Jurors reached a verdict in conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Connecticut defamation trial on Wednesday afternoon.
Jones and his company were found liable for damages last year. The six-person jury is tasked with determining how much the Infowars show host should pay to 15 plaintiffs — including the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims and an FBI agent — for calling the 2012 massacre a hoax.
The jury has been instructed to arrive at two compensatory damages amounts per plaintiff: one sum for defamation damages and another for emotional distress damages. Jurors also will decide whether Jones should pay punitive damages; the judge would decide the amounts later.
Each compensatory damages amount has to be at least $1, but there is no cap. The plaintiffs’ lawyers have suggested total damages could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jones has bashed the trial as a “kangaroo court,” described it as an affront to free speech rights, and called the judge a “tyrant.” His lawyer told the jury that any damages awarded should be minimal.
