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A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled on Friday afternoon that the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems has waged against Fox News and Fox Corp. will go to trial in April.
Judge Eric Davis heard oral arguments for summary judgment in mid-March, unexpectedly extending into a nearly two-day hearing. Dominion and Fox each filed a motion for a summary judgment, asking the judge to make a decision on the case and avoid going to trial.
Davis, in his opinion, denied the summary judgment motions submitted by Fox News and Fox Corp. Dominion did have some minor wins, with the judge granting certain aspects of its motion and denying others.
Summary judgment background:A Delaware judge will decide if the $1.6 billion Fox News defamation lawsuit goes to trial
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The judge said Dominion proved that Fox aired false information about the company, and its role in the outcome of the election, on its broadcasts.
“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,” he wrote.
Davis denied Dominion summary judgment relating to “actual malice,” writing that this issue needs to be determined by a jury. This legal standard is key in proving defamation occurred. Dominion would have to prove that Fox knowingly published false information about the voting machine company or recklessly disregarded information showing that the claims were not true.
The judge also ruled that it will be up to the jury to decide the damages in this case.
Both Dominion and Fox issued statements following the ruling.
“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 statement from Dominion read. “The Court has rejected Fox’s First Amendment “newsworthy allegation” defense and held that Dominion’s lawsuit is consistent with the First Amendment.”
Fox said the “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.”
While a last-minute settlement is still possible, the six-week trial is scheduled to begin April 17. It will be one of the most high-profile trials held in Delaware. The outcome could be a massive financial blow to the country’s most-watched cable news network.
Dominion has argued that evidence shows how top Fox executives and hosts privately communicated that they did not believe then-President Donald Trump and allies’ election fraud allegations, specifically how the company conspired with Democrats to steal the election. Yet Fox continued to give airtime to these claims.
Fox lawyers have said the network and corporation are protected under the First Amendment. A “reasonable viewer,” they said, would understand that Fox hosts did not present these claims to be fact but rather allegations made by Trump associates. They argued Fox was covering the biggest news story of the day.
Ahead of the trial, one of the biggest questions is who will testify. Davis, the judge, has said he has the power to compel Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch to testify in the trial. Fox lawyers have argued against this, saying there is “no reason” for him to do so since he already gave a seven-hour deposition.
Murdoch, in this deposition, acknowledged that Fox News hosts “endorsed” the false claims of the election being stolen. He said he could have done more to stop it but did not.
Fox News hosts, including Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, could also testify on the stand.
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