Connecticut Appellate Court Upholds $965 Million Verdict Against Alex Jones

 

The Connecticut state appellate court has upheld a $965 million verdict from 2022, confirming that far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent for his role in spreading false claims about the 2012 school massacre.

In a unanimous decision on Friday, the court concluded that there was "sufficient evidence" to support the compensatory damages awarded by the jury, emphasizing the "traumatic threats and harassment" the plaintiffs endured due to Jones's hoaxes about the shooting. The court also recognized the gravity of the impact on the victims' families, who were subjected to years of targeted abuse after Jones falsely labeled the massacre as a "hoax."

The ruling marks the largest jury verdict in Connecticut’s history. However, the court reduced the total amount by $150 million, vacating punitive damages awarded under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The court found that the families had failed to prove that Jones's false speech directly impacted his business practices, which would have been necessary for those punitive damages to stand.

Norm Pattis, Jones's attorney, expressed disappointment with the decision, defending Jones's actions and suggesting that the jury had been misled. He stated that the trial was "a farce," and that Jones had not profited from spreading conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook.

Despite the setback, Jones now faces total liabilities of approximately $1.2 billion, including the $965 million owed to the Connecticut families and nearly $50 million from a Texas case involving the parents of a Sandy Hook victim. Jones’s financial situation is dire, having filed for personal bankruptcy in 2022, and the sale of his Infowars platform is currently under dispute in a Texas court.

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families hailed the appellate court’s ruling as a victory. “Alex Jones’s attempt to overturn the jury’s historic verdict was unanimously rejected,” they said, emphasizing that this decision moves the families closer to achieving justice for the trauma they endured.

Pattis, however, indicated that he would seek a review of the decision by the Connecticut State Supreme Court.