Dominion’s $1.6bn defamation case against Fox News WILL go to jury trial
Dominion’s $1.6 billion libel case against Fox News will go to jury trial after the judge declines to enter summary judgment in favor of either party.
- Dominion is suing the network for $1.6 billion, alleging that Fox defamed it by repeatedly airing false claims about the company’s machines.
- Fox has said that he was simply covering very interesting allegations.
- The decision clears the way for the trial, which is expected to begin on April 13.
Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News will now proceed to jury trial after a judge refused to enter summary judgment in favor of either party.
The voting machine company is suing the network over claims that Fox defamed it by repeatedly airing false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Fox has said it was merely covering newsworthy allegations.
Dominion claims that Fox aired false accusations of then-President Donald Trump in the weeks after the election alleging that the company’s machines and software had shifted the votes to Joe Biden. Court proceedings have shown that many of its executives and hosts aired the claims despite not believing they were true.
Voting machine company’s defamation case against Fox News for broadcasting false accusations about the 2020 presidential election will go to trial
Fox said it was merely covering newsworthy allegations. The coverage fed an ecosystem of misinformation surrounding Trump’s 2020 defeat that has persisted ever since.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled Friday that neither Fox nor Dominion had made a compelling argument to prevail over whether the network acted with malice, the libel standard, without the case going to a jury.
But it also ruled that the statements Dominion had challenged constitute defamation ‘per se’ under New York law.
That means Dominion did not have to prove damages to establish Fox’s liability.
“The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that (it is) CLEARLY clear that none of the Dominion-related statements about the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote in his summary judgment.
Davis added that Fox could not escape potential liability by claiming privileges for neutral reporting or opinion.
“The fact that (Fox) did not reveal a great deal of conflicting evidence from the public sphere and Dominion himself indicates that his reporting was not disinterested.” the judge wrote.
A Dominion spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the Court’s comprehensive ruling which flatly rejects all of Fox’s arguments and defenses, and finds as a matter of law that his statements about Dominion are false.” We are looking forward to going to trial.
Fox stressed that the case is about the media’s First Amendment protections for covering the news.
“Fox will continue to fiercely defend free speech and free press rights as we move into the next phase of these proceedings,” the network said in a statement.
The decision clears the way for the trial to begin on April 13.