Alex Jones scored a major legal victory Friday, as a Texas court slashed the near $50 million judgment he was ordered to pay the family of a 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim down to $6 million.
“We modify the judgment by reducing the exemplary damages award consistent with the statutory cap, resulting in exemplary damages awards of $750,000 to Scarlett Lewis and of $750,000 to Neil Heslin,” a ruling from the Texas Third Court of Appeals, obtained and viewed by TheWrap, stated. “On our own motion, we reform the judgment to refer to the Fourth Amended Petition rather than the erroneously filed Fifth Amended Petition. We affirm the judgment as modified.”
Per the court’s update, the Infowars founder can be forced to pay only about $6 million under state laws limiting lawsuit damages. However, the decision does not impact the $1.25 billion, Connecticut-based judgement against Jones, who was found liable for defaming and causing emotional distress to the family members of Sandy Hook victims after claiming the mass shooting was a hoax.
These financial verdicts against Jones, as well as his company, Free Speech Systems, have resulted in bankruptcy for the far-right political commentator, who was forced to exit Infowars – which has since transformed into a satire site under The Onion.
Nonetheless, Jones has yet to abandon his commentating career, broadcasting on different websites and routinely uploading videos to X.
On Friday, Jones responded to the Appeals Court’s decision by calling it “a gigantic victory for the First Amendment,” and indicated that he plans to appeal the case with the state Supreme Court in an attempt to get the remaining damages tossed.
“I got lawyers who are good constitutional lawyers and they are not backing down,” he added.
As for Heslin and Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse died in the Sandy Hook shooting, their attorney Mark Bankston called the ruling “irrelevant,” given Jones is still on the hook for other financial verdicts.
“The families care not at all about this irrelevant ruling which affects only two of the 19 claims they all share,” he said in a statement to AP News. “Jones still faces over a billion dollars of liability, so this changes absolutely nothing. All it does is highlight the absurdity of Texas law.”
Additionally, the Appeals Court’s decision ultimately left more than $4.1 million in compensatory damages that had been awarded to Heslin and Lewis.
The post Alex Jones’ $50 Million Sandy Hook Judgment Slashed by Texas Appeals Court appeared first on TheWrap.
