[ad_1]
The jury’s award was far less than what plaintiffs Scarlett Lewis and Neil Hesley had asked for. At the start of the trial, attorneys for Lewis and Heslin asked the jury to award their client $150 million in compensatory damages.
A separate brief trial is now expected where punitive damages will be discussed. Punitive damages are awarded when the court finds the defendant’s conduct particularly abhorrent.
The parents’ attorney, Mark Banston, told CNN that the plaintiffs were pleased with the jury’s decision and that they had received money from the court’s sanctions against Jones before the trial.
“After receiving a $1.5 million settlement from Mr. Jones, the plaintiffs now owe Alex Jones $5.6 million,” Bankston said.
“Neil and Scarlett are delighted with the result and look forward to putting Mr Jones’ money to good use,” added Bankston. “Mr. Jones, on the other hand, will not sleep easy tonight. With convictions still pending and several more defamation lawsuits pending, it is clear that Mr. Jones’ time on the American stage is finally over.”
An attorney for Jones could not immediately be reached for comment.
The jury’s decision marks a partial end to a years-long process that began in 2018 when they sued Lewis and Heslin Jones and Free Speech Systems, the parent of right-wing media organization Infowars.
Jones claims the incident happened after the Sandy Hook massacre in which 26 people were killed. Facing multiple charges, Jones later admitted to the shooting. He appeared in court this week and said he now believes it is “100% true.”
But Jones failed to comply with court orders when the case was discovered. Failure to do so led Heslin and Lewis to win default judgments against Jones.
Judge Maya Gira Gamble ruled in October that Jones was legally responsible for causing emotional distress to Heslin and Lewis. Gamble also ruled that Jones was responsible for defaming Heasley.
Jones testified that the $2 million jury award would cost him money.
But the accountant who now heads Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, the parent of Sierra Media Networks, Infowars, said in bankruptcy court Wednesday that Jones withdrew about $62 million from the company over 14 years, about $30 million of which was paid to the IRS.
And the accountant testified that Infowars received nearly $9 million in cryptocurrency donations and “went directly to Mr. Jones.”
The sentencing of Jones comes at a time of upheaval in American society, where hoaxes and conspiracy theories have proliferated in recent years.
The jury’s decision, while far less than what the plaintiffs’ lawyers had asked for, sends a message to those who inject lies into the public discourse for political power or financial gain.
Attorneys for the Sandy Hook family argued to the jury during their opening and closing arguments.
At times fighting back tears, Heslin Jones told jurors that his son’s reputation and legacy had been tarnished by the conspiring media company Infowars. “I can’t even begin to describe the last nine and a half years of hell” he endured because of Jones, Heslin said, detailing how he feared for his and his family’s safety.
In a surprise court appearance, Lewis addressed Jones directly, saying she wanted to speak to him in person.
“Jesse was real,” Lewis told Jones. “I am a real mother.”
Lewis told the jury she feels monetary damages are appropriate in the case because she doesn’t believe Jones would have stopped his behavior otherwise.
“He didn’t apologize sincerely,” she said. But if there is, I liken it to being in a car accident and you run over someone and seriously injure them and you see that person lying on the ground and you say, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.’ I’m so sorry, I’m not responsible for the damage I’ve done now; But excuse me. That’s how I see it.”
Lewis pondered what it would mean if the trial ever took place.
“We have to do this because it seems so amazing to me,” Lewis told Jones. “Not just pleading, we have to beg you to stop lying…what’s going on here is real.”
The trial in Texas is one of three expected to take place in the next two months.
Various Sandy Hook families sued Jones in Connecticut. Those families won a default judgment against Jones and a trial was scheduled to begin in September. But jury selection was suspended on the same day it began earlier this week and the trial could be delayed by a lawsuit filed by Free Speech Systems.
Some attorneys representing Sandy Hook families have accused Jones of draining free speech assets in recent years in an effort to protect himself from a possible judgment he could be ordered to pay.
One of its attorneys, Avi Moschenberg, told CNN on Tuesday that the bankruptcy filing filed by Free Speech Systems in 2016 In 2021 and 2022, it shows $62 million in assets leaving the company.
“If you look at the bankruptcy filing, until the bankruptcy notice was issued, the sole owner was Alex Jones. [of Free Speech Systems]In the year They took $62 million in 2021 and 2022,” Moschenberg told CNN. This is why the company has few assets.
—CNN’s Sonya Moge contributed reporting.
[ad_2]
Source link
