Mendonca

I. BACKGROUND

In December 2021, the probate court appointed Mendonca as conservator of the persons and estates of spouses Ronald W. Keller (Ronald) and Barbara Lynn Keller (Barbara; collectively the Kellers). In doing so, the court denied Sharon Wolff’s (Sharon) competing petitions for conservatorships of the Kellers.2 As alleged by Mendonca, following his appointment as conservator, Sharon and her husband, Steve Wolff (collectively the Wolffs), published defamatory and false material concerning Mendonca and his attorney, Hamer, on various platforms and formats, including in an online newspaper run by the Wolffs. In August 2022, Mendonca filed a “petition for preliminary injunction and permanent injunction, restraining [the Wolffs] from libel, slander and harassment of conservator and his attorney” (petition). (Boldface and capitalization omitted.) The petition sought an order restraining the Wolffs “from publishing or otherwise disseminating false and derogatory statements, articles, letters or pictures in writing or orally, concerning” Mendonca or Hamer and ordering the Wolffs to remove such items. The petition alleged the Wolffs made statements, including: Mendonca and Hamer…