Fox News-Dominion Trial Explained: Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, What’s At Stake & Who Could Win
18.04.2023 - 13:19
/ deadline.com
After a one-day delay and amidst whispers of settlement talks, Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox News is set to begin Tuesday in Wilmington, DE.
So, with final jury selection having just started and then opening statements looming before Judge Eric M. Davis, what are the main issues in Dominion vs. Fox? What are the stakes? Who are the players? Could Fox win?
We have some answers.
Leaving aside the chatter about the fate of the crown jewel of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, the mogul’s own legacy and the future of news coverage in an age of disinformation, the trial could ultimately come down to the First Amendment for defendant Fox News and who knew what and when for Dominion. That said, after all the motions and depositions, there is every reason to expect this trial will be chock-full of moments of drama, with the 92-year-old Murdoch and big-time Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham poised to testify.
“I don’t think there are huge legal issues involved because I believe that liability is one thing, and damages are another,” attorney Patricia Glaser tells Deadline of the Dominion v. Fox News action.
“I don’t know the evidence well enough to comment on what the damages look like, but if indeed the plaintiff was doing well, their evidence will be, but we could have done so much better,” the heavyweight Hollywood litigator says. “That’s interesting, and they’re going to need a really good expert for that. On the liability issues, defamation of such they have, at least as reported in the press, some pretty damning emails and text messages. I don’t know what the defense is going to be to that, if any. But I come to the conclusion again, based on as an