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LINK Judge rules Sandy Hook families can depose Alex Jones in defamation case | TheHill

after burying and mourning their children to wanting the government to do something while fighting the actual fake news of this a-hole, I cannot imagine their mental anguish. At least this is a small victory

A Connecticut judge ruled Wednesday that Infowars owner Alex Jones must sit for a deposition by attorneys for the parents of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims who are suing him for defamation.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled that Jones must sit for a five-hour deposition by attorneys for the families.

Bellis also ruled that three others critical to Infowars’s operations could be deposed by the families, according to the Hartford Courant.

Bellis said the families are “entitled to conduct discovery likely to lead to admissible evidence for the purposes of opposing the motions to dismiss,” according to the Courant.

Six families and one FBI agent who responded to the shooting filed a lawsuit last year accusing Jones of defamation for calling the 2012 shooting a hoax.

Twenty children and six adults were killed in the shooting. Jones has repeatedly suggested the shooting wasn’t real.

The lawsuit alleges that Jones knew the claims he made on his show were false but continued to do because they bolstered ratings and drew advertisers. (could this also apply to 45 in a future deposition?)

Mark Barden, a plaintiff in the case whose son, Daniel, was killed in the shooting, released a statement Wednesday supporting Bellis's ruling.

“For years, Alex Jones and his co-conspirators have turned the unthinkable loss of our sweet little Daniel and of so many others into advertising dollars and fundraising appeals. It is far beyond time that he be held accountable for the pain his false narratives have caused so many and today’s ruling brings us one step closer to doing that.”

A judge ruled last month that Jones must turn over Infowars marketing and financial documents to the families.

Jones's attorney, Jay Wolman, appealed to the state Supreme Court to overturn that ruling, but was denied his request.

Wolman previously filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming Jones's speech was protected by the First Amendment.

Lukian 8 Feb 14
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7 comments

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1

Wait. Of course he must be deposed. He is a party opponent. The plaintiffs have the absolute right to depose one of the defendants. This is a no brainer.

I wonder what kind of bullshit argument that Jones's lawyer scame up to try to stop it. The article doesn't say.

But Jones's lawyers look like he is filing lots of frivolous motions and interlocutory appeals. Hopefully they are milking him dry.

1

Excellent ruling.
I hope Jones hangs himself in the depositions.
Well, if he also did that for real, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.

2

Screw that guy!

1

I think this is the correct decision. Many argue Jones was just exercising his right to free speech. There is free speech and then there is marketing - or mining the air waves for dollars - lying about an evident for personal gain and to further finance the lies.
I have not followed this mess closely just these sorts of posts here or on facebook.
IMHO Jones is a horrible person and needs to find out words do have consequences.

2

This would be an excellent first step for our country to do some course correction.

3

Speech that is protected by the First Amendment should never be speech that has caused others to doubt an event so vehemently that the doubters themselves have went on to cause physical harm to people whose lives were affected by the alledged event. This has happened where Jones is involved and it makes him an instigator and accomplice to that violence. He should be censored, fined, and banned accordingly.

1

The only way to concur this kind of ugliness, is to destroy them financially! Even then they want remain silent, but at least their resources will be limited!

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