Infowars, a website owned by Alex Jones, has been ordered to “pay all costs” to a survivor of the Sandy Hook shooting after an appeal in a defamation lawsuit was rejected.
The website was sued by Sandy Hook parent Neil Heslin over a conspiracy theory that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a “false flag” attack orchestrated by the government.
Right Wing Watch reported that Infowars had filed an appeal after Sandy Hook parent Neil Heslin presented the court with a motion of contempt in the case when it was clear that the website would not comply with court-ordered discovery.
According to Heslin, Jones had ordered Infowars to delete all social media posts about Sandy Hook.
“We agree with Heslin that the district court has not yet ruled on Appellants’ motion to dismiss, nor has the motion been overruled by operation of law,” Justice Gisela Triana wrote in her ruling. “Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.”
Jones was also ordered to “pay all costs” that Heslin incurred related to the appeal.
Right Wing Watch pointed out that the appeal “wasted nearly a year of time in Heslin’s lawsuit against Infowars.”
Read more about the case from Right Wing Watch.
AzEBeast on September 4th, 2019 at 18:27 UTC »
Just to clarify what is going on here. Jones filed a motion to dismiss under a Texas law regarding free speech. Typically no discovery is allowed before a court rules on a motion like this, but the Court can order discovery. The trial court did so in this case, Jones viewed this as the Court denying his motion to dismiss and filed an appeal on that motion.
The appellate court basically said that the appeal is baseless because the motion to dismiss has not been ruled on and was not effectively ruled on by allowing discovery. So, because the appeal was baseless Jones has to pay the costs and attorney's fees associated with the appeal.
IMPORTANT: The merits of the case have not been decided, and Jones is not being held liable for anything at this time. He was not appealing a decision on the merits. He is simply being made to pay for wasting the time and resources of opposing counsel in arguing a baseless appeal.
EDIT: If this needs further clarification, such as the terms used, just ask.
prancngPWNy on September 4th, 2019 at 17:54 UTC »
So Jones appealed simply to make the lawsuit more expensive for the plaintiff? Class act. Glad the judge made him pay for it.
KyloRenCadetStimpy on September 4th, 2019 at 17:05 UTC »
He'll have to shave his back and sell souvenirs to pay this off