The Alex Jones Trial

[George K]

Anyone following it?

I haven't, but it sounds like a cluster...

[Mik]

He is…now how do the Irish say it? Oh yes…he’s fooked.

[Mik]

That said, I have zero sympathy.

[George K]

Educamate me.

My understanding is that Jones claimed that Sandy Hook never happened and the reporting of it was a conspiracy theory.

Is that it?

[Aqua Letifer]

@George-K said in The Alex Jones Trial:

Educamate me.

My understanding is that Jones claimed that Sandy Hook never happened and the reporting of it was a conspiracy theory.

Is that it?

He also said the parents were in on the conspiracy. That's how this went to trial.

[George K]

@Aqua-Letifer said in The Alex Jones Trial:

He also said the parents were in on the conspiracy.

Jesus.

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in The Alex Jones Trial:

@Aqua-Letifer said in The Alex Jones Trial:

He also said the parents were in on the conspiracy.

Jesus.

A number of the parents subsequently received abuse from people who apparently believed him.

Bankruptcy really isn’t enough for what he did.

[89th]

I’ve seen some clips online. He epitomizes everything about how bad today’s internet and media can be. He should be given NO oxygen in terms of coverage but here we are.

He’s like the person who says the most hurtful and insulting things but instead of being ignored, resources have to be spent to counter his claims…adding insult to injury.

Anyway the clips show him commuting perjury, making false statements under oath, and rambling off topic until the judge has to keep reprimanding him for not answering a question and thinking this is an episode of his tv show.

I hope he is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

[George K]

@89th said in The Alex Jones Trial:

the judge has to keep reprimanding him for not answering a question

Without getting into details, when I was in court, the judge told an expert witness the following: "Dr. Jones, during cross examination, when Mr. Smith asks you a question, you will answer 'yes,' 'no,' 'I don't know,' or 'cannot be answered as a yes/no'. Is that clear?

Jones: "Yes, judge."

Judge: "Good because otherwise, if you continue to filibuster, you will spend the night in Cook County in a place I guarantee you won't like."

[George K]

$4.1 million.

Alex Jones was ordered by a jury to pay $4.1 million to the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting in the first of several trials seeking damages for his repeated public statements suggesting the massacre was a hoax.

The award granted to the parents Thursday was for what are known as actual damages, for the harm suffered directly by the parents of the murdered child.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs had asked for $150 million. The jury will continue to hear evidence Friday on whether to award further punitive damages, for what the judge in the case earlier termed Mr. Jones’ “outrageous” conduct surrounding the shooting.

The total amount awarded against Mr. Jones in his Austin hometown could imperil the popular broadcaster and his Infowars empire, which has sought bankruptcy protection. In testimony this week, Mr. Jones was visibly agitated, interrupting one of the parents on the stand and claiming to be the victim himself of a wider conspiracy.

Mr. Jones and others at Infowars regularly said on-air that the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., which killed 20 first-graders and six adults, was staged by actors as part of a wide plot to promote gun control, among other left-leaning aims. This week, he said under oath that he believed the shooting was “100% real.”

Last year, Mr. Jones made the unusual decision not to mount defenses in a string of defamation lawsuits filed by victims’ families, which led to a series of default judgments in favor of plaintiffs. Damages have yet to be determined in the other suits.

Mr. Jones, in his testimony, said he would be unable to pay any significant damages award.

Infowars’ parent, Free Speech Systems LLC, filed bankruptcy last week—the second time the platform has attempted to enter chapter 11 in recent months. Lawyers for Sandy Hook families have accused Mr. Jones of diverting money to protect the business from potential judgments, an accusation Mr. Jones’s lawyer denies.

Mr. Jones and his business have spent more than $15 million on the Sandy Hook lawsuits, according to filings last week. Documents submitted to the bankruptcy court show that Infowars’ owners have drawn more than $62 million out of the business since the start of 2021. An accountant hired by Infowars’ parent testified Wednesday in bankruptcy court that, despite the filings, those draws were taken over 14 years, most were taken before the defamation suits were filed and roughly half the draws were used to pay taxes.

[Mik]

Damages. The punitive phase starts tomorrow.

[kluurs]

This may put a bit of a damper on the be all the crazy you want to be.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Alex Jones Trial:

Damages. The punitive phase starts tomorrow.

Oh, yeah. That'll be the kill shot.

[LuFins Dad]

$45,000,000 in Punitive…

[George K]

@LuFins-Dad said in The Alex Jones Trial:

$45,000,000 in Punitive…

https://www.injuryrelief.com/personal-injury-law/damages/punitive-damages/

What Is the Cap on Punitive Damages in Texas?

Back in the old days, whatever the jury decided was the dollar amount you deserved is what you got. In an effort to stop so-called "runaway juries" from hurting businesses, the Texas Legislature placed limits on what juries could award for punitive damages under most circumstances. A law called the Texas Damages Act capped punitive damages in the following way:

Punitive damages are limited to the value of two times the amount the jury wards for economic damages plus...
An amount equal to what the jury awards for non-economic damages (up $750,000).
Or, if the jury does not award any compensation for economic damages...

The amount of punitive damages is capped at $200,000.
Further, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a products liability case that making a defendant pay an absurdly high amount of punitive damages is a violation of the Due Process Clause. While the court did not create a hard and fast rule regarding what is excessive, it's generally regarded as being about 4 times the compensatory damages awarded in the case.

There is no list of activities that qualify as "gross negligence." Rather, like obscenity, "you know it when you see it."

[taiwan_girl]

So, if my math is correct, the Texas law will limit the punitive damage to about USD$9MM, so the total will be about USD$13MM

[jon-nyc]

Turns out Alex Jones’ lawyer isn’t really a lawyer.

He’s a crisis actor.

[Renauda]

@jon-nyc

Why didn’t he just hire Joe Pesci to reenact his cousin Vinny role?

[Mik]

You wouldn’t want that. The scumbag might have won.

As astonishing as it is, I know people who believe his tripe.