Black Hawk County Supervisor wins court case

A long-time and sometimes flamboyant member of the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors has won another round in court over a lawsuit filed against him by a couple who owns rental property in Waterloo. Susan Brase (brah’-zay) and her husband Alan sued Black Hawk County Supervisor Leon Mosley (mohz’-lee) for libel and slander. The Brases objected to statements Mosley made to local reporters. In 1996, Mosley participated in a protest march and he accused the Brases of owning three drug houses. The second statement the Brases found inflammatory came in October of 1997 when Mosley again challenged Susan Brase to clean up her drug houses. The couple claimed Mosley’s statements were malicious and they sued for damages. Mosley said there was no evidence that either of his statements were false, and that Brase was a public figure, too, since she was running for a seat on the Waterloo city council. The justices on the Iowa Court of Appeals say politicians invite comments on their activities, and she didn’t prove actual malice or recklessness. Mosley is a former vice chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, the first black man to be elected a leader of the state G-O-P.