MOSCOW, Idaho — A federal judge has dismissed a TikTok user's counterclaims against University of Idaho Professor Rebecca Scofield, who sued for defamation when the TikToker accused her of murdering four college students last year.
Scofield sued Ashley Guillard when she posted multiple videos on TikTok claiming she discovered, through spiritual readings, that the professor killed the four University of Idaho students in November of 2022 to hide an affair. Her videos received millions of views, and Scofield faced harassment due to the nature of the claims.
28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was arrested for the killings and is expected to face trial in October.
Following Scofield's defamation lawsuit, Guillard issued multiple counterclaims against Scofield claiming she was silenced by Scofield's attorneys, that Scofield conspired with her attorneys to avoid prosecution in the murders and that she suffered damages from the publicity of the suit.
On Tuesday, Chief U.S Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco wrote in his dismissal of Guillard's counterclaims that, "[t]he problem with this theory, however, is that there is no objective basis to believe that Plaintiff did the things that Defendant publicly and repeatedly claims she did."
"These claims are not only conclusory and unverifiable, but arguably so outrageous as to be clearly baseless and, thus, implausible," Patricco wrote. "Because the predicate components to Defendant’s counterclaims against Plaintiff lack any basis in fact, those counterclaims should not proceed."
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