A judge punished Alex Jones for refusing to turn over data that could reveal how much he made from Sandy Hook coverage
Alex Jones is in court again to determine how much he should pay the families of Sandy Hook victims.
On the trial's first day, the judge sanctioned Jones for refusing to turn over discovery material.
Jones was ordered last month to pay $50 million to the parents of Jesse Lewis in a separate trial.
InfoWars host Alex Jones has been punished by a judge for not turning over documents to Sandy Hook families' lawyers — again.
The right-wing conspiracy theorist was sanctioned by a Connecticut judge on Tuesday at the opening of his defamation damages trial in the state for not turning over enough web data about his coverage of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
Jones is on trial in Connecticut to determine how much he has to pay the families of several victims of the 2012 massacre over his repeated bogus claims that the mass shooting was a "hoax."
The families' lawyers wanted to draw a connection between the Google Analytics data and merchandise sales. Jones turned over data up through June 2019, but didn't reveal data from the last three years.
Judge Barbara Bellis called Jones' failure to fulfill his discovery obligations "stunningly cavalier" and sanctioned him. She also banned his lawyers from arguing that he didn't profit from his coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.
"This stunningly cavalier attitude with respect to their discovery obligations is what led to the default in the first place," Bellis said in Connecticut Superior Court.
The judge added, "The defendants have consistently engaged in dilatory and obstructive discovery practices from the inception of these cases, right through to the trial."
Jones was nowhere to be seen at the courthouse in Waterbury, Connecticut, on Tuesday. The courtroom was packed with a mix of victims' family members and the media. About 20 family members entered together 15 minutes before the trial.
About an hour before the trial kicked off, a lone female protester held up a sign outside: "Alex Jones karma is a bitch," it read.
Last month, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million to the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, one of the 26 killed in the school massacre, after they sued him for defamation for falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax.
Bellis ruled in 2021 that Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, were liable for defaming 15 plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are suing Jones for defamation, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The plaintiffs in the Connecticut trial were part of three separate lawsuits that have been consolidated and include relatives of several Sandy Hook shooting victims and one FBI agent.
The plaintiffs say they have been harassed in person and received death threats and abusive comments online from Jones's followers because of his claims that the shooting was a hoax, according to the Associated Press.
During his initial defamation trial in Texas, Jones admitted that the Sandy Hook shooting was 100% real and apologized for hurting the feeling of the victims' families, but he later reneged on his apology in an interview and said "I don't apologize anymore. I'm done."
Alex Jones' attorney suggests at
defamation trial that Sandy Hook
plaintiffs are just anti-gun activists
InfoWars' Alex Jones faces another trial for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was a "hoax."
Families of eight victims — plus an FBI agent who responded to the attack — are the plaintiffs.
The trial is in Waterbury, Connecticut – under 20 miles from where the 2012 mass shooting unfolded.
The defense attorney for InfoWars host Alex Jones suggested during his defamation damages trial Tuesday that parents of children who died during the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre are exaggerating their claims to promote an anti-gun political agenda.
During his opening remarks, Norm Pattis said the plaintiffs were attempting to silence Jones for supporting the Second Amendment. Jones has long claimed the massacre was a charade designed to give the government a reason to take away people's guns.
The conspiracy theorist shock jock was nowhere to be seen Tuesday as he faced a second trial for spreading the false claim that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a government-orchestrated "hoax" played out by "crisis actors."
The trial is taking place in Waterbury, Connecticut — fewer than 20 miles from Newtown, where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed in the mass shooting — and is the second of three defamation damages cases against Jones.
Last month, the first of those trials ended with a Texas jury awarding the parents of one of the victims nearly $50 million.
Much more is at stake in Connecticut, where the families of eight victims plus an FBI agent who responded to the attack are all plaintiffs.
Jones has already lost all three defamation cases, and the current round of trials concern how much he owes the families. The Connecticut trial is expected to last five weeks, and Jones is expected to testify, though it is unclear when.
Day one kicked off with a major victory for the plaintiffs, who complained Jones had not turned over enough Google Analytics data to illustrate how Infowars monetizes web traffic.
As a result, Judge Barbara Bellis sanctioned Jones and banned his lawyer from arguing he didn't profit from his Sandy Hook coverage. Bellis called Jones' failure to fulfill his discovery obligations "stunningly cavalier."
Chris Mattei, an attorney representing the Sandy Hook families, kicked off opening statements Tuesday morning, telling the jury of three men and three women that Jones started claiming the massacre was fake the very morning of the shooting, before many of the families had even learned what had happened to their children.
Mattei said none of the family members wanted to sue Jones, but they were defenseless against his lies that questioned their grave loss and led to them to be harassed by Jones' legion of followers.
"None of them wanted to bring this lawsuit, they don't want to be here. We trust you to decide what's appropriate here," he told the jurors.
The families will never get back what they lost, he said, but this lawsuit may help stop Jones when another school shooting inevitably takes place.
"Where will Alex Jones be? Will he be in the studio ready to pounce? Or will you stop him?" Mattei asked the jurors.
Pattis then gave his opening remarks, which started off barely audible for those in the gallery. He said he was "stunned" to hear his opposing counsel's opening statements since "stopping Alex Jones" is "not why we're here."
Instead, jurors are tasked with deciding what the plaintiffs are owed according to the law, Pattis said.
Mattei made several objections when his opposing counsel started describing the parents as political activists for gun control, most of which the judge sustained. He warned Pattis that he was being "improper," and after the third objection, scolded him: "One more time and I will ask you to be seated," he said.
Pattis' arguments were largely tied to free speech. He said that while some people believe Jones, most simply tune him out. He questioned whether the Sandy Hook parents should try to "turn him off" simply because they object to his message.
When Pattis at one point said that "no one will minimize" what the families have lost, a Sandy Hook mother in the gallery could be heard whispering under her breath.
"He just did," she said.
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