In quite the courtroom climax, a lawyer representing Sandy Hook parents' in their defamation suit against InfoWars founder Alex Jones on Wednesday revealed Jones' lawyers had inadvertently shared the contents of their client's cellphone, The Washington Post reports.
While cross-examining the conspiracy theorist in the damages phase of his defamation trial beginning last week, attorney Mark Bankston — whose clients Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, are suing Jones over his repeated claims that the shooting was a "giant hoax" — told Jones his lawyers had "messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone."
"And that is how I know you lied to me when you said you didn't have text messages about Sandy Hook," Bankston continued, to which Jones countered, "I gave them my phone."
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But Bankston pointed out how Jones had testified under oath that he personally searched his phone and was unable to find any text messages related to Sandy Hook. "You know what perjury is, right? I just want to make sure you know before we go any further," the lawyer asked.
Bankston also noted how Jones testified he did not have any emails pertaining to Sandy Hook because he does not use email, only to display for the court emails he claimed Jones "had sent to lawyers, staff and others about business operations," the Post summarizes.
District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble noted that, without evidence, it is not fully clear whether the phone was disclosed by accident, the Post reports. "But what we do know," Gamble said, "is that it wasn't properly turned over when it should have been."
At least nine Sandy Hook families have sued Jones.
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