R&R Auction Press Release, March 13, 2015:

Lawyers for Michael Johnson faced defeat in Santa Barbara County, California Superior Court on Friday, March 13, after Judge Donna Geck issued a ruling denying Johnson’s motion for class action certification in a 2012 lawsuit Johnson filed alleging that autographed items he purchased through New Hampshire based R&R Auction were later found to be inauthentic.

Judge Geck issued a six-page tentative ruling Wednesday denying class action status to the case “Because of the findings that the class is not ascertainable, the class is not numerous and individual issues predominate over common issues.”

Lawyers for Johnson did not object during Friday’s two-minute hearing.

Since October 2012, Johnson has waged the litigation against R&R Auction as a class action, seeking to recover on behalf of all of R&R’s 393 California clients from 2008-12. But Judge Geck noted in her ruling that Johnson failed to identify any persons or parties who wanted to join his case.

By his own admission, Johnson has been the principal litigant in 9 civil actions in the last 25 years, with 4 cases still pending: R&R, America Safety Services, Inc. (ASSI) (assignee); his original attorneys in the R&R case, McCarthy & Kroes; and website designer Ray Munson. Two of the 9 lawsuits Johnson filed were against his family and their company.