Cayuga Nation leader Clint Halftown and former Nation police chief Mark Lincoln have withdrawn their defamation lawsuit against Fayette resident Charles Bowman, according to the Finger Lakes Times.
A stipulation filed Sept. 1 in state Supreme Court in Seneca County ended the case with prejudice and without either side owing the other court costs or fees.
The January 2022 suit concerned Bowman's Facebook criticism following a February 2020 confrontation with Nation police during a protest in Seneca Falls, and Bowman described the litigation as an attack on his free-speech rights.
Bowman said months of negotiations produced the agreement after Judge Barry Porsch denied the plaintiffs' request for summary judgment and he hired a lawyer to handle discovery and depositions.
Halftown said the statements he considered false had stopped years earlier and that continuing the case offered little practical benefit, including a low likelihood of collecting a monetary judgment.
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