Former Scott City mayor Ron Cummins, who dropped his defamation lawsuit in August, has filed a new but similar suit against the same three individuals,
The suit was filed Tuesday in Scott County Circuit Court against state Rep. Holly Rehder, councilman and former mayor Tim Porch and Scott City resident Cindi Davidson Brashear.
Cummins has accused all three defendants of defaming him.
Cummins resigned as mayor in August 2017 amid a call by Rehder, a Scott County Republican, for an investigation into allegations he abused his position as mayor.
The original suit was filed in December 2017.
The new, three-page lawsuit provides more specific allegations against the defendants. The suit seeks unspecified damages, claiming the defendants engaged in "malicious acts" against Cummins.
During a hearing on the original suit in August, Judge David Dolan indicated he did not believe the issue of malice had been addressed as it related to Porch and Brashear.
Cummins' attorney, Patrick Davis, agreed at the hearing to drop the case against Porch and Brashear and subsequently dropped the remaining counts against Rehder.
Attorneys for all three defendants had argued for dismissal of the original suit on the grounds their clients have constitutional rights to free speech and did not act with malice.
According to the new suit, the defendants "published defamatory statements against the plaintiff," including but not limited to "malfeasance of office, corruption, theft in the form of misuse of public funds."
Davis, wrote that Rehder and Brashear made "libelous and slanderous" statements. "Defendant Porch uttered slanderous statements and composed libelous text messages," according to the suit.
Rehder made "defamatory statements" about Cummins to the news media, the suit said. She continued to make such remarks after being advised by Scott Sheriff Wes Drury that discussions between the sheriff and prosecutor found "no laws had been broken," the suit said.
The suit charges Porch sent texts to various people alleging Cummins, as mayor, illegally fired city employees when Porch, as a former mayor himself, knew Cummins did not have authority to fire city employees.
Porch "made statements concerning the firing of city employees which he knew were untrue," according to the suit.
Porch publicly demanded criminal investigations, accusing Cummins of being a thief when he knew the then mayor had not stolen public funds, the suit said. Porch was not on the council at the time of the alleged defamation.
Brashear made "false and defamatory statements" on a recall petition she circulated in an effort to remove Cummins as mayor, according to the suit.
Brashear created a Facebook page titled, "We Want Our Town Back," which contained false statements about Cummins, the suit said.
"Defendant Brashear had knowledge of the false nature of her statements and libelous materials," Davis wrote in the petition for damages.
The suit said Brashear alleged Cummins had misused public funds even after she was advised by the city clerk that was not the case.
According to the suit, Brashear "made statements verbally and in print alleging illegal firing and actions exposing the city to multiple lawsuits and the violation of numerous laws which she knew to be false or had serious doubts" as to their truthfulness.
The suit said the defendants intentionally made false statements against Cummins and their actions have "damaged" Cummins' pool business.