‘Taki’ allegations fail to impress judge

A former punk rock musician from Charlottesville who threw the kitchen sink into his defamation lawsuit against an international society writer has his case washed down the drain by a federal judge.

Jason Jackson used 91 pages to lay out his 66 counts against Taki Theodoracopoulos and five other defendants in his lawsuit, filed without the benefit of counsel. He demanded $55 million in damages.

Jackson claimed he was misused in a 2008 article — posted on the “Takimag.com” website – that described him as a “beer-heavy,” medicated, “clinically schizophrenic” musician who publicly associated himself with pornography and the Confederacy.

A punk rock concert in Roanoke is the supposed scene for some of the antics described in the article, according to Jackson’s complaint.

Despite the prodigious lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Norman Moon declined to entertain the claims. In a pair of opinions this week, he dismissed counts against some of the defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction and others for failure to plead a valid claim.

“Taki” — described on Wikipedia as a “Greek/American journalist, socialite, and political commentator” — kept himself out of the case with a successful motion to quash service of process.

The ruling allows Jackson another chance at pursuing only two of his claims — counts alleging misappropriation and copyright infringement were dismissed without prejudice.

By Peter Vieth