Summary
Bonnell’s January 30, 2026 motion for summary judgment, filed after discovery closed on December 16, 2025. The motion renews and expands the arguments from ECF 132 (motion to dismiss), now supported by a full discovery record. Three factual developments since the MTD are central: (1) Rose’s deposition confirmed she was never the Discord account holder — Solo (Ben Conway), her abusive ex-boyfriend who was a British citizen living in the UK, had impersonated her and catfished Bonnell; (2) AH/Rose testified she never communicated with or received any material from Bonnell; (3) Abbymc, though eventually served with a subpoena, failed to produce any responsive documents before the discovery deadline. Bonnell argues no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
Key Points
- The video was created September 12, 2020; Plaintiff sent it to her then-boyfriend MH before Bonnell allegedly shared it with anyone.
- Solo, posing as “Rose,” catfished Bonnell starting April 2022; AH (the real person whose identity Solo used) confirmed at deposition she never spoke to Bonnell and never exchanged any material with him.
- AH testified Solo was a British citizen living in the UK during the communications with Bonnell, explaining the European date format (day/month/year) in the leaked Discord screenshots. This resolves the key factual dispute about the April vs. October date interpretation.
- Bonnell’s own Discord logs show the video transmitted on “04/09/2022” (April 9, 2022 at 8:36 p.m. EST), which equals “10/04/22” in Solo’s UK-format logs.
- Plaintiff admitted under oath at the June 3, 2025 preliminary injunction hearing that she had “not” seen any transmission record showing Bonnell sent the video after October 2022.
- Abbymc’s address provided by Plaintiff’s counsel was a fake address (no habitable structure found by process servers); a correct address was only provided November 17, 2025; Abbymc was finally served November 21, 2025 — 25 days before the December 16 discovery deadline.
- Abbymc failed to produce any documents responsive to the subpoena despite receiving it.
- Bonnell’s communication logs show he sent Abbymc only two Google Drive links on November 3, 2023, both depicting “Peach” (not Plaintiff); Peach confirmed the same.
- Abbymc’s declaration (ECF 49-2) is argued to be strikeable under Rule 37(c)(1) because Plaintiff violated Rule 26(a) by obstructing access to Abbymc, citing Treminio v. Crowley Mar. Corp. (M.D. Fla. 2023).
- Plaintiff’s “continuous disclosure” / Discord CDN theory is not seriously addressed again; the motion focuses on summary judgment standards.
- Plaintiff’s expert Jesus Peña conceded in an amended declaration (ECF 147-1 ¶ 2) that Bonnell’s transmission of the video to Rose occurred on April 9, 2022.
- The state law claims (Counts II–IV) should be dismissed for lack of supplemental jurisdiction if the CARDII count fails.
- Bonnell notes Plaintiff is no longer a Florida resident (moved out of state for school), foreclosing any diversity jurisdiction argument.
Newsletter Angles
- The MSJ represents the culmination of a year of litigation on a single jurisdictional question: did Bonnell transmit the video after October 1, 2022? The fact that Plaintiff’s own expert ultimately conceded the April 9, 2022 date is a significant development.
- The catfishing revelation — that AH herself was victimized by Solo’s identity theft — adds a third layer of harm to the story: Plaintiff had the video shared without consent; AH had her identity used to catfish a streamer; Solo is the architect of both harms.
- The Abbymc obstruction narrative culminates here: over six months of failed service attempts, a fake address, and a subpoena that was ultimately never enforced — the mechanics of witness shielding in civil litigation.
Entities Mentioned
- Steven K. Bonnell II — defendant; files MSJ
- Jane Doe (Pxie) — plaintiff; admitted at the preliminary injunction hearing she had no evidence of a post-CARDII transmission
- Rose (AH) — deposed October 23, 2025; confirmed she was never the Discord account holder; Solo was the catfisher
- Solo (Ben Conway) — confirmed at deposition (via AH’s testimony) to be the UK-based catfisher who used AH’s identity; his UK location explains the European date format
- Doe v. Bonnell (1-25-cv-20757) — the case
Concepts Mentioned
- Reachability Routing — the Discord CDN public accessibility argument is implicitly dismissed here; Plaintiff’s own expert conceded the April 9 date
- Catfishing as Legal Gap — the catfishing fact pattern is now fully established by deposition testimony; Solo used AH’s identity to deceive Bonnell, meaning Bonnell transmitted to an impostor, not a real person he knew
Quotes
“Court: [H]ave you seen any transmission yourself or record of a transmission as opposed to what somebody’s told you that evidenced Mr. Bonnell sending a video after October of 2022? Have you seen anything? Plaintiff: I have not.” — June 3, 2025 preliminary injunction hearing
“Q. So essentially Defendant Bonnell was catfished by your boyfriend [Solo]; correct? A. Yes.” — AH deposition, October 23, 2025
“Q. Do you know [Solo’s] Discord username? A. Yeah. It was Rose … .” — AH deposition
Notes
- Filed at the summary judgment deadline, with ECF 132 (MTD) still sub judice; Bonnell files the MSJ to ensure the jurisdictional arguments are preserved under Rule 56 standards.
- The MSJ is accompanied by a Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (ECF 211) and the Brettler Declaration (ECF 212) with attached deposition excerpts.
- Plaintiff did not file a substantive opposition to the MSJ; she filed a Rule 56(d) motion (ECF 216) instead, requesting deferral.
- The Court as of the April 2026 MIL filings has not yet ruled on the MSJ.