Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a Connecticut judge to throw out a nearly $1 billion verdict against him and order a new trial in a lawsuit by Sandy Hook families, who say they were subjected to harassment and threats from Jones' lies about the 2012 Newtown school shooting.
Jones filed the requests Friday, saying Judge Barbara Bellis' pretrial rulings resulted in an unfair trial and "a substantial miscarriage of justice.".
"Additionally, the amount of the compensatory damages award exceeds any rational relationship to the evidence offered at trial," Jones' lawyers, Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith, wrote in the motion.
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday, but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones' request.
Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012.
A third trial over the hoax claims, involving two more Sandy Hook parents, is expected to be held near the end of the year in Texas.
Pattis, Jones' lawyer, wrote in the motions filed Friday that there was a lack of evidence directly connecting Jones with the people who harassed and threatened the Sandy Hook families. »
