Embattled former Michigan Wolverines football coach Matt Weiss is contesting a default judgment against him in a high-profile hacking case. Weiss, accused of unlawfully accessing the accounts of college athletes, claimed that he did not receive the lawsuit papers because they were sent to his mother's home in Connecticut and were signed for incorrectly by a postal employee. In the motion he filed, as reported by ClickOnDetroit, Weiss stated that the error led to a situation whereby "a new series of media reports was initiated shortly after the default was entered," which he suggests was a tactic to apply pressure rather than to advance the case based on its merits.
Furthermore, Weiss' filing collected by MLive points out discrepancies in the service process, indicating that the "United States Postal Service — the very entity relied upon to confirm delivery — has formally disavowed the original delivery confirmation." He added that the signature on the certified mail does not match his own. The law firm representing the plaintiffs, however, has stood by its service method. "This is not a publicity stunt — the federal indictment against Mr Weiss speaks for itself," Parker Stinar of Stinar Gould Greico & Hensley said in a statement to MLive.
The lawsuit at the heart of the matter involves accusations that Weiss hacked into databases to obtain intimate photos and videos of female students without their knowledge or consent. Detroit Free Press reported that the University of Michigan and Keffer Development Services are also named in the civil lawsuit, which is seeking damages of over $100 million and includes 62 student-athletes as plaintiffs.
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