A Texas appeals court has upheld a ruling that holds Alex Jones and his Infowars company liable to the parents of a child who lost their life in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. However, the court has significantly reduced the amount of punitive damages initially awarded to the parents.
In a ruling delivered by the Texas Third Court of Appeal, the judges determined that Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents in question, did not present adequate evidence to justify punitive damages exceeding the state’s cap of $750,000 per plaintiff. Consequently, punitive damages were slashed by approximately $45 million, reducing the total to $750,000 for each parent.
It is important to note that this recent ruling does not affect the $1.25 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut, where he was found liable for defamation and inflicting emotional distress on the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who perished in the Newtown shooting. Jones has yet to make any financial payments as he continues to appeal both the judgment amounts and efforts to liquidate his company.
While the court’s decision did not alter the $4.1 million in compensatory damages awarded to the parents for defamation and emotional distress, it did cut over $45 million in additional punitive damages. The court cited that a trial judge had erroneously permitted Heslin and Lewis to pursue higher damages following the trial.
The background of this case reveals that Jesse, the son of Heslin and Lewis, was among the victims of the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012. The parents accused Jones and InfoWars of perpetuating falsehoods that claimed the massacre was staged or involved actors, thereby contributing to a hostile environment that harassed the families affected by the tragedy.
