Courtney Love was back in a courtroom Wednesday (Jan. 15) in Los Angeles as the first day of her defamation trial got underway. The singer was in court to answer to a suit filed by her former lawyer, Rhonda Holmes, who claimed that Love defamed her in a public tweet.

The tweet in question read: "@noozjunkie I was f---ing devastated when Rhonda J. Holmes Esq of san diego was bought off. @fairnewsspears perhaps you can get a quote." Love had initially hired Gordon & Holmes to represent her in a fraud case against the executors of Kurt Cobain's estate.

Spin reports that in their suit, Gordon & Holmes claimed they were defamed by Love after they stipulated that the singer "remain clean and sober" during her case. But according to the complaint, there was never any indication that Love honored this condition, which allegedly "caused Love to become angry with plaintiffs."

Love maintained in court that she had meant to send the tweet as a direct message to two reporters rather than it being made public for all to see. She added that she was answering a question posed to her as to whether or not the lawyers were bought off.

During opening statements, Holmes' attorney Barry Langberg stated, "Once this kind of charge is made on the Internet, you never know who read it. You never know where it went. Just because you don't have a list of everyone who saw it doesn't mean it's not a problem. You never know where it's sitting as a ticking time bomb waiting to come out." Langberg also stated that Love was a person who knows how to exploit publicity and this was "another example of publicity that she wanted."

Meanwhile, Love's lawyer John Lawrence described the singer as a "very passionate, emotional and committed artist." He also stated that Love, who had been victimized for many years and lost millions of dollars, felt that she had found a champion in Holmes and was dismayed when she was left alone in her quest for justice.

Lawrence also alluded to Holmes pushing the case forward for her own benefit, stating, "Were it not for this case, those words would be nowhere and could not be found. It was thrown out to the world to see by Ms. Holmes herself. Curious."

The trial is expected to last just beyond the end of next week.

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