Alex Jones should be punished further for ‘evil’ Sandy Hook claims: lawyer

In a hypothetical calculation, the families' lawyers say punitive damages could total $2.75 trillion, but they have not asked for a specific amount.

A lawyer for Sandy Hook families said Monday that significant punitive damages need to be imposed on Alex Jones to deter him and other conspiracy theorists from continuing to tell their followers the 2012 Newtown shooting was a hoax, in addition to the nearly $1 billion he already has been ordered to pay victims’ relatives.

Attorney Christopher Mattei’s comments came during a video conference hearing before a Connecticut judge on how much punitive damages the Infowars host and his company, Free Speech Systems, should pay victims’ families. In a hypothetical calculation, the families’ lawyers say punitive damages could total $2.75 trillion, but they have not asked for a specific amount.

Judge Barbara Bellis said she will rule at a later date.

Jones’ lawyer, Norm Pattis, argued any punitive damages should be minimal, because last month’s $965 million jury verdict on compensatory damages is so large and “unparalleled” it is the functional equivalent of punitive damages. Mattei disagreed.

“Here, where— in our view— the conduct really rises to the level of reprehensible, evil, really just malicious conduct, there’s no situation in which … nominal punitive damages would be sufficient under the law,” Mattei told the judge. “There’s really no way any of us, I think, can wrap our minds around what kind of depravity it took for Mr. Jones to do what he did.”

Jones, based in Austin, Texas, continued to bash the trial as unfair and an assault on free speech rights. He has said he will appeal the verdict and already has asked for a new trial. He also said he doesn’t have $2 million to his name, so he can’t pay the verdict.

Pattis on Monday questioned how the jury arrived at the $965 million figure. He said there was no evidence at the trial of the net worth of Jones or Free Speech Systems.

“The jury came up with an unusual verdict,” Pattis said. “You will never come up with an algorithm that explains it. These numbers are simply unparalleled in Connecticut history, perhaps in the history of any case in the United States.”