(KMJ) – Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld announced on Friday that he filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza.
Two weeks ago, Bredefeld accused Esparza of extorting outgoing City Attorney Doug Sloan.
Bredefeld said Sloan was ordered not to comply with any requests from Bredefeld or Councilmembers Luis Chavez or Mike Karbassi without prior approval.
In turn, last week, Esparza filed a defamation lawsuit against Bredefeld.
On that day – May 13, 2022 – Council President Esparza released a rebuttal statement saying “Bredefeld is again making allegations that are false, unsubstantiated, and lack evidence. In fact, it’s clear that his latest charade is an attempt by Bredefeld to adversely influence the hiring of the next city attorney by muddying the waters with politics.”
Also on May 13th, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer responded to Bredefeld’s claims saying that that a law enforcement agency needs to investigate allegations of extortion against Esparza to demonstrate whether or not there was criminal activity.
Bredefeld’s motion was filed by him and backed by former City Attorney Doug Sloan.
A hearing is set for June 29, 2022.
