Michmutters

After hearing seven days of evidence and a range of witnesses, jurors have begun deliberations to determine how much money InfoWars host Alex Jones must pay to the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis for his campaign to portray the school attack ace to hoax.

The matter was handed to jurors late Wednesday afternoon, and state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said she doubted they would get beyond selecting a foreperson and reading the jury charge before the courthouse closed at 5 pm

The real work begins today.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis have asked jurors for $150 million in compensation for current damages, saying Jones portrayal of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax meant to justify a government crackdown on guns — and parents as liars or collaborators — inspired harassment and death threats from Jones followers and made it impossible to heal from the tragedy.

Jones’ lawyer, Andino Reynal, asked jurors to award a total of $8 — $1 for each of the eight harms the court has already found Jones and his main company, Free Speech Systems, to have 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 a verdict. The four alternates, two more than typical due to the pandemic and the length of the two-week trial, were dismissed Thursday.

Before hearing closing arguments Thursday, jurors were informed that Jones and Free Speech Systems defamed Heslin in two 2017 InfoWars reports that questioned his claim that he held his dead son and saw the bullet wound to his head after the shooting. Heslin testified that he made the statement in an NBC interview in hopes of stopping Jones’ campaign and protecting the legacy of his son from him, who died a hero by yelling “Run!” when the gunman paused. Nine students fled; Jesse did not.

More:Alex Jones says trial is a ‘kangaroo court’

Jurors are to determine the amount of money that would fairly compensate Heslin for past and future damage to his reputation and past and future mental anguish caused by the defamatory reports.

Jurors also were told that Jones and his company affected intentional emotional distress on Heslin and Lewis by repeatedly portraying the Sandy Hook shooting as a hoax from 2012 to 2018, when they filed suit. Each parent can be compensated for past and future mental anguish.

In his closing arguments, parents lawyer Kyle Farrar reminded jurors that they were asked during jury selection whether they could approve a damages award 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 did,” Farrar said.

Reynal said the parents, their expert witnesses and their lawyers failed to prove that they were actually and directly harmed by Jones’ words.

Four current or former police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, have been charged with violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in the 2020 botched raid that led to the young Black woman’s death, federal officials said Thursday.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, in announcing the charges, said the Justice Department alleges that the violations “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”

Detective Joshua Jaynes, with the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, obtained the no-knock warrant used in the March 13, 2020, search of Taylor’s apartment.

Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett, who along with Jaynes was a detective in the Place-Based Investigations unit that investigated drug trafficking, and Sgt. Kyle Meany, who supervised the unit, were charged with falsifying an affidavit.

In a separate indictment, Brett Hankison was charged with using excessive force while executing the search warrant.

During the early morning raid, officers opened fire, killing Taylor, after her boyfriend, believing an intruder was trying to break in, fired a gun toward the door.

Taylor’s boyfriend lawfully possessed the gun, Garland said. And after he fired and struck an officer, two officers then fired 22 shots, one of which fatally struck Taylor in the chest, Garland said.

“The federal charges announced today allege that members of the Place-Based Investigations unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home,” Garland said, adding “that this act violated federal civil rights laws and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”

Garland also said the search warrant was sought while officers knew they lacked probable cause for the search. Jaynes and Goodlett, Garland said, falsely claimed officers verified the target of the alleged drug trafficking had received packages at Taylor’s address.

“Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true,” Garland said.

The bungled raid targeted Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, who was not in the apartment at the time. That man, Jamarcus Glover, has said Taylor had no involvement in the drug trade.

The officers involved in the raid were unaware of the misleading statements in the search warrant affidavit, Garland said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

daniel barnes and Laura Strickler contributed.

TALLAHASSEE—Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for not prosecuting certain crimes.

At a news conference flanked by police from around Tampa Bay, DeSantis said Warren has “put himself publicly above the law” by signing letters saying he would not enforce laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors or laws limiting abortion.

“Our government is a government of laws, not a government of men,” DeSantis said.

READ THE GOVERNOR’S ORDER HERE

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said police have had long-running frustrations with Warren for not prosecuting particular cases.

“I continue to work with my law enforcement counterparts who are privately frustrated with the state attorney, who seems intently focused on empathy for criminals and less interested in pursuing justice for crime victims,” Chronister said Thursday.

Thursday’s press conference included neighboring other police chiefs, including Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, and Attorney General Ashley Moody.

“Andrew Warren is a fraud,” former Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan said. “This is a terrible day, that the governor had to come and clean up our mess.”

Warren, a Democrat, has been a frequent critic of DeSantis, including calling the governor’s 2021 “anti-riot” legislation a misguided “solution in search of a problem.”

On Thursday morning, Warren was escorted out of his office. He was set to host a news conference about a “major development” related to the case of Robert DuBoise, who was exonerated in 2020 after serving 37 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. After DeSantis’ suspension, Warren’s office canceled the event.

Warren can appeal DeSantis’ decision.

Under the state constitution, a governor can suspend state officials for misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties or commission of a felony.

DeSantis’ order cites neglect of duty and incompetence as the reason for Warren’s suspension, citing, in part, 1937 case law in which a Tampa prosecutor was accused of not charging people for gambling offenses.

Warren, the order states, “demonstrated his incompetence and willful defiance of his duties,” citing:

• Warren signing on to a June 2021 “joint statement” with prosecutors around the country “to use our discretion and not promote the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare or transgender people.” Although the state has not enacted such criminal laws, “these statements prove that Warren thinks he has authority to defy the Florida Legislature,” DeSantis wrote.
• Warren enacting a policy not to prosecute “certain criminal violations, including trespassing at a business location, disorderly conduct, disorderly intoxication, and prostitution.”
• Warren enacting a policy “against prosecuting crimes where the initial encounter between law enforcement and the defendant results from a non-criminal violation in connection with riding a bicycle or a pedestrian violation.”

“Warren has effectively nullified these Florida criminal laws in the 13th Judicial Circuit, thereby eroding the rule of law, encouraging lawlessness, and usurping the exclusive role of the Florida Legislature to define criminal conduct,” the order states.

As Warren’s replacement, DeSantis appointed Hillsborough County Judge Susan Lopez, a former county prosecutor whom DeSantis named to the bench last year.

DeSantis said he did not speak with Warren about his concerns before suspending him.

The governor’s decision was a stunning override of the the 369,129 Hillsborough County voters who cast their ballot for Warren in 2020, which made up 53.4 percent of turnout.

It also had echoes of a 2016 clash between former Gov. Rick Scott and Aramis Ayala, the state’s first Black state attorney, representing Orange and Osceola counties.

Ayala stunned many supporters and made national news when, just two months into office, she announced she would not be seeking the death penalty in any cases, including in the case of Markeith Loyd, who was charged with killing police Lt. Debra Clayton and Loyd’s pregnant ex-girlfriend.

Scott reassigned that case and 28 others to a neighboring state attorney’s office, but did not suspend her. Ayala is now running for attorney general.

Before Thursday’s bombshell, DeSantis’ most high-profile suspension of an elected official was Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, after his department’s failures during the Parkland mass shooting.

After problems in Broward and Palm Beach during the 2018 elections such as failure to meet ballot counting deadlines, DeSantis also suspended Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. Technically, it was Gov. Rick Scott who suspended Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, though DeSantis only rescinded that she so he could accept her letter of resignation from her.

In 2019, DeSantis also suspended the Superintendent of Okaloosa County Schools, citing grand jury reports that teachers were abusing special needs children at two schools in her district, and has suspended other local officials, including Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad, after they were charged with crimes.

Thursday’s news conference brought a jovial crowd, who laughed at Judd’s comments and stood to applaud DeSantis when he announced Warren’s suspension.

On Wednesday, DeSantis’ spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, warned on Twitter that there would be a “MAJOR announcement” by the governor Thursday morning.

“Prepare for the liberal media meltdown of the year,” she wrote.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Times/Herald staff writer Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.