Law&Crime Sidebar - Top 7 Wildest Moments From Alex Jones' Defamation Trial

Episode Date: August 3, 2022

Jesse Weber breaks down the top moments in the Alex Jones trial. Jones gets into heated and weird exchanges with the judge, is accused of chewing gum, promotes his supplements, and insults the plaintiffs and then tries to apologize to them in court only to be told "shut your mouth!" LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. How are you feeling today, Alex? I actually feel good because I got a chance to it for the first time say what's really going on instead of the corporate media and high-powered law firms manipulating what I Alex Jones defamation trial out in Texas has had many wild turns, including with the InfoWars host, Taking the Stand. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. All right. Let's recap some of the biggest moments that have happened so far in the Alex Jones trial. Now, a quick refresher here. The plaintiffs in this case, Neil Hesslin and Scarlett Lewis, are the parents of six-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was killed in the horrific 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Massacre. They're suing Alex Jones after the Infowars host repeatedly called this shooting a hoax and even went so far to say that Hessland's recollection of events, including him cradling the dead body of his son, was fake. Now, Jones refused to comply

with court orders in this case. So the judge ended up entering a default judgment against him. In other words, he is liable for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He lost. Now it's just a question of how much does he have to pay out to these parents in terms of damages? In fact, the parents are seeking $150 million. Now, interestingly, this trial is split into two parts. One, the jury's going to have to decide on compensatory damages. What harm did the plaintiffs suffer? What did they lose?

And then there's a decision on punitive damages. Should we punish Alex Jones? There are a lot of notable moments in this trial so far, but we want to start with one in particular. There was one moment that we were all waiting for, and that is when the plaintiffs took the stamp. And they testified how due to Jones's statement, they have received threats from Jones's supporters. Their lives have been in danger. They've suffered intense emotional distress from having their son's memory tarnished. But at one point, Scarlett Lewis actually spoke directly to Jones while she was on the stand.

I wanted to tell you to your face, because I wanted you to know that I am a mother. first and foremost and I know that you're a father and my son existed you're still on your show today trying to say that I'm implying that I'm an actress that I'm deep state you have this week and I don't understand truth truth is so vital to our world truth is what we base our reality on. And we have to agree on that to have a civil society. Sandy Hook is a hard truth, hard truth. Nobody would want to ever believe that 26 kids could be murdered. Nobody would ever want to believe that. I understand people not wanting to believe that, actually. I don't want to believe it. But I've since that day dedicated my life to keeping kids safe. It's our responsibility. I used to think it was the school's responsibility. It's actually our responsibility. And I've dedicated my life

to that. And having a quarter of Americans doubt that Sandy Hook happened or doubt the facts around Sandy Hook is not conducive to keeping our kids safe. It's not. And it's our responsibility to keep our kids safe. This happened almost 10 years ago. We've had over 350 school shootings since then. We have to keep our kids safe. Jesse was real. I am a real mom. In defamation cases, it is so important to hear from the plaintiffs because how did they suffer? What was the impact of these statements on their lives? The jury needs to hear this. And for the parents of a six-year-old who was murdered to explain what it was like to have to defend his existence because of Jones's statements, statements that have already been determined to be false and defamatory, that is

very, very powerful. On top of the fact that earlier in the day, the day that she testified, Jones went on his InfoWars show and insulted the parents. And I'm looking at it and I'm watching what's being said and what's going on. And it really then makes it clear what happened. How does it make you feel knowing that that was said today by this man on his radio show while Jesse's father was testifying in that same seat you're sitting in? I've had a hard time finding words today.

It makes me feel astounded in a bad way. Horrific. Horrific. Horrific. Horrible. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. And so it becomes a legitimate question.

Why should the jury believe that Jones is being sincere when he says he never intended to harm the plaintiffs? That he had no agenda against them. And he apologizes. In fact, when he first took the stand, he tried to apologize, but look what happened. And, you know, before we do that, I just do want to say this on record, because I've said it many times. many times. I apologize. To both. Sustained. So, Mr. Jones, one of the instructions I just gave you that this is not a conversation, question and the answer. So she got the monologue, but not me. I got it. So again, he says he's sorry, but then seems to criticize Lewis by saying she monologued. And by the

way, his response would seem to support his contention that this whole trial is unfair and a violation of his rights. Anyway, Jones would go on and he would testify about his background. He would testify about Infowars, how they pick stories, how they talk about it. And he again said that he never intended to hurt the plaintiffs. He didn't directly target them. And in fact, he didn't even know their names until a few years ago. And this is important because you have to imagine that the strategy here is to say that punitive damages, which again are meant to punish the defendant, are not warranted here. You know, punitive damages can sometimes be much greater than compensatory damages.

So you have to imagine that Alex Jones is a bit worried about those. And again, Jones's defense would be, at the time, he might have questioned whether Sandy Hook was legitimate, what actually happened, that he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. And when he found out that he was wrong, he retracted and he apologized. We keep that defense in mind. But there were many strange moments during his testimony. And sometimes his attorney had to wrangle him in a bit, including when he made reference to The Matrix. And I'll tell you, at one point, it seemed that Jones was promoting his supplements. Do you sell vitamins? Yes. Are your vitamins FDA certified? No, they're not. Why not? 1996 law, the FDA has no jurisdiction over any nutraceuticals,

not the ones at Whole Foods, not the ones at G&C, and not ours. And ours are private labeled, top brands that are sold at Whole Foods at GNC. We have it made by the top lab recognized in the United States. all we use put our label on it so we know it's triple tested, the highest quality, and that's what people love it because it is the best out there. And I'll give

it to Whole Foods, and I'll give it to GMC and others. They've got the same stuff. There's all sorts of crap you can buy the gas station out there. That's not what ours is. I mean, we buy our PQQQ and KU10 from the Japanese. I mean, it's the best. It costs five times what synthetic PQQ and Koki Tone costs.

incredible just incredible but what jones also did and this was a problem for him is that he told some untruths you know he said on the stand that he complied with discovery requests and that he's bankrupt this is not true a default judgment was entered against him because of his failure to comply with the litigation process and he may have had the parent company of info wars file for bankruptcy but as the judge would later say that doesn't mean he's bankrupt and so he's not exactly being 100% transparent on the stand. In fact, after the jury was excused, the judge admonished and scolded Alex Jones. I should say actually throughout the whole day, Jones and Judge Maya Guerra Gamble had heated and testy exchanges. Were you instructed that there were some

things you could not testify about? Yes. And do you remember what they were? Yes. And what were they? Just top level. I'm trying to remember that first there was a document you put out saying don't talk about free speech. Don't say I'm innocent and a bunch of stuff. And then that got withdrawn. I believe you withdrew a thing called motion limiting. Okay. So you don't remember. No, no. I remember her currently. Stop. You believe everything you say is true, but it isn't. Your beliefs do make something true. That is what we're doing here. Just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true. It does not protect you. It is not allowed. You are under oath. That means things must actually be true when you say them. Don't talk. And then there was this weird

back and forth over whether Alex Jones was chewing gum in court. Spit your gum out, Mr. Jones. It's not gum. What is it? Because you're not allowed food or gum of any kind in the courtroom. I had my tooth cold a week and a half ago, and I had some gauze in earlier, and it's been causing, you know, have some pain. So you're chewing on your gauze?

Would you like to show you? No, I just want you to answer my question. No, I was massaging the whole of my mouth with my tongue. I care, right here. I don't want to see the inside of your mouth. Oh, no, there's no gum. Hold. Sit down.

It's like you can't make this stuff up. But one of the weirdest things that happen was at the very end of the day. As the judge left, the jury left, Scarlett Lewis, again, the plaintiff in this case, appears to hand something to Alex Jones, maybe Tylenol or something like that. And then he turns to her and Neil Hessland and starts up a conversation with them. He shakes their hands and then tries to apologize, but that is quickly interrupted by one of the plaintiff's attorneys, West Ball, and this gets very intense. Why because you can't feel them fake video do you want? Shut your mouth. I think I'm autistic too, buddy.

Shut your mouth. I think I'm autistic too. The level of animosity between these sides is just so palpable. And so the question is what is going to happen? next. Who knows? But we're going to follow it. Thanks for joining us here on sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Sidebar is produced by Sam Goldberg, YouTube manager Robert Zoki, and Alyssa Fisher as our booking producer. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. of this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

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