My starry-eyed prediction is that the relatively low amount in damages is because it’s hard to justify that these ordinary private citizens (not CEOs of giant companies, not high-powered celebrities) could out much more than a few million dollars from the defamation. It’s not intended to hurt Jones, and isn’t going to.
But there is ample evidence that Jones and Infowars rake in a lot of money and have a massive amount stashed somewhere. For him to not shrug it off, the punitive amount will have to be huge. And it will be. I don’t see there being much mercy for him in this, given all that has happened.
I expect that the number tomorrow will be satisfactory.
The 12-person jury will next consider the parents’ request for punitive damages from Jones for spreading falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.
Those deliberations are expected to begin after both sides on Friday present arguments on Jones’ net worth.
So potentially tomorrow, but not guaranteed.
And while it says the parents requested as much as $75 million, I’ve heard of numerous cases where a jury decides that what was requested isn’t enough to sting, and award even more.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel
It’s hard to say what Trump “knows”, “thinks”, or “feels”, but it pleases me to think that for an ordinary person, these experiences would constitute a living hell.
More information about the ‘phone’. Apparently it wasn’t just a phone, it was a data image of a Connecticut attorney’s hard drive, this attorney working on the Proud Boys case, defending them from J6.
What is the cap for punitive damages in Texas? I’ve seen conflicting reports online, with some sources saying punitive damages are capped at 2X compensatory damages plus $750,000, and others saying it’s 10X compensatory damages. Maybe somebody familiar with the legal system in Texas can weigh in.
I’m not an expert in Texas law. FWIW Ari Melber reported yesterday that punitive damages are limited to 10 times the compensatory damages. So if that’s true, it would cap at $40 million. That might sound like a lot of dough, but it doesn’t seem like enough to me. Needs another digit.
The jurors have left the courtroom to decide on the amount of punitive damages, if any, that Jones must pay Lewis and Heslin for defaming them with his Infowars broadcasts denying the truth of the shooting and implying on his show that Heslin was lying when he spoke publicly about cradling his son’s body after the shooting. The jury is now deliberating. We are awaiting their verdict.
Also:
On Friday, Wesley Todd Ball, a lawyer for the family…asked the jury for about $146 million, in addition to the $4 million awarded Thursday.
It would seem odd to me that he would be allowed to ask for damages in that amount if they were capped by statute at $40 million.
2.3GB of it is phone material, including “intimate messages with Roger Stone”
Stone is out as gay or bisexual, I believe. So this could well mean something different than “talking about private family concerns”. Though, it could mean that too.
That’s the best I can dig up. I find a lot of information on what Texas determines to be defamation, but very little about how damages are determined. But if the jury does in fact have wide discretion, that would make sense; personal injury damages are very structured and have clear caps so you can find that info easily. If defamation damages are more nebulous, then there isn’t a lot to write about.
