Note: This story was updated on Oct. 4 to correct the the name of defendant Joe “Joey” Blevins Jr.
A Marion County Circuit Court judge ruled against a Chattanooga developer in one case and also dismissed his libel lawsuit filed after critics compared the land under his Aetna Mountain development to “Swiss cheese” because of old mines.
John “Thunder” Thornton, of Thunder Air Inc., was also ordered to pay the attorneys and court costs of the defendants in both cases.
Thornton sued Whiteside, Tennessee, residents Joe “Joey” Blevins Jr. and Ronnie Kennedy — neighbors of the River Gorge Ranch residential development — accusing them of libel after the two men said the development was built atop an old underground system of mines.
The pair countersued under the 2019 Tennessee Public Participation Act, accusing Thornton of filing the libel suit to intimidate or silence the critics.