Hulk Hogan can review Gawker computers for evidence of leak, judge rules

Hulk Hogan’s attorneys have convinced a Florida judge to allow the former professional wrestler to review data from the computers of employees at Gawker, the gossip website that published a sex tape of the star in 2012.

Judge Pamela Campbell of the Pinellas County Circuit Court said on Wednesday that forensics experts can be allowed to inspect laptops, desktops, smartphones and other tech used by Gawker staffers, including founder Nick Denton, to determine if the website leaked damning audio of the wrestler in the midst of his long-standing lawsuit.

Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker in 2012 after the website published video footage showing him having sex with Heather Clem, the wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.

Mr. Bollea’s attorneys said Gawker may have supplied additional recordings to Radar Online and the National Enquirer in the midst of the legal proceedings, the likes of which included a racist rant that promptly led to his termination from World Wrestling Entertainment when it was published online earlier this year.

Judge Campbell’s order, unless successfully appealed, will open Gawker’s computers up to investigators interested in finding proof that Mr. Denton or other staffers communicated with Radar, the Enquirer or other media outlets with regards to the audio rant.

It’s believed that the racist remarks came from the same 2006 sex tape at the center of the wrestler’s $100 million lawsuit with Gawker and was entered in the case as evidence tagged “Confidential — Attorney’s Eyes Only.”

The judge has approved a list of specific terms that forensics experts can query on Gawkers’ computers and has restricted the timeframe that can be searched to between June 26 and Aug. 6, 2015. Investigators can seek “any data, files, emails, messages, texts, phone records, and similar electronically stored information” concerning the case, she said, and Mr. Bollea may also subpoena records and take depositions of third-parties concerning the relevant topics.

Once the “limited discovery” phase is complete, the judge will consider “whether or not this serious allegation is true,” according to the filing.

“We are exceptionally pleased with the court’s rulings in our favor, and it will be our goal to have the court-appointed expert begin their search as soon as possible,” Mr. Bollea’s lawyer, David Houston, told FOX411. “We will comb through Gawker’s records looking for information that may substantiate our concern as to whether or not Gawker or an associate is responsible for the dissemination of otherwise court protected information. If we are able to find that information, we will seek the most severe sanctions possible.”

“The judge’s order is literally unprecedented,” responded Gawker attorney Michael Berry. “It has no basis in law or fact. We intend to appeal. This order should send a shiver down the spine of all media companies and anyone who believes in the free press. It says that a court can confiscate all data in a media company’s computer system based on nothing more than a baseless hunch and accusation. It then gives a litigant all reporters’ and editors’ data that mentions his name and a long list of other names. This order is an affront to the First Amendment.”

The wrestler apologized for his remarks when the audio recordings were leaked earlier this year. Judge Campbell’s order is slated to take affect in November, pending Gawker’s appeal.