Attorney Dennis M. Slate Secures Record Private Plaintiff Verdict in Harris County for Client

DEER PARK, Texas - May 6, 2016 - PRLog -- A Harris County jury in the 246^th Judicial District Court awarded Mr. David Hogan, who was represented by Attorney Dennis M. Slate, a record $2.1 million verdict after the jury found the defendant Stephanie Montagne Zoanni, who is the Mr. Hogan's ex-wife, liable for defamation with malice.

Mr. Hogan is the Executive Pastor of Spring First Church in Spring, Texas. After his ex-wife created false allegations of his possession of materials that contained child pornography, and accused him of voyeurism and child abuse, the prominent church lost staff, regular members, worshippers, and income. The financial harm and reputation damage was near-immediate, severe, and potentially-irreparable.

It was argued at trial that Mr. Hogan's ex-wife began making the defamatory statements in an attempt to modify the custody order so she could move away with their shared child to Montana, where she wanted to live with her new husband. The false allegations were a clear attempt to depict Mr. Hogan in an unfair, biased, and negative light and to then deceive the divorce court to accept her requested modifications. The defendant even went as far as to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Task Force for Sexually Exploited Children with the accusations he was in possession of child pornography and had sexually assaulted his own daughter.

Contacting the FBI would prove to be one of the defendant's many mistakes, as the federal investigators determined that she was "a liar". It was concluded through Attorney Dennis M. Slate's legal advocacy and arguments that she had made up and reported a variety of allegations against Mr. Hogan to anyone who would listen to her claims, including notifying the national headquarters of Mr. Hogan's church in a direct attempt to have him terminated as a pastor. Mrs. Montagne Zoanni was proactive about destroying David Hogan's good name and started a blog to expand her defamation of him, which she shared to friends, on Facebook, and distributed to teachers at their child's school. Overall, her falsified, defamatory blog entries got more than 80,000 views.

Despite the defendant's persistence and thoroughness in her defamation attempts, the truth could not be hidden for long. The jury's decision to award Mr. Hogan $2.1 million from the defendant's finances accounts for his damaged reputation and the lost income the church experienced as a direct result of her actions.  Most importantly though, is that the jury with this verdict, cleared David Hogan's name and began the healing to his reputation.

To learn more about Attorney Dennis M. Slate and his legal practice, inquiring parties can visit his website (www.deerparkdivorcelawyers.com).