Current:Home > FinanceCourt overturns suspension of Alex Jones’ lawyer in Sandy Hook case that led to $1.4B judgment -TradeStation
Court overturns suspension of Alex Jones’ lawyer in Sandy Hook case that led to $1.4B judgment
View
Date:2025-04-12 20:25:37
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut court on Thursday overturned a six-month suspension given to a lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for improperly giving Jones’ Texas attorneys confidential documents, including the medical records of relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
The state Appellate Court ruled that a judge incorrectly found that attorney Norman Pattis violated certain professional conduct rules and ordered a new hearing before a different judge on possible sanctions. The court, however, upheld other misconduct findings by the judge.
Pattis defended Jones against a lawsuit by many of the Sandy Hook victims’ families that resulted in Jones being ordered to pay more than $1.4 billion in damages after a jury trial in Connecticut in October 2022.
The families sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress for his repeated claims that the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax. Twenty first graders and six educators were killed. The families said Jones’ followers harassed and terrorized them.
The trial judge, Barbara Bellis, suspended Pattis in January 2023, saying he failed to safeguard the families’ sensitive records in violation of a court order, which limited access to the documents to attorneys in the Connecticut case. She called his actions an “abject failure” and “inexcusable.”
Pattis had argued there was no proof he violated any conduct rules and called the records release an “innocent mistake.” His suspension was put on hold during the Appellate Court review.
“I am grateful to the appellate court panel,” Pattis said in a text message Thursday. “The Jones courtroom was unlike any I had ever appeared in.”
Bellis and the state judicial branch declined to comment through a spokesperson.
The Sandy Hook families’ lawyers gave Pattis nearly 400,000 pages of documents as part of discovery in the Connecticut case, including about 4,000 pages that contained the families’ medical records. Pattis’ office sent an external hard drive containing the records to another Jones lawyer in Texas, at that attorney’s request. The Texas lawyer then shared it with another Jones attorney.
The records were never publicly released.
veryGood! (78316)
Related
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- Spam call bounty hunter
- Investors prefer bonds: How sleepy government bonds became the hot investment of 2022
- Trump special counsel investigations cost over $9 million in first five months
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- As Rooftop Solar Grows, What Should the Future of Net Metering Look Like?
- A $1.6 billion lawsuit alleges Facebook's inaction fueled violence in Ethiopia
- Why Scarlett Johansson Isn't Pitching Saturday Night Live Jokes to Husband Colin Jost
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- How 2% became the target for inflation
Ranking
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Pregnant Tori Bowie Tragedy: Autopsy Reveals Details on Baby's Death
- 24 Affordable, Rattan Bags, Shoes, Earrings, Hats, and More to Elevate Your Summer Look
- How 2% became the target for inflation
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Musk asks in poll if he should step down as Twitter CEO; users vote yes
- Nordstrom Rack 62% Off Handbag Deals: Kate Spade, Béis, Marc Jacobs, Longchamp, and More
- Union wins made big news this year. Here are 5 reasons why it's not the full story
Recommendation
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter mark 77th wedding anniversary
Amy Schumer Trolls Sociopath Hilaria Baldwin Over Spanish Heritage Claims & von Trapp Amount of Kids
Kristen Stewart and Fiancée Dylan Meyer's New Film Will Have You Flying High
See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
U.S. opens new immigration path for Central Americans and Colombians to discourage border crossings
Across America, Five Communities in Search of Environmental Justice
U.S. opens new immigration path for Central Americans and Colombians to discourage border crossings