InfoWars host Alex Jones, mother of Sandy Hook shooting victim, on trial
Scarlett Lewis, the mother of Jesse Lewis, confronted Alex Jones during his trial.
Nell Saylor Carroll, Austin, American statesman
After hearing seven days of evidence and a number of witnesses, jurors began deliberations to determine how much money InfoWars host Alex Jones should pay the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis for his campaign to feature the attack in school as a scam.
The matter went to jurors late Wednesday afternoon, and State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said she doubted they would get beyond choosing a foreman and reading the charge to jurors before the court closed at 5 p.m.
The real work begins today.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis asked jurors for $150 million in actual damages, saying Jones’ portrayal of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax designed to justify a government crackdown on guns — and parents like liars or collaborators—has inspired harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers and made healing from the tragedy impossible.
Jones’ attorney, Andino Reynal, asked jurors to award a total of $8 — $1 for each of the eight damages the court has already found Jones and his parent company, Free Speech Systems, inflicted on Jesse’s parents.
More: ‘My son existed.’ Mother of Sandy Hook shooting victim speaks directly to Alex Jones
At least 10 of the 12 jurors must agree on the verdict. The four deputies, two more than usual because of the pandemic and the length of the two-week trial, were fired Thursday.
Before hearing closing arguments Thursday, jurors were told that Jones and Free Speech Systems had defamed Heslin in two 2017 InfoWars reports that questioned his claim that he held his dead son and saw the wound from bullet in his head after the shooting. Heslin testified that he made the statement in an interview with NBC in hopes of stopping Jones’ campaign and protecting the legacy of his son, who died a hero, shouting “Run!” when the shooter stopped. Nine students escaped; Jesse didn’t.
More: Alex Jones says trial ‘kangaroo court’
The jury must determine the amount of money that will fairly compensate Heslin for past and future damage to his reputation and past and future emotional distress caused by the defamatory reports.
Jurors were also told that Jones and his company intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Heslin and Lewis by repeatedly representing the Sandy Hook shooting as a hoax from 2012 until 2018, when they filed suit. Any parent can receive compensation for past and future mental anguish.
In his closing arguments, the parents’ attorney, Kyle Farrar, reminded jurors that during jury selection, they were asked if they could approve damages of $100 million or more. Those who could not were weeded out during the selection process, he said.
“This is your opportunity to hold Alex Jones accountable for the harm he has caused,” Farrar said.
Reynal said the parents, their experts and their lawyers failed to prove they were actually and directly harmed by Jones’ words.
Once jurors have made their decisions, they will be asked to award punitive damages, which are intended as punishment. First, jurors will hear from the parents’ economic expert on the net worth of Jones and his company. Jones will also testify during that phase, Reynal said.
Jones, speaking to reporters outside court Thursday night, was asked if he accepted responsibility for causing pain to Jesse’s family.
“I didn’t kill their son,” Jones said. “And certainly questioning this big public thing that happened probably caused them some pain, but it wasn’t intentional. And you can’t separate their pain from their son being killed to me questioning things and the idea that I’m an ancestor who first thought of all these anomalies is just not true.”
According to the InfoWars video played for jurors, on the day of the shooting, Jones questioned whether the attack was a false flag operation, saying it bore the hallmarks of a staged operation.
Add Comment