AUSTIN, Texas--U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre at least $4.1 million for falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax, a Texas jury said on Thursday.
The verdict followed a two-week trial in Austin, Texas, where Jones's radio show and webcast Infowars are based.
The 12-person jury will next consider the parents’ request for as much as $75 million in 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 on Friday.
Jurors could still award the parents a large punitive damages verdict if they think Jones’ conduct was not highly damaging but still worthy of punishment, legal experts said. "We are very pleased with the verdict, and we are looking forward to the punitive damages phase that starts tomorrow," Kyle Farrar, an attorney for the parents, said in an email.
Lawyers for Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trial consultant Jill Huntley Taylor said it is not uncommon for a jury to award higher punitive damages than compensatory ones. “If jurors’ motivation for an award is their anger at the defendant, then they often award a bigger punitive damage number,” she said in an interview.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, separated parents of slain six-year-old Jesse Lewis, testified that Jones’ followers harassed them and sent them death threats for years in the false belief that the parents were lying about their son’s death. During closing arguments on Wednesday, Farrar urged jurors to end what he called their nightmare and hold Jones accountable for profiting off their son’s death.
Federico Reynal, an attorney for Jones, acknowledged during his closing argument that Jones and Infowars reported “irresponsibly” on Sandy Hook but said his client was not responsible for the harassment.
Jones previously claimed that the mainstream media and gun-control activists conspired to fabricate the Sandy Hook tragedy and that the shooting was staged using crisis actors. He later acknowledged that the shooting took place and sought to distance himself from previous falsehoods during the trial, telling jurors it was “crazy” of him to repeatedly make the claim that the shooting was a hoax. He said that the shooting was “100% real.”
In a surprising development, Heslin and Lewis' lawyers disclosed Wednesday that Jones’ lawyers had inadvertently sent them two years worth of his texts and failed to request them back in time. Gamble on Thursday denied a motion for a mistrial by Jones's lawyer who argued that attorneys for the plaintiffs should have immediately destroyed the records. The parents may now use the records as they wish.
In the second phase of the damages trial, both sides will present arguments on Jones’ net worth. A finance expert is set to testify for the parents. Jones' company, Free Speech Systems LLC, declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble admonished Jones on Tuesday for not telling the truth about his bankruptcy and compliance with discovery during his testimony.
