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Jury in Alex Jones defamation case begins hearing testimony on punitive damages

Jury in Alex Jones defamation case begins hearing testimony on punitive damages

Aug 5 (Reuters) – Lawyers for parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting began presenting evidence on Alex Jones’s wealth as they seek punitive damages on top of $4.1 million awarded by a Texas jury for the US conspiracy theorist’s false claims that the massacre was a hoax.

Forensic economist Bernard Pettingill on Friday testified on behalf of the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who say they suffered years of harassment after Jones spread falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012.

“He promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation but he made a lot of money and he monetized that,” Pettingill said, describing Jones as a “very successful man.”

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A 12-person jury on Thursday said Jones must pay the parents $4.1 million in compensatory damages for spreading conspiracy theories about the massacre. That verdict followed a two-week trial in Austin, Texas, where Jones’ radio show and webcast Infowars are based.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis testified that Jones’ followers harassed them for years in the false belief that the parents lied about their son’s death.

Jones sought to distance himself from the conspiracy theories during his testimony, apologizing to the parents and acknowledging that Sandy Hook was “100% real.”

Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems LLC, declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.

The bankruptcy declaration paused a similar defamation suit by Sandy Hook parents in Connecticut where, as in Texas, he has already been found liable.

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Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Howard Goller and Mark Porter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Mistrial denied as jury weighs damages against Alex Jones in Sandy Hook defamation trial

Mistrial denied as jury weighs damages against Alex Jones in Sandy Hook defamation trial

Aug 4 (Reuters) – A Texas judge denied Alex Jones’s motion for a mistrial on Thursday as jury deliberations summarized in a defamation case over the US conspiracy theorist’s false claims about the Sandy Hook mass shooting.

The mistrial request followed the disclosure during the two-week-long trial that Jones’s lawyer accidentally sent two years of the US conspiracy theorist’s text messages to the plaintiffs.

Federico Andino Reynal, an attorney for Jones, told Judge Maya Guerra Gamble that attorneys for the plaintiffs should have immediately destroyed the records. An attorney for the parents, Mark Bankston, used the texts to undercut Jones’ testimony during cross-examination on Wednesday.

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Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, is on trial to determine the amount of damages he owes for spreading falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012 .

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of slain six-year-old Jesse Lewis, are seeking as much as $150 million from Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems LLC, for what their lawyer has called a “vile campaign of defamation.”

Heslin told jurors on Tuesday that Jones’ falsehoods had made his life “hell” and led to a campaign of harassment and death threats against him by people who believed he lied about his son’s death.

Jones previously claimed that the mainstream media and gun-control activists conspired to fabricate the Sandy Hook tragedy and that the shooting was staged using crisis actors.

Jones, who later acknowledged that the shooting took place, told the Austin jury on Wednesday that it was “100% real.”

Gamble issued a rare default judgment against Jones in the case in 2021.

Free Speech Systems declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast of Infowars that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.

Jones faces a similar defamation suit in Connecticut state court, where he has also been found liable in a default judgment.

The Sandy Hook gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, used a Remington Bushmaster rifle to carry out the massacre. It ended when Lanza killed himself with the approaching sound of police sirens.

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Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Amy Stevens and Howard Goller

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Kentucky floods kill at least 37 as more storms forecast

Kentucky floods kill at least 37 as more storms forecast

Aug 1 (Reuters) – Floods unleashed by torrential rains in eastern Kentucky have killed at least 37 people, including four children, Governor Andy Beshear said on Monday while warning that more dangerous weather is approaching the region.

Beshear on Monday morning confirmed 30 deaths, followed by five more in an afternoon briefing, when he said there would be yet more to come. Hours later he confirmed on Twitter there had been two more deaths.

Authorities continued to work to rescue residents and provide food and shelter for thousands who had been displaced. Efforts have been hampered by weather conditions, officials say.

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Many residents had been unprepared for heavy downfall overnight, leading to more deaths, Beshear said. For people remaining in Eastern Kentucky, he advised seeking higher ground ahead of evening storms.

“It is a continuing natural disaster. We are still searching for people,” Beshear said in a CNN interview. “A large amount of grief throughout Kentucky.”

The National Weather Service forecast several rounds of continuing showers and storms through Tuesday.

Beshear, who declared a state emergency last week, said over the weekend that authorities would likely “be finding bodies for weeks” as teams fanned out to more remote areas.

Days of heavy rainfall – described by Beshear as some of the worst in the state’s history – caused some homes in the hardest-hit areas to be swept away. Video clips posted online showed rescue teams guiding motor boats through residential and commercial areas searching for victims. read more

The Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team on Sunday published footage on Facebook of a helicopter lifting an 83-year-old woman from the roof of a home almost completely submerged. This was part of a five-person rescue.

A flooded area is flown over by a Kentucky National Guard helicopter deployed in response to a declared state of emergency in eastern Kentucky, US July 27, 2022. US Army National Guard/Handout via REUTERS

At least 16 deaths were reported in Knott County alone. The bodies of four children, between ages 18 months and eight years, were recovered Friday afternoon. A fast current had swept them out of their parent’s grip, a family member told the Lexington Herald Leader.

“The mother and father was stranded in the tree for 8 hours before anyone got there to help,” Brittany Trejo said.

Also among the dead in Knott County was Eva Nicole “Nikki” Slone, a 50-year-old who ventured out on Thursday to check on an elderly friend, according to her daughter.

Slone’s body was recovered the next day near home.

“My mom was a very caring woman,” Misty Franklin told the newspaper.

The floods were the second major disaster to strike Kentucky in seven months, following a swarm of tornadoes that claimed nearly 80 lives in the western part of the state in December. read more

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Kentucky on Friday, allowing federal funding to be allocated to the state.

Power lines were widely damaged, with more than 8,000 households remaining without power on Monday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.US. But that was down from 15,000 on Monday morning.

Among the various charitable efforts springing up to help flood victims is one by the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team.

The team, one of the most decorated in college sports, said it would open practice for a telethon for Kentucky Flood Relief Tuesday evening.

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Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Tyler Clifford in New York; Editing by Mark Potter, Aurora Ellis and Bradley Perrett

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