South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

Back in September, a blog popped up that was scraping the posts of real bloggers, published under the name of Fresno criminal defense lawyer Melina S. Benninghoff. Mark Bennett's investigation turned up what was apparently a former client of Benninghoff's named Wayne Conley whom she was allowing to design and publish her website and develop her online presence.

Bennett later amended his posts to remove references to Benninghoff's name and to reflect that he had talked with Benninghoff and concluded that Conley was doing the damage without her knowledge - I can see where this could happen and, although a definite error in judgment, she should have the opportunity to correct it.

That was at least three months ago, and it appears that Conley not only still has access to her website and blog, but is now defaming bloggers and attributing it to Benninghoff. The attorneys who are being smeared on Benninghoff's website are, coincidentally, also the attorneys with the most successful criminal defense blogs and those who have called out Benninghoff and Conley on what was happening. Conley is what he is, and I doubt that he will change - he wants attention and he is getting it at Benninghoff's expense.

Melina Benninghoff, on the other hand, three months after she was put on notice of what was going on in her name on her websites, now owns this mess. This has got to be the saddest example of "outsource your marketing, outsource your ethics" I have seen yet. If there was not cause for a bar complaint back in September, there is now. And I believe that the defamation that is being published on her website, including claims that bloggers have committed crimes, that they appear drunk in court, and that certain bloggers "hate" their clients, is actionable.