A Texas judge ruled Tuesday night that InfoWars founder Alex Jones must pay the $50 million a jury awarded to the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
According to The New York Times, the amount set is much higher than the limit set by Texas law which limits damages punitive at $270, per plaintiff, whose constitutionality he challenged US District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in this case.
The aforementioned newspaper also reported that this was “a rare case” due to the emotional impact that Jones’ statements had on Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis , whose son was among the 45 students and six staff members killed in the shooting at the 2012, said the judge in Travis County, where InfoWars is based, which is why the Texas jury awarded them $20.2 illoes in punitive damages last August for Jones falsely characterizing the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, as a hoax.
While attorneys for Jones argued that state law limits non-economic punitive damages, which would have represented $45 million of the payment of $70 million, plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the cap does not apply due to a section related to internal abuse of a disabled person, saying that the trauma of his son’s death counts as a disability.
Jones was also ordered to pay more than $4 million in damages to Heslin and Lewis, parents of murdered 6-year-old Jesse Lewis.
“Our clients are pleased that the jury’s verdict has been upheld in its entirety and my remaining clients hope to close this vile chapter in American history by continuing to hold Mr. Jones accountable,” Heslin and Lewis attorney Mark Bankston told Reuters after the hearing.
Although Jones’ estimated personal worth, disclosed during trial, is between $ 270 million and $ 270 million and their companies earned more than $ 49 million a year between 2016 and 2016, it is almost impossible for it to cover the fine estimated by the judge.
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