Alex Jones trial - Infowars host faces two more defamation trials

It transpired during trial that his own lawyer mistakenly shared entire contents of Jones’ phone with opposition legal team

John Oliver rips into Alex Jones

The Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones now faces two more defamation trials filed by parents of other victims, after he was ordered to pay a total of $49m in damages.

One trial is in Texas brought by the parents of another victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. His lawyer said on Friday that the case is on pause due to his company’s bankruptcy.

The second trial is in Waterbury, Connecticut, for the families of eight other victims.

The jury in Austin, Texas, decided on Thursday he must pay more than $4m in compensation to the parents of six-year-old Jesse Lewis who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. On Friday they ordered Jones to pay an additional $45.2m in punitive damages.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis filed a defamation suit against Jones over his claims that the school shooting, that saw 20 children and six adults killed, was a hoax.

It transpired during the trial that his own lawyer had mistakenly shared the entire contents of Jones’ phone with the opposition legal team who have been asked to provide it to the January 6 committee.

Key Points

• Alex Jones faces two more defamation lawsuits
• Verdict: Jones told to pay additional $45.2m in punitive damages
• Jones began putting $11,000 per day in ‘shell’ company after being found liable in Sandy Hook cases
• Jones bizarrely calls $4.1m Sandy Hook judgment a ‘victory for truth’
• Lawyer for Alex Jones could face trouble after accidental records release

[8 August 2022 14:30 · Stuti Mishra]

Jones and company worth up to $270m, says economist

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company Free Speech Systems are worth up to $270 million, an economist testified Friday to a jury trying to determine if Jones should have to pay punitive damages to the family of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

The same jury ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million in compensation for defamation. Punitive damages are determined as a separate issue, and the parents want to punish Jones for a decade of pushing false hoax claims that they say led to a decade of trauma and abuse from the Infowars host’s followers.

[8 August 2022 15:30 · Stuti Mishra]

Jones remains defiant after court orders him to pay millions

Alex Jones returned to the airwaves almost immediately on Friday after being ordered to pay nearly $50million to grieving Sandy Hook parents – continuing to insist the decks were stacked against him as he blamed George Soros and “operatives” for his legal troubles.

That defiance was in stark contrast to the red-faced, slack-jawed shock that registered on Mr Jones’ face during the trial when it emerged his lawyers had mistakenly sent damning evidence to opposing counsel.

This week, the Infowars media mogul, estimated to be worth around $270 million by one economist witness, lost the first of several trials against him for spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation. He repeatedly insisted that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut – when a gunman killed 20 six- and seven-year-olds at an elementary school – had been staged as a hoax.

Sheila Flynn reports.

[8 August 2022 16:30 · Stuti Mishra]

Voices: Let’s be honest — real justice wasn’t served in the Alex Jones trial

Hannah Selinger writes:

The parents who sued Jones — whose son, Jesse, was murdered at Sandy Hook — had sought damages in the amount of $150 million. That was not a purposeless number born of pure greed. And now Jones will pay only $4.1 million, which won’t have the intended effect at all.