A Texas appellate court Friday slashed more than $43 million in exemplary damages awarded against Alex Jones, holding that the trial judge erred by letting the parents of a student murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to amend their petition post-verdict in order to avoid the state’s cap on exemplary damages.
A three-justice panel of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin issued the 47-page opinion in an appeal lodged by Alex Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, in the litigation brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis. Heslin and Lewis sued Jones for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress based on repeated claims he aired to his audience that the December 2012 mass shooting at the school, that killed 20 children and six adults, was a hoax and that the grieving parents were actors.
Heslin and Lewis’ son, Jesse, was among the victims.
The panel determined Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble wrongly allowed the parents to amend their petition after the jury trial concluded, to add an allegation of injury to a disabled person that would defeat the $750,000 statutory cap on exemplary damages. The justices explained that the cap-busting provision “required findings on elements that were not submitted to the jury.”
“The new allegations in the amendment were not merely a recasting of existing claims to conform with the evidence but were more like a new cause of action because the cap-busting statute requires findings that were not submitted to the jury,” the court held. “… Appellants’ presentation of their case was detrimentally affected because the amendment allowed the court to impose a much larger exemplary damage award when appellants no longer had the opportunity to respond with evidence or trial strategy.”
After the jury trial in late July 2022, the panel returned a verdict that August awarding Heslin and Lewis a total of $4.1 million in compensatory damages and $45.2 million in exemplary damages. A final judgment awarded the parents a total of $49.9 million, including prejudgment interest.
But before that final judgment was entered, on Sept. 29, 2022, the parents asked the court for leave to amend their petition to add “a paragraph that would permit the court to award exemplary damages that exceed a statutory cap of $750,000 for each appellant,” according to the opinion.
The court agreed to do so in January 2023.
On appeal, the parents argued that the evidence presented at trial clearly showed that Jones and Free Speech Systems intentionally caused emotional injury to individuals already suffering from “severe emotional disturbance.” Counsel for Jones objected, but the court determined the amendment was “procedural and therefore mandatory.”
The appellate panel amended the judgment, capping the exemplary damages award at $750,000 for each parent, for a total exemplary award of $1.5 million. The panel left the $4.1 million in compensatory damages untouched.
Chief Justice Darlene Byrne authored the panel’s opinion, joined by Justices Chari Kelly and Maggie Ellis.
Jones and Free Speech Systems are represented by Alan B. Daughtry of Houston and Ben C. Broocks and William A. Broocks of Broocks Law Firm, Christopher Martin of Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom and Federico Reynal of The Reynal Law Firm.
Reynal, who was trial counsel for Jones and Free Speech Systems, spoke to The Texas Lawbook Friday. He said this case was the first time he’s seen a trial court judge allow for such a post-verdict amendment to the petition. He said Judge Gamble’s actions were “absolutely an abuse of discretion.”
“I remember us being very surprised that she granted them leave to amend to allege claims that had never been discussed before,” he said. “In order to have that cap-buster, you have to plead and prove a crime, which is injury to a disabled individual.”
“We were confident the [Third Court of Appeals] would make the right decision. We’re very pleased with the result, and ultimately, the law was followed.”
Heslin and Lewis are represented by Mark D. Bankston of Farrar & Ball. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The case number is 03-23-00209-CV.