Alex Jones trial: Infowars host ordered to pay $45.2M in punitive damages
AUSTIN, Texas - The jury has handed down a second verdict in the Alex Jones defamation damages trial.
The Infowars founder has been ordered to pay $45.2M in punitive damages in addition to the more than $4 million he was ordered Thursday to pay to the parents of one of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of Jesse Lewis who died in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had sued Jones, claiming he defamed victims’ families by saying the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.
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A judge ruled months ago in favor of Heslin and Lewis, and over the past seven days, attorneys for both the parents and Jones presented their cases to a jury tasked with deciding the amount to pay Heslin and Lewis.
One of the attorneys for the parents told the jury Friday that the $4.1 million verdict in the first phase will not deter Alex Jones and asked the jury to render a verdict of $145,900,000 in the punitive phase.
The Associated Press initially reported an incorrect damage amount. This version of the story has been corrected.