HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Connecticut Supreme Court has declined to hear conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ appeal in a defamation case that resulted in a $1.4 billion verdict against him for calling the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax.
Jones asked the justices to review both the 2022 trial court verdict and a lower appeals court ruling in December that upheld most of the verdict. The Supreme Court turned down his request without explanation Tuesday.
A Connecticut jury and judge awarded relatives of some of the victims of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, more than $1.4 billion in damages for defamation and emotional distress, over Jones’ repeated claims that the massacre never happened. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting was “100% real.”
Twenty first graders and six educators were killed. Victims’ relatives testified during the defamation trial that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his followers.
In December, the state Appellate Court upheld $965 million of the damages. Two other parents who lost a child in the shooting were awarded nearly $50 million in a similar lawsuit in Texas that Jones is appealing.
Jones raised free speech rights, other constitutional questions and procedural issues in the Connecticut appeal.
“We had a very strong appeal in Connecticut,” he said, expressing frustration on his Infowars show Wednesday.
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to Jones’ lawyers Wednesday. A U.S Supreme Court appeal is possible.
Alinor Sterling, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, said in a statement that the state Supreme Court’s decision “brings the Connecticut families another step closer to their goal of holding Alex Jones accountable for the harms he caused and will enable them to press forward with collections proceedings against him.”
Jones filed for personal bankruptcy protection in late 2022 after the Connecticut and Texas verdicts. The case remains pending and legal wrangling continues over the proposed liquidation of many of Jones’ and Infowars’ assets.
