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Texas cuts Sandy Hook damages
A Texas appeals court slashed a $50 million judgment against Infowars founder Alex Jones over false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax, reducing it to $1.5 million.
“abused its discretion”
The Texas Third Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court “abused its discretion” by allowing the judgment to exceed the state’s $750,000 cap on damages for each plaintiff, and it left intact a separate $1.25 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut.
The ruling came after a jury awarded more than $50 million to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jones, who portrayed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights, conceded during the trial that the attack was “100% real” and that he was wrong to have lied about it.
Jones and lawyers react
After the Texas ruling, Jones said it was “a gigantic victory for the First Amendment,” and he told reporters he would continue to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court to get the remaining damages tossed.
Mark Bankston, an attorney for Heslin and Lewis, said the ruling was “irrelevant” because Jones still faces multiple financial judgments, including a Connecticut award.
The Reuters report said the appeals court ordered punitive damages reduced to $1.5 million after finding the trial court erred by exceeding the cap, and it cited Texas law that typically caps punitive damages at $750,000 per plaintiff.
Reuters also reported that Jones’ attorney Andino Reynal said, “Punitive damages are capped at $750,000 per person,” framing the decision as consistent with the law.
Bankruptcy and what’s next
The Texas decision did not affect the Connecticut judgment, which Reuters said leaves Jones still facing $1.4 billion in related judgments, while the Associated Press said Sandy Hook families have yet to collect any money from Jones.
“Sandy Hook families have yet to collect any money”
The Associated Press reported that Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, were forced into bankruptcy, with some personal property put up for auction and Jones leaving his Infowars platform.
Reuters said the parody news site the Onion sought to acquire some of Jones’ intellectual property in bankruptcy and began posting parody Infowars-branded videos in July after an earlier failed attempt to acquire the Infowars name in a disputed bankruptcy sale.
In the Texas case, Reuters reported that the appeals court said the trial judge improperly allowed the parents to amend their claims after they won liability but before damages, and it ordered the punitive damages reduced to comply with the state’s cap.