searace

The two year lawsuit against Florida author-publisher John Crouse for “Libel and Slander” have been dismissed on July 28th in Florida’s 6Th Judicial Circuit Court for “Lack of Prosecution”, by Circuit Court Judge Bruce Boyer.
Florida attorney Michael Allweiss’ filed the lawsuit in 2002 through one of Florida’s largest law firms, Fowler, White, Boggs and Banker of St. Petersburg, Florida citing that Crouse, the leading journalistic authority on international powerboat racing cited Allweiss’ leased APBA LLC for its high handed treatment of its members and for failing to pay tens of thousands of dollars in its debts.
The criticisms were voiced in Crouse’s internationally distributed SEATALK columns. It was the first time in Crouse’s 47-year career as an oft-critical observer of the sport in which he hit on the sport for some of its safety practices and the heavy presence of drug smugglers in South Florida ocean racing, that he’d been sued!
“Considering Mr. Allweiss’ plethora of flaws in the way he ran his failed APBA LLCs, and the fact that my criticisms were quite accurate, I still wonder why he would waste thousands of dollars in a law suit that he could not win,” Crouse said.
During the 70’s and 80’s two Cuban immigrants, Sal Magluta and Willie Falcon, brought in 78 tons of cocaine valued at two billion dollars, Columbian racer George Morales, a major cocaine smuggler who was eventually beheaded by some of his fellow drug smugglers and boatbuilder-racer Ben Kramer, the world’s number one marijuana smuggler, the grand nephew of the Mafia’s four decade boss of bosses, Meyer Lansky.
Both Kramer and Robert Young, the man he allegedly hired to assassinate boat builder, racer Don Aronow in 1987, pled no contest and were given 19 year sentences. Kramer is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence in Illinois for ongoing racketeering.
These four boat racers smuggling successes made South Florida the drug center of the world and according to Crouse’s forthcoming new book, launched America’s drug epidemic that rages today!
In 1964 Crouse created and initially personally financed the world’s offshore drivers’ championship and its Sam Griffith Trophy. In 1989 he published his 680-page book SEARACE…THE HISTORY OF OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING, acclaimed as the most complete work ever done on any motor sport.
All during the nearly three year period that the lawsuit was in effect Crouse continued to criticize Allweiss for his conduct as the titular head of the once prestigious American Power Boat Association’s most prestigious division, in his SEATALK column.



“I was surprised that a prestigious law firm like Fowler, White, Boggs, Banker
would even file such a lawsuit since the parts of my comments in my columns they hit
on the hardest were accurate quotes from some of the sport’s most prestigious race promoters, boat builders and racing association members,” Crouse said.
“Equally surprising was that the plaintiff’s law firm implied in its initial petitions that I wasn’t even a journalist.
If accepted by the courts, it would have trimmed my journalistic privileges to make critical and accurate comments of a quasi public person who appeared publicly at drivers’ meetings, in the press and on national television,” Crouse added.
The attempt was all the more surprsing, since I graduated from the University of Miami in Florida in 1956 with a degree in journalism, founded two weekly newspapers in Miami and was the courthouse reporter and Sports Editor for the Hollywood Florida Sun-Tattler.
I also was the Associate editor and the offshore racing columnist for the California based POWERBOAT MAGAZINE, America’s leading high performance publication, for more than two decades and was the US correspondent for leading power boating publications in England, Italy and Japan!
And in 1989 I published my SEARACE book, at 680 pages the most complete work ever done on any motor sport, and I have been listed in the prestigious Marquis’ Who’s Who of The World in literature for the past fives years”, Crouse said.
Its obvious that the lawsuit was instigated to shut me up. Its dismissal is evidence that it failed miserably”, Crouse concluded.

jdwlac

WAY TO GO JOHN
My father always told me, when you are wrong, put your tail between your legs and make it RIGHT but,
when youre right, come out swinging and never give up
Ive always enjoyed your writings in powerboat mag, and especially SEARACE

searace

seems like Mr A is loosing a lot of battles lately.

Shane

Haven't seen him nor any of his blind followers that were so critical of me a year ago at all lately. I remember asking the "tough questions" of Mr. Allweis and I was slammed, ridiculed and told to "shut up and race" by several individuals. Funny, you don't see them here any longer! TRUTH HURTS!

Congratulations John. Althought we have had differences in opinion over the years, I am glad to see you stuck by guns and the truth prevailed.

Shane

Magicfloat

Hi,John,when will the new book be ready?

X-Rated30

Heh heh... He said "titular", heh heh.

dhlaw

Keep in mind that a dismissal for lack of prosecution means that there has been no action in the case for over a year, not a dismissal on the merits. In fact it would appear that MA may have just lost interest or ran out of $$.......