The North Dakota Supreme Court today denied a petition by Greenpeace International and Greenpeace entities in the US for a change of venue as they defend against the SLAPP case brought by Energy Transfer in Morton County.
The North Dakota Supreme Court's denial follows three prior denied motions to the Morton County court for change of venue.
"The fairness of a trial should be above any questioning. A jury drawn from a community heavily affected by the events Energy Transfer is attempting to blame on the defendants, shouldn't bear the responsibility of deciding this case. It's disappointing to learn the Supreme Court denied the motion, but we are confident in our defence and will continue to focus on winning at trial," said Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel, Greenpeace International.
"While we are disappointed with this outcome, we have always believed in the strength of our defence, and will continue to present our case," said Greenpeace USA Senior Legal Advisor Deepa Padmanabha. "We trust that the jury will follow the facts and the law, and render a decision in our favor."
