Washoe County District Court Judge David Hardy on Thursday sided with a discovery commissioner, who said that the private investigator who tracked local politicians with a GPS tracking device must identify his client.
Former Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve discovered David McNeely placed GPS tracking devices on their vehicles and documented the activity, tracking data later published online. Both sued McNeely, citing harassment, and they sought to identify McNeely’s client for further litigation.
“John Doe has not shown that disclosure of his identity will reveal highly personal and sensitive information about him, or that disclosure will subject him to a significant risk of retaliatory physical or mental harm,” Discovery Commissioner Wesley Ayres wrote in late June. “His claims of harassment are unpersuasive, as are his arguments that disclosure of his identity will violate his First Amendment rights. John Doe has not shown that his right to engage in anonymous political activity immunizes him from liability for alleged tortious conduct in this case.”
In a terse ruling, Hardy said the recommendation by Ayres could not be determined to be erroneous and ordered McNeely to comply by Sept. 9, 2024.
Ayres, in 2023, determined that the client’s identity is discoverable, but McNeely and the “John Doe” client continue to fight against revealing Doe’s identity. In April, the Nevada Supreme Court determined that McNeely’s client “does not fall within the definition of a trade secret.”
After the ruling, Doe continued to fight against disclosing his identity, alleging he would be subjected to harassment and that revealing his identity would violate his First Amendment right to free speech.
Schieve, in June, told This Is Reno she was looking forward to the case advancing, calling it “a very long and emotional process.”
CORRECTION: The original article listed the incorrect date for McNeely comply. This has been corrected.
