Plaintiffs have succeeded on the merits of their defamation claim. The damage to Plaintiffs personal, profession and political reputations represents

an immediate and irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law. 5. The balance of the potential harm to Defendant Joseph in restraining his

publication of defamatory and malicious communications concerning the Plaintiffs is far outweighed by the harm to the Plaintiffs caused by the publications. 6. Defendant Leo Joseph is hereby permanently restrained from publishing future

communications to any third-parties concerning or regarding the Plaintiffs in either their professional, personal or political lives. DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, this ____ day of January, 2013.

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________________________________________ URSULA UNGARO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies to: All Counsel of Record Mr. Leo Joseph

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