Dominion's historic defamation case against Fox News will go to trial, judge rules
Last edited Fri Mar 31, 2023, 09:06 PM - Edit history (3)
Source: CNN Business
New York CNN — Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial in mid-April, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, in a major decision that dismantled several of the right-wing network’s key defenses. The judge’s decision is a painful setback for Fox News and sets the stage for an agonizing, weekslong trial, where the network’s highest-ranking executives and most prominent hosts could be called to the stand to testify about the 2020 election lies that were promoted on its air.
Both sides had asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis for a pretrial ruling in their favor, declaring them the winner. After thousands of pages of filings and exhibits, and a series of courtroom clashes, Davis decided the case should go to trial.
But one question jurors won’t need to weigh, he concluded, was whether Fox’s claims about Dominion were true or false. “The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote.
Unless there is an out-of-court settlement — which is always possible — Davis’ ruling means jurors will need to decide whether Fox News defamed Dominion by repeatedly promoting false claims that the voting technology company rigged the 2020 presidential election by flipping millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Dominion wants $1.6 billion in damages. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 13 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/media/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit/index.html
Full headline: Dominion’s historic defamation case against Fox News will go to trial, judge rules, in major decision dismantling key Fox defenses
Article updated.
Previous articles/headlines -
New York CNN -- Dominion Voting Systems' historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial next month, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, declining to declare a pretrial winner. The judge's decision represents a major legal setback for Fox News and sets the stage for an agonizing weeks long trial in which some of the right-wing channel's highest ranking executives and most prominent hosts could be called to the stand to testify about the 2020 election lies that were promoted on its air.
Both sides had asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis for a pretrial ruling in their favor, declaring them the winner at this stage. But after thousands of pages of filings and exhibits, and a series of courtroom clashes in Wilmington, Davis decided that the case should go to trial. But in his Friday ruling, Davis said that the evidence Dominion presented shows Fox News aired falsehoods about the company.
"The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true," Davis wrote. While rejecting Dominion's motion for a full-blown victory, the judge granted a partial win to Dominion on some key legal questions, which will give the company a boost at trial.
Davis determined that the Fox News on-air statements at the heart of the litigation were either factual assertions or "mixed opinion," which might make it harder for Fox to defend itself in front of the jury. Fox had asked Davis to rule that the statements were "pure opinion," and therefore couldn't be defamatory under the First Amendment.
Both sides had asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis for a pretrial ruling in their favor, declaring them the winner at this stage, and averting a trial. But after thousands of pages of filings and exhibits, and a series of courtroom clashes in Wilmington, Davis decided that the case should go to trial. But In his Friday ruling, Davis said that the evidence Dominion presented shows Fox News aired falsehoods about the company.
"The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true," Davis wrote. "We are gratified by the Court's thorough ruling soundly rejecting all of Fox's arguments and defenses, and finding as a matter of law that their statements about Dominion are false. We look forward to going to trial," a Dominion spokesperson said in a statement.
"This case is and always has been about the First Amendment protections of the media's absolute right to cover the news. FOX will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings," a Fox spokesperson said in a statement. Jury selection is scheduled for April 13.
Original article/headline -
New York CNN -- Dominion Voting Systems' historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial next month, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, declining to declare a pretrial winner.
Both sides had asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis for a pretrial ruling in their favor, declaring them the winner at this stage, and averting a trial. But after thousands of pages of filings and exhibits, and a series of courtroom clashes in Wilmington, Davis decided that the case should go to trial.
Jury selection is scheduled for April 13.
It was always unlikely that either side would prevail at this stage of the proceedings.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Is going to start the killing of fox feeding frenzy.
Wounds are already inflicted and there's blood in the water. And then SmartMatic's case gets rolling and they sound like they want to go to trial too from what it sounded earlier this week... no citations, just heard it, can't recall where.
