The trial this week for damages that the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay to the mother and father of a baby killed in the 2012 mass taking pictures at Sandy Hook Elementary School has revealed attention-grabbing particulars about Mr. Jones and his Infowars media company, which he used to unfold lies about the taking pictures.
The jury in Austin, Texas, awarded greater than $4 million in compensatory damages on Thursday and was deliberating punitive damages on Friday.
Understand the Cases Against Alex Jones
Card 1 of 6 (*7*)
A united entrance. Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist, is the focus of a long-running authorized battle waged by households of victims of a mass taking pictures at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. Here is what to know:
(*7*)
Defamation lawsuits. The households of 10 Sandy Hook victims sued Mr. Jones in 4 separate lawsuits. The circumstances by no means made it to a jury; Mr. Jones was discovered liable by default in all of them as a result of he refused to show over paperwork, together with monetary data, ordered by the courts over 4 years of litigation.
(*7*)
Mr. Jones’s line of protection. The Infowars host has claimed that his proper to free speech protected him, although the consequence of the circumstances was resulting from the proven fact that he failed to supply the needed paperwork and testify.
(*7*)
Three new trials. A trial in Austin, Texas this July was the first of three that may decide how a lot Mr. Jones should pay the households of the Sandy Hook victims. The different two are scheduled for September, however are on maintain after Mr. Jones put the Infowars mum or dad company, Free Speech Systems, into Chapter 11 chapter final week, halting all pending litigation.
(*7*)
Compensatory and punitive damages. On Aug. 4, a jury in the Texas trial awarded the mother and father of a baby killed in the mass taking pictures greater than $4 million in compensatory damages, that are based mostly on confirmed hurt, loss or damage. A day later, jurors returned to court docket to think about punitive damages, which purpose to punish particularly dangerous conduct and are typically granted at the court docket’s discretion.
Mr. Jones was discovered liable final year of defaming the victims’ households after he unfold bogus theories that the taking pictures had been half of a authorities plot to confiscate Americans’ firearms and that the victims’ households had been complicit in the scheme. This week’s trial is the first of three that may decide how a lot Mr. Jones owes the households for the struggling he has prompted.
