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Dominion's billion-dollar lawsuit against Fox delayed amid reports of settlement talks

 
Former Fox host Lou Dobbs interviews Sidney Powell.

Former Fox host Lou Dobbs interviews Sidney Powell. (Fox News screengrab via Dominion lawsuit)

The billion-dollar defamation trial pitting Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News has been delayed. Splashing cold water on speculation that delay is meant for settlement talks, a judge reportedly claimed on Monday morning that he made the call for an adjournment.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis announced the adjournment on Sunday evening.

"The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.," Davis wrote in a statement.

At a hearing on Monday in Delaware, Davis reportedly said the adjournment was his idea and did not cite settlement speculation that pervaded coverage of the case.

"This is not unusual," said Davis, according to CBS News.

Fox faces the prospect of massive liabilities and vanishingly fewer defenses as it heads into trial against Dominion, which initially sought $1 billion in damages for lost enterprise value and $600 million for lost profits.

On the eve of the trial, Dominion dropped the latter demand as "duplicative."

Fox's attorney Katharine L. Mowery provided an email from Dominion alerting them to that development on Sunday.

"This clarification is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that Dominion informed Fox on April 14 that it is walking away from lost profit damages and will pursue only 'lost enterprise value' damages—knocking more than half a billion dollars off the damages claimed in its complaint," Mowery wrote.

Despite Fox's legal argument, that development does not necessarily reduce Fox's civil exposure significantly. Dominion still seeks unspecified punitive damages, which are not capped under Delaware law. The company also sought $700,000 for expenses incurred in "combating the disinformation campaign," pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys' fees and other relief.

"In the coming weeks, we will prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage to Dominion," Dominion's spokesperson said. "We look forward to trial."

Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner, who now practices media law for Rottenberg Lipman Rich PC, noted that $1.6 billion was an "aspirational figure" that would be "record-setting, other than Alex Jones."

For Epner, the shift matters mainly "in terms of shifting the window that the jury is asked to consider."

On March 31, Davis handed Dominion a rare summary judgment victory in ruling that Fox's broadcasts airing accusations that the voting machine company helped rig the 2020 presidential election were false as a matter of law. Fox didn't seriously dispute that proposition, the judge noted.

Weeks later, Fox stared down sanctions for failing to turn over pre-recorded interviews with election deniers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Those tapes allegedly showed their guests privately harboring doubts about the theories they broadcast. Judge Davis ruled that Fox could not argue that the false allegations were newsworthy, nor could the network shift the blame to their guests.

The pretrial rulings mean that one of Fox's few remaining defenses is actual malice, established by the Supreme Court more than half a century ago in New York Times v. Sullivan. That standard imposed a high bar for litigants suing news organizations, by forcing them to prove that the outlets knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

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Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. Previously a reporter for Courthouse News, he has appeared as a guest on NewsNation, NBC, MSNBC, CBS's "Inside Edition," BBC, NPR, PBS, Sky News, and other networks. His reporting on the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell was featured on the Starz and Channel 4 documentary "Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell?" He is the host of Law&Crime podcast "Objections: with Adam Klasfeld."