Attorneys for InfoWars host Alex Jones say he’ll finally sit for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Jones was sued in 2018 by the families for making false claims about the shooting. Though Jones has already been found liable for defamation, the case continues as a jury still needs to determine how much Jones owes in damages.
Jones’ attorneys now say he’ll show up in Bridgeport, Conn., for a deposition on April 11.
“Mr. Jones has agreed to appear in Connecticut for a deposition at the plaintiffs’ law firm on April 11, 2022,” wrote Attorney Cameron Atkinson in acourt document filed Thursday
Jones was held in contempt of court on Wednesday after missing two full days of depositions last week. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis has given him until April 15 to sit for two full days of deposition and for every week day before then that he doesn’t sit for one, she’ll fine him at least $25,000.
“The court finds that Mr. Jones intentionally failed to comply with the orders of the court and that there is no adequate factual basis to explain his failures to obey the orders of the court,” Bellis said.
Still, as they agree to a deposition, Jones’ attorneys are trying to go above Bellis to turn back the fine. On Thursday, they filed an appeal of the fine with the Connecticut Supreme Court -- though the judicial branch later said the appeal had been returned to the defendants because of compliance issues. Jones’s attorneys say they'll refile Friday.
“It would take a gift of understatement the undersigned do not possess to characterize as a mere abuse of discretion Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis’ decision to hold a defendant in a civil action in contempt and requiring him to pay fines totaling potentially $1.65 million for relying on a doctor’s note to not attend a deposition,” wrote Attorney Norm Pattis in the Thursday filing.
Jones’ attorneys maintain that he’s not avoiding the deposition, but that he just wants to wait for a doctor to clear him.His attorneys say he missed the March 23 and March 24 depositions because he was dealing with multiple medical conditions including a sinus blockage. But Bellis still ordered him to appear at the depositions, in part because Jones had been broadcasting his show from a studio outside of his home while attorneys were arguing for him to remain home under doctor’s orders.
Even though Bellis told him he could miss the deposition the following day if he’d been hospitalized, his attorneys never submitted evidence to her affirming a hospitalization.
This story was updated to reflect Jones' attorneys reaching back to Connecticut Public Radio on the status of their filing of an appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
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