Testimony to start in Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook damages lawsuit

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury will hear the primary testimony Tuesday in a civil lawsuit to determine how a lot Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty mother and father for falsely telling his viewers that the deadliest classroom taking pictures in U.S. historical past was a hoax.

At stake for Jones is a probably main monetary blow that would put his constellation of conspiracy peddling companies into deeper jeopardy. He has already been banned from YouTube, Fb and Spotify over violating hate-speech insurance policies.

The trial involving the mother and father of two Sandy Hook households is just the beginning for Jones. Damages have but to be awarded in separate defamation circumstances for different households of the 2012 bloodbath in Newtown, Connecticut.

The lawsuits don’t ask jurors to award a selected greenback quantity in opposition to Jones, however in questioning the Texas jury pool on Monday, attorneys for the households recommended they may search $100 million or extra in compensatory and punitive damages.

Opening statements and testimony are set for Tuesday. Members of the family of the taking pictures victims and Jones weren’t within the courtroom when a 12-person jury and 4 alternates had been chosen Monday from a jury pool of greater than 100.

“We’re very glad the day is right here,” mentioned Mark Bankston, lawyer for the households suing Jones. “We’re wanting ahead to telling our shoppers’ story.”

It’s unclear if Jones will attend any of the scheduled two-week trial. His lawyer mentioned Jones has a “medical situation” however didn’t elaborate.

Preliminary testimony Tuesday is anticipated to incorporate Daniel Jewiss, who was the Connecticut State Police lead investigator of Sandy Hook, and Daria Karpova, a producer at Infowars.

In questioning the jury pool, Jones’ lawyer Andino Reynal acknowledged Jones is a “very polarizing” and “controversial” determine, but additionally famous he’d ask the jury to cap damages at $1.

Throughout jury choice, most within the jury pool raised their hand when requested if that they had heard of Jones, and practically two dozen agreed when Reynal requested who amongst them had a “agency destructive impression” of him.

“We’re very pleased with the jury we’ve seated,” Reynal mentioned. “It’s a vital First Modification case. On trial proper now is not only folks’s freedom of speech, nevertheless it’s additionally folks’s freedom to hear. To decide on what they watch on tv, to make these selections for themselves, as a substitute of getting a private damage lawyer make these selections for them.”

Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already discovered Jones accountable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook bloodbath as a hoax involving actors geared toward growing gun management. In each states, judges have issued default judgements in opposition to Jones with out trials as a result of he failed to answer courtroom orders and switch over paperwork.

The Texas trial begins about two months after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, which is about 145 miles (235 kilometers) southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest faculty taking pictures within the practically 10 years since Sandy Hook.

The 2012 Connecticut taking pictures killed 20 first graders and 6 educators. Households of eight of the victims and an FBI agent who responded to the varsity are suing Jones and his firm, Free Speech Techniques.

Jones has since acknowledged that the taking pictures passed off. Throughout a deposition in April, Jones insisted he wasn’t accountable for the struggling that Sandy Hook mother and father say they’ve endured due to the hoax conspiracy, together with demise threats and harassment by Jones’ followers.

Jones claimed in courtroom information final 12 months that he had a destructive internet price of $20 million, however attorneys for Sandy Hook households have painted a distinct monetary image.

Courtroom information present that Jones’ Infowars retailer, which sells dietary dietary supplements and survival gear, made greater than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has additionally urged listeners on his Infowars program to donate cash.

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Related Press reporter Paul J. Weber contributed to this report.