The amount is less than the $150 million aspired by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators killed in the deadliest classroom shooting in US history. The trial is the first time Jones has been held financially accountable for spreading lies about the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jurors initially granted Heslin and Lewis $4.1 million in compensatory damages, which Jones called a significant victory. But in the final phase of the two-week trial, the same Austin jury came back and tacked on an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages.
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Earlier this week, Jones testified that any prize over $2 million would “sink us.” His company, Free Speech Systems, which is Infowars’ parent company, filed for bankruptcy protection during the first week of the trial.
Punitive damages are meant to discipline defendants for especially heinous demeanor beyond monetary compensation awarded to the individuals they hurt. A high punitive award is also seen as a chance for jurors to send a wider societal message and a way to deter others from the same abhorrent conduct in the future.
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Attorneys for the family had encouraged jurors to hand down a financial punishment that would put Infowars out of business.
“You can stop this man from ever doing it again,” Wesley Ball, an attorney for the parents, told the jury. “Send the message to those who desire to do the same: Speech is free. Lies, you pay for.”
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An economist hired by the plaintiffs testified that Jones and the company are worth up to $270 million, suggesting that Jones was still making money.
Bernard Pettingill, who the plaintiffs took to study Jones’ net worth, said records show that Jones pulled $62 million for himself in 2021, when default judgments were issued in lawsuits against him.
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“That number represents, in my opinion, a value of a net worth,” Pettingill said. “He’s got money put in a bank account somewhere.” The money that flows into Jones’ companies eventually funnels its way to him, said Pettingill, who added that he has testified in approximately 1,500 cases during his career.
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But Jones’ lawyers said their client has already learned his lesson and asked for lenience. The jury’s sentence should be less than $300,000, attorney Andino Reynal said.
“You’ve already sent a message. A message for the first time to a talk show host, to all talk show hosts, that their standard of care has to change,” Reynal said.
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