HUNTINGTON — Historian and author Bryan Mark Rigg is seeking World War II veteran Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams to respond to discovery questions in a case Williams filed against Rigg about his most recent book.
Tom Hancock, Rigg's attorney, said, said Williams has refused to respond to requests for answers.
"Though we have great respect for Woody Williams’ actions during the Second World War, his conduct in this litigation has been unacceptable," Hancock said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "Mr. Williams's lawsuit loudly proclaims that our client is a liar. Over the last year, we have reached out to Mr. Williams’ attorneys seeking evidence of this claim. To date, Mr. Williams has refused to respond to many of our questions.
Hancock
"At this point, it’s clear that only a court order will compel Mr. Williams to meet his obligations under the rules, so we filed a motion seeking one."
Rigg said Williams simply didn't want the truth to come out about who he really is. He said the information used to bring Williams into the spotlight was all made up by Williams himself.
"Once I found all this out, Woody used all of his political clout to try and violate the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment by shutting down my book," Rigg said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "So, he filed this lawsuit."
Rigg said once the lawsuit was filed against him, he and his attorneys asked Williams what was wrong with the book.
"What in it is false, where is the evidence that it's false?" Rigg said. "He can't say anything because, as you know that old phrase, the truth is the best defense."
Rigg said he has had to fight for First Amendment rights because he found out that Williams' details and fabrications are being re-billed to the world and he won't be viewed the same way.
The motion to compel discovery says Williams never has responded to certain motions the defendant has filed.
"To this day, Mr. Williams has never responded, apparently believing that no one would dare dismiss a case brought by Woody Williams, despite the Court mentioning in a hearing on the record that Dinsmore & Shohl had failed to file a response to the Amended Motion to Dismiss," the motion states. "Further, Mr. Williams never responded to the discovery questions posed to him on April 1, 2020, until nine months later, after multiple correspondence and then objected to nearly every question and simply ignored others."
The motion states that Williams has failed to supplement discovery responses and attempts by Rigg to get responses from Williams have been ignored.
The motion calls for sanctions against Williams for failing to respond to the first set of discovery.
Attorneys for Williams did not respond to requests for comment on the case or Rigg's motion to compel.
Williams, 97, is a retired U.S. Marine Corps warrant officer and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs veterans service representative who received the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The VA Medical Center in Huntington is named in honor of Williams.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 3:19-cv-00423