Fox defamation trial delayed, network pursues settlement talks
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April 17, 2023]
By Helen Coster
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -The start of Dominion Voting Systems'
$1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox has been pushed back by a day,
the judge said on Sunday, with a source familiar with the matter saying
the media giant was pursuing settlement talks.
The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told Reuters that
Fox was seeking a possible settlement. The Washington Post and the Wall
Street Journal also reported that Fox was pursuing settlement talks,
citing sources.
Dominion is suing Fox Corp and Fox News in a defamation lawsuit over the
network's coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
"The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including
jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (1300 GMT),"
Judge Eric Davis said in a statement, without providing a reason for the
delay.
"I will make such an announcement tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom
7E," he added.
Davis had said on Thursday he expected to conclude jury selection on
Monday and to proceed to opening statements.
Dominion and Fox declined to comment on the delay.
Davis on Wednesday sanctioned Fox News, handing Dominion a fresh chance
to gather evidence after Fox withheld records until the eve of the
trial.
The evidence includes recordings of Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. President
Donald Trump's lawyer, saying in pre-taped Fox appearances that he did
not have any evidence to back up the false allegations of election
rigging by Dominion in the 2020 race that are at the heart of the
lawsuit.
The recordings were made by a former Fox employee who is currently suing
the network.
Davis said he would also very likely tap an outside investigator to
probe Fox's late disclosure of the evidence and take whatever steps
necessary to remedy the situation, which he described as troubling.
Fox said in a statement on Wednesday that it "produced the supplemental
information" to Dominion "when we first learned it."
CLOSELY WATCHED
The trial is one of the most closely-watched U.S. defamation cases in
years, involving a leading cable news outlet with numerous conservative
commentators.
Murdoch is set to testify, along with a parade of Fox executives and
on-air hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.
The trial is considered a test of whether Fox's coverage crossed the
line between ethical journalism and the pursuit of ratings, as Dominion
alleges and Fox denies.
Dominion has accused Fox of ruining its reputation by airing baseless
claims that its machines secretly changed votes in favor of Democrat Joe
Biden, who defeated then-President Trump, a Republican, in the 2020
presidential election.
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A Fox News channel sign is seen on a
television vehicle outside the News Corporation building in New York
City, in New York, U.S. November 8, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon
Stapleton/File Photo
Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages, a figure Fox has
said is unrealistic and based on flawed economic modeling.
An expert report commissioned by Dominion attributed scores of lost
contracts to Fox's coverage, though much of the report remains under
seal.
Fox Corp reported nearly $14 billion in annual revenue last year.
Dominion has said Fox's conduct was damaging to American democracy
and that the network must be held accountable, while Fox said on
Friday that Dominion's lawsuit was a threat to press freedom.
"While Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to
generate headlines, Fox News remains steadfast in protecting the
rights of a free press," Fox said in a statement.
The primary question for jurors is whether Fox knowingly spread
false information or recklessly disregarded the truth, the standard
of "actual malice" that Dominion must show to prevail in a
defamation case.
Dominion says defamatory statements were aired on Fox shows
including "Sunday Morning Futures," "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and "Justice
with Judge Jeanine."
Dominion alleges that Fox staff, ranging from members of the
newsroom to the board of directors, knew the statements were false
but continued to air them to avoid losing viewers to far-right
outlets.
Dominion also cites evidence that some hosts and producers thought
the guests spreading the false statements, including former Trump
attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, could not back up their
allegations.
Fox had argued that coverage of the vote-rigging claims was
inherently newsworthy and protected by the U.S. Constitution's First
Amendment guarantee of press freedom.
Davis rejected that argument in a ruling last month on both parties'
competing motions for summary judgment.
Fox has also said that Dominion cannot pin actual malice on the
individuals whom Dominion says were responsible for the defamatory
statements.
Fox has said Dominion must prove that a "superior officer" at the
network or its parent company "ordered, participated in, or
ratified" wrongdoing. The network has argued that doubts about the
claims among certain individuals cannot be attributed to the
organization as a whole.
(Reporting by Helen Coster and Dan Whitcomb; additional reporting by
Leela de Kretser and Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jamie
Freed)
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