Appeals court upholds most of Ramtha channeler JZ Knight’s legal win

A state appeals court on Tuesday upheld most of a ruling in favor of the Yelm school founder who says she channels the spirit of 35,000-year-old warrior Ramtha.

JZ Knight’s company, JZK Inc., sued a former student of her Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment who posted video online of Knight making disparaging statements about Catholics, gay people and others. Knight said she was channeling Ramtha at a school event.

The video became a campaign issue in 2012 because of Knight’s political contributions to Democrats.

Former student Virginia Coverdale had signed agreements not to distribute information from the school. Coverdale argued the agreements didn’t apply to footage she posted, which she received in the mail from an anonymous source.

In 2013, a Thurston County Superior Court judge granted JZK summary judgment and $600,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.

A Division II Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday upheld the summary judgment and other orders by the lower court, including dismissal of a counterclaim by Coverdale of misrepresentation and fraud.

In that counterclaim, Coverdale argued JZK made, then retracted, a claim that JZ Knight channeled Jesus. The appeals court wrote Coverdale failed to prove “the assertion that she relied on JZK’s misrepresentation about Jesus or that she was thereby harmed.”

But the appeals court partially reversed the lower court’s order finding Coverdale in contempt of court for violating two court orders. It found she violated just one of the orders and ordered the lower court to reconsider its contempt finding with that in mind.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Appeals court upholds most of Ramtha channeler JZ Knight’s legal win."