Woman told to pay in defamation suit

A Florida woman accused of slandering state pathologist Frank Peretti was ordered on Friday to pay his legal expenses — $21,341 so far — for refusing to remove the social media posts he says are defamatory.

That amount will increase by $2,500 for each week the material remains online, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled, finding Sharon Leigh Ellis in contempt of court for ignoring his Sept. 11 order.

Ellis, who has represented herself during the six months of litigation, did not attend the 15-minute hearing.

Peretti’s attorney, Dylan Potts, requested the sanctions when Ellis failed to take down the material within two weeks of the September hearing.

Not only did Ellis refuse to remove the posts, but she continued to make further accusations — a “tirade,” Potts said — against Peretti,

a state associate medical examiner, and also against Piazza and his staff.

He showed the judge Facebook posts that accused Piazza of being “corrupt” and participating in a “cover-up,” and described the proceedings as a “kangaroo court” and the courtroom as a “devil’s lair.”

Ellis also claims to be actively publicizing her accusations against Peretti to news organizations nationwide, Potts said.

Ellis, 53, disputes that Arkansas courts have any jurisdiction over her, but Potts said he will seek a civil judgment against her in Florida based on Piazza’s contempt order.

Potts said Peretti will also use Piazza’s order to petition the video-sharing service

YouTube to have the objectionable material removed.

Peretti attended Friday’s hearing but did not testify.

Piazza said he researched the jurisdiction question Ellis raised and determined that she had effectively waived jurisdiction by responding to Peretti’s April lawsuit and then attending the two previous hearings.

Piazza said Ellis’ demeanor at last month’s hearing suggests that she has emotional or mental issues, but that that does not excuse her behavior.

Ellis claims her mother, 78-year-old Joan Losty Ellis of Monticello, was murdered in April 2017 by the staff of a Little Rock hospital where she was a patient.

Sharon Ellis has accused the hospital of covering up the killing. She hired Peretti, through his private practice, to perform an autopsy, but then accused him of participating

in the hospital’s cover-up after his post-mortem exam found no indication of foul play in the woman’s death. She’s also accused Gov. Asa Hutchison of colluding in the cover-up.

Ellis’ social-media campaign has reached the Little Rock police; Pulaski County law enforcement officials; Arkansas State Police investigators; Barry Hyde, the county executive; and representatives of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Peretti testified at the September hearing.

Peretti told the judge last month that he only filed suit after Ellis accused him and the governor of colluding to cover up her mother’s homicide.

He said he had mostly ignored Ellis’ complaints, even after she made a scene at the Crime Lab, attributing her actions to her grief over her mother’s death.