Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones left Waterbury on Friday without testifying, as scheduled, in a civil damages trial against him. He’s expected to return and testify next Wednesday and/or Thursday.
Jones and his lawyer, Norm Pattis, decided not to have him take the stand after heated testimony Thursday, when Jones angrily said he’s finished apologizing for his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
“We think that this will streamline the proceeding, lower the temperature level and help the jury focus on what it needs to decide,” says Pattis.
It’s those lies—including claims that the shooting was a hoax and grieving family members were “crisis actors”—that Sandy Hook families say led to harassment and death threats against them by Jones' followers.
When Jones failed to provide key documents during discovery, Judge Barbara Bellis issued a default judgement against him: Jones is liable for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A jury will decide how much he owes in damages.
True to form, Jones did not leave quietly on Friday. For the third time this week, he made a statement to reporters outside the courthouse. He raged against attorneys for the Sandy Hook families and against restrictions placed on his testimony by the judge.
The rant became a topic for the court when it reconvened.
"Mr. Jones was giving a press conference outside the courthouse," said plaintiffs' attorney, Chris Mattei, "where he continued his efforts to undermine this trial, attacked the court... and made personal attacks against counsel here and our families."
Jones also suggested jurors do their own research on the trial. That would be a violation of jury instructions, and caught the attention of Judge Bellis.
Before dismissing the jury at midday, Bellis gave added emphasis to her admonition on that topic: "You're not to do any independent research with respect to anything you've heard. If anyone in your lives... approaches you and says, 'you know, you actually can do independent research,' I'm here to tell you that you may not."
Court reconvenes on Tuesday.