Alex Jones defamation trial: What is perjury and what happens if you are found guilty?

Alex Jones, who is being accused of defamation by the parents of one of the Sandy Hook elementary school victim, has now been accused of perjury.

Perjury occurs when a person under oath makes false statements about evidence and other aspects of a trial or investigation.

Unknowing to the conspiracy theory star of the right, his legal counsel had transferred years of communications from his cell phone to the plaintiff’s legal team. Whether or not the decision to send the materials was intentional, it certainly has not helped Jones, who lied or, at a minimum, misled the opposing council during discovery or on Wednesday, 3 August, during the trial.

One of the most incriminating texts came from Jones’ lawyer, who sent him an article spreading misinformation about covid-19, saying, “This makes us look ridiculous, suggesting this means covid is fake. Sandy Hook all over again.” The text implies that Jones’ legal team knew there were apparent issues with the “coverage” of Sandy Hook on InfoWars and that Jones was subjecting the company to a liability risk by promoting such blatant fake news about covid-19.

During evidence discovery, Jones and his team were asked if there were any texts or e-mails on his phone about Sandy Hook. Jones said no and that he had searched for the term. During discovery, Jones testified under oath that he had searched in his phone for “Sandy Hook” and found no results. When reminded of this fact during the trial early this week, he said that he may have been mistaken and had many phones at the time. However, his legal team had the texts meaning that someone knew that the evidence existed, and by not submitting it to discovery, they would have been obstructing justice.

It could be that the lawyers did not want the suppression of evidence to come back on them, but it is unclear why they wouldn’t have prepared Jones for this line of questioning. Not only did it prove the parent’s point that Jones knew what he was saying was untrue and continued to spew the painful and disgusting lies, but he also committed additional crimes.

Perjury in Texas

There are two levels of perjury in Texas: a Class A misdemeanor that carries a $4,000 fine and/or one year in prison. The second is a third-degree felony carrying with it a $10,000 fine and/or between two and ten years in prison.

Jones is accused of aggravated perjury, meaning that while he is not going to spend time in prison for the defamation case, he could for lying to the parent’s legal team.