UPDATED: Judge Hears Slander Claim in District Five Lawsuit

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the entire lawsuit was dismissed. Only the restraining order portion was thrown out.

With the Nov. 5 election just days away, the District 5 race for Atlanta City Council has gotten down and dirty.

On Halloween, District 5 incumbent Natalyn Archibong, hit two of her challengers with a slander lawsuit and sought a restraining order against them.

But DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams ruled Friday the restraining order part of the case was without merit and dismissed it.

"The court finds that the plaintiff has not made the requisite showing," Adams wrote. "The emergency petition for a temporary restraining order is therefore denied."

The lawsuit itself underscores how the campaign for District Five, which includes East Lake, Cabbagetown and East Atlanta, among other communities, has emerged to become one of the most intense and interesting races this election season.

Last month, for example, an Archibong supporter in Reynoldstown captured on video a woman stealing a campaign sign from his front lawn.

The lawsuit stems from statements those two challengers — Christian Enterkin and Matt Rinker — made at an Oct. 24 candidates' forum regarding Archibong's attendance at City Council meetings.

(John Michalik, a third candidate was not named in the lawsuit. To see video excerpts of the candidates' forum, please go to this link.)

Archibong's lawsuit noted the two challengers said she missed or arrived late to some 90 percent of her City Council meetings in the Q&A portion of the forum. 

The lawsuit also charged Rinker defaming her character in a campaign mailer that alleged the councilwoman laundered money when she paid a printer $11,013.46, using her brother's firm as a pass-through agent.

The Atlanta Board of Ethics, which investigated the matter, ordered her to pay a $250 fine. But the board also noted in its three-page settlement that Archibong's brother, Warren Mosby and his firm, HSI Systems & Consultants, did not receive monetary benefit from the city.

The settlement also noted that Archibong did not have a financial interest in her brother's company and that she "fully cooperated with the investigation and had no intent to violate" the city code.

Archibong did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment, Friday regarding the lawsuit.

Enterkin issued this statement to East Atlanta Patch:

"It is appalling that Natalyn Archibong would attempt to block my rights to campaign just days before the election.  Instead of defending her public record, she has decided to waste MORE taxpayer dollars, and occupy the precious time of a Superior Court Judge. If Ms. Archibong was fighting as hard for District 5 as she is to maintain her seat, we would not be here today. I am running for Atlanta City Council because the citizens of Atlanta deserve a councilmember that will listen to the voters and will keep the residents best interests in mind instead of abusing their authority for their own personal gain. Everything that has come out of our campaign has been factual.  I encourage everyone to do their own research.”

Rinker echoed those sentiments.

"I stand by our claim that Natalyn Archibong has the worst attendance record on the Atlanta City Council, as supported by the City Council's own meeting minutes," Rinker wrote in a statement to Creative Loafing.

"The lawsuit is a desperate move by a desperate politician and her attorney's to hide the truth about her record from voters."