Judge moves University of Iowa FIJI trial to Tama; woman wants reconsideration

IOWA CITY — With more than a year to go before the civil trial of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, its University of Iowa chapter and two former members — accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a fellow UI student, recording the attack and disseminating the video — a judge has agreed to move the case outside Johnson County, citing a “violent protest” and “inflammatory” online comments after allegations went public two years ago.

“Although the plaintiff has attempted to show that there is no prejudice, the court disagrees,” according to an Aug. 30 order moving the trial against the fraternity, which goes by FIJI, and former UI students Carson Steffen and Jacob Meloan to Tama County.

“Many of the online postings are far from objective, and contain inflammatory comments which call for violence against the accused as well as destruction of property,” the judge wrote.

The woman who filed the lawsuit in November 2021, identifying herself in court documents she filed and on social media entries she posted as Makena Solberg, last week fought that change-of-venue order, arguing the defense attorneys’ request was late and deficient — in that it, among other things, didn’t include required affidavits.

“The court has erred by ruling upon a motion that does not comply with specific statutory requirements,” Solberg argued Friday. “Plaintiff requests the court reconsider its order, correct its own errors, and deny defendants’ motion to change venue.”

One day earlier, on Thursday, Meloan filed his own lawsuit in Linn County District Court accusing 24 people of libel and slander for making “past and present public statements” accusing him of being “a rapist,” which “subjected him to ridicule and public contempt, and affected his education and employment, among other injuries.”

“These allegations are not and were never true,” Meloan argued in his lawsuit against a list of individuals, including past and present UI students, at least one UI worker and a person sharing Solberg’s last name — although not Solberg herself, given he’s countered her lawsuit with affirmative defenses.

“Defendants have messaged Jacob and his family threats and false remarks,” according to Meloan’s lawsuit. “Jacob had to leave the University of Iowa due to these false public statements. Jacob continues to receive threatening messages due to the publication of these false allegations.”

A jury trial in Solberg’s lawsuit against FIJI, Meloan and Steffen is set for Nov. 5, 2024 — four years after the alleged assault in September 2020 at the FIJI house in Iowa City.

According to her lawsuit, Solberg said she was drugged, isolated in a room and assaulted by Steffen and Meloan, who recorded it and disseminated photos and video among FIJI brothers in an online group chat.

Although Solberg reported the incident to Iowa City police, authorities didn’t initially seek charges — and she went public on social media in fall 2021. It was that publicity — and, with it, online petitions and Facebook posts — that incited a large and violent protest in September 2021, damaging the FIJI house and forcing residents to relocate.

Fifteen months after the alleged sexual assault — and weeks after the protests — Iowa City police arrested Steffen on suspicion of first-degree harassment. That case is on hold, pending resolution of the lawsuit, and Steffen recently waived an in-person appearance for an Aug. 10 status conference, reporting he lives and works out of state.

Police have not sought charges against Meloan.

In September 2022, Solberg filed another lawsuit against a third UI student, Broc Hawkins, who she accused of spreading the video of her assault. Hawkins has denied the allegations, and his case is scheduled for trial Jan. 23, 2024.

In arguing for the change of venue in the case against Steffen and Meloan, attorneys reported an online petition advocating the shutdown of FIJI “nationwide” had garnered 167,000 signatures as of October 2021 — a number that stands at over 201,100 today.

At one point, a “Protest FIJI University of Iowa” Facebook page had more than 1,500 members and organized protests against the chapter, sharing the house address and other locations where members lived, according to court documents. Members of the group encouraged protesters to, among other things, “burn (the house) down.”

Protesters, according to police and court documents, broke into the houses, flooded a basement, overturned cars, broke windows and spray-painted “RAPISTS” on a house.

Solberg, through her attorneys, argued the defense failed to follow “civil procedure, including timeliness and compliance,” and therefore should have been denied.

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