The trial included testimony from both parents and Jones, who has portrayed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights. The jury in this case had only been asked to decide whether Jones, who has already been found liable by a judge because he did not hand over critical evidence before the trial began, must also pay Jesse's parents for the emotional distress and reputational damage caused by his false claims.
"He promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation but he made a lot of money and he monetized that." "He is a very successful man," he testified. Pettingill also testified that Jones began paying $11,000 a day into a shell company he controls after he was found liable in a default judgment in the Sandy Hook case. Pettingill estimated that Jones and his companies are worth $135 million to $270 million - an amount his defense team disputed - and said that Jones and his companies made more money after being "deplatformed" by several social media outlets in 2018. Jones has maintained throughout the trial that his companies suffered losses since he was removed from the sites. The jury's decision followed expert testimony from forensic economist Bernard Pettingill whose testimony was intended to give jurors a picture of how much money Jones has and, by extension, how much it would take to punish him for his behavior. Punitive damages are intended to punish someone for especially harmful behavior. The judge acknowledged the objection and added that the law implies that in the state "we don't trust our juries." Reynal objected to the decision, arguing that the verdict did not comply with Texas law, which caps the actual award at $750,000 per plaintiff. Jones' attorney Andino Reynal told jurors they had already sent a message to Jones and other talk show hosts with the $4.1 million judgment that "their standard of care has to be different." He also argued that a substantial award would only serve to discourage people who question "government officials who dropped the ball" from doing so. "That is punishment, that is deterrence." I ask that you make sure that he can't rebuild the platform. "I ask that with your verdict, you not only take Alex Jones' platform that he talks about away. Ball argued that only such a large sum would be enough to "take the bullhorn away" from Jones.
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