A Connecticut judge on Monday found controversial radio host Alex Jones guilty in a defamation case brought by parents of eight children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre nearly a decade ago.
Judge Barbara Bellis took the rare step of defaulting Jones in the defamation lawsuits for his and his companies’ “failure to produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims.” The default means the judge found in favor of the parents and will hold a hearing on how much damages he should pay.
Lawyers for the parents claimed Jones and his companies, including Infowars and Free Speech Systems, violated court rules by failing to turn over documents to them, including internal company documents showing how, and if, Jones and Infowars profited from talking about the school shooting and other mass shootings.
“Their pattern of defying and ignoring court orders to produce responsive information is well established,” lawyers for the family wrote in a court brief in July.
Jones’ lawyers have denied violating court rules on document disclosure and have asked that Bellis be removed from the case, alleging she has not been impartial.
Monday’s ruling combines with a previous decision from a Texas judge to give four victories across four defamation cases that represented 10 children lost in the massacre.
Earlier this year, a Texas judge found Jones liable for damages in three separate defamation lawsuits brought by the parents of two children killed in the shootings.
The shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, school on Dec. 14, 2012, killed 20 first-graders and six educators. The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother at their Newtown home before going to the school, and killed himself as police arrived.
The families and an FBI agent who responded to the shooting sued Jones and his show over claims that the massacre was a hoax. The families said they were subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy.
Jones, whose show is based in Austin, Texas, has since said he believes the shooting occurred.
Jones was sanctioned in the Connecticut cases for violating numerous orders to turn over documents and for an angry outburst on his web show against an attorney for some of the victims’ relatives. A judge barred Jones from filing a motion to dismiss the case — a ruling that was upheld after being appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear Jones’ appeal in April.
Juries in both Texas and Connecticut will decide how much in damages should be paid to the families. Those court dates are set for next year.
