Judge in Fox vs. Dominion Case Says Jan. 6 ‘Not Relevant,’ Should Be Avoided: ‘I Know That Shocks Everyone’
The judge overseeing the Fox News vs. Dominion trial on Wednesday sent a strong signal to attorneys that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot – which happened after the alleged defamation – is not a relevant topic and should be “stayed away from.”
Judge Eric Davis led the conference call that was scheduled to tackle a few pretrial issues, including the curation of each sides’ witness list. The April 17 trial was expected to include live testimony from Fox figures including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs.
But Davis opened the call with his opinion on the relevance of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building – warning attorneys that he was not inclined to tolerate much exploration of the topic in future questioning of witnesses and potential jurors.
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“I don’t see Jan. 6 as relevant in this case,” Davis said. “I know that shocks everyone. But the development of this case is focused on a very specific time … What parties were thinking in January is not relevant at all to what happened in November and December.”
Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages for what it says are defamatory statements about its voting machines in multiple reports, guest segments and host commentary. Fox has maintained it was merely reporting the news, and has dug in its heels on what could be a landmark First Amendment case.
Dominion has laid out 20 instances of what it says are on-air examples of Fox defaming the company’s voting machines and cybersecurity, aired immediately after the 2020 presidential election – before Jan. 6. Most of those were from Dobbs – something Davis noted in an earlier hearing.
With a reputation as a fair, unflappable and straightforward justice of the Delaware Superior Court, Davis has cautioned attorneys against reading too much into what he has to say from the bench during pretrial arguments. But in the midst of his affable and sometimes humorous asides, Davis has certainly rendered some saucy opinions, including his Dobbs comment and a challenge to Fox’s assertions that top management wasn’t in control.
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On Wednesday, he kept that streak going with his candid thoughts on Jan. 6:
“I’m also very concerned that here would be unfair prejudice to Fox,” Davis added. “Fox is not the cause of January 6th in its relation to Dominion. So I just think that’s a really big issue and has to be stayed away from.”
Davis added that he’d “listen to the argument” if someone wanted to make it: “Maybe you can change my mind. But I just don’t see how it’s relevant to allegations of defamation in November and December.”
