HARTFORD, Conn. — On Friday, the Connecticut Court of Appeals agreed $965 million judgment through 2022 Against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he determined that there is “sufficient evidence” to support damages awarded to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and an FBI agent.
Unanimously, the court referred to the “traumatic threats and harassment” suffered by the families “derived from the lies spread by the defendants, that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.”
“An examination of the record shows that there was sufficient evidence to support the $965,000,000 in damages awarded by the jury,” according to the 62-page decision. It marks the largest jury verdict in Connecticut history.
The appeals court awarded Jones a $150 million injunction. The plaintiffs “failed to state a legally viable claim” under Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act and determined that the lower court’s award of $150 million in punitive damages must be vacated because the plaintiffs’ alleged injury arose from false language and was not related to speech. indicating advertising, marketing or sale of goods.
“We are relieved that the Court protected the press in its decision to reverse damages on the unfair trade practices claim, but we are otherwise disappointed,” Jones’ attorney Norm Pattis said in a statement. “Sold a bill of goods and led to believe” Jones made millions spreading conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
“He didn’t do it. The jury was also led to believe that all the distress that befell the plaintiffs was Mr. Jones’s fault. It wasn’t,” Pattis said. “We hoped the Court of Appeals would have seen through the charade and farce this trial had become. It wasn’t like that.”
Jones now owes about $1.2 billion, including $965 million in Connecticut families and nearly $50 million awarded by a Texas jury to the parents of a slain Sandy Hook child.
Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in 2022, and the sale of his Infowars platform is part of that case. Satirical news outlet The Onion’s bid to buy Infowars will return to a Texas court on Monday, where a judge will decide whether to buy it. bankruptcy auction it was executed correctly. Jones is charged with conspiracy and fraud.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families on Friday hailed the Connecticut appeals court’s ruling as a sweeping victory.
“Today, the Connecticut Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Alex Jones’ effort to overturn a historic jury verdict against him and his corrupt business, Infowars. The jury’s $965 million claim against Jones will stand, and the families who have fought so valiantly over the years to give Alex Jones another step forward. they say to real justice,” the lawyers said in a statement.
Pattis said the Connecticut Supreme Court will seek review of the appeals court’s decision.
Jones repeatedly told his millions of followers the 2012 massacre that killed 20 first graders and six educators ‘Crisis actors’ acted for more gun control.
The appeals court also determined that a lower court “properly exercised its discretion” in holding Jones and his Infowars parent company, Free Speech Systems LLC., liable for damages for failing to cooperate with court rules on sharing evidence.
