Jury Starts Deliberations In Security Consultant’s Defamation Case Against CNN Over Report On Afghan Evacuation “Black Market”
A Florida jury began deliberations this afternoon in a security consultant’s defamation lawsuit against CNN.
Zachary Young sued the network following a report in 2021 that he sought exorbitant fees to evacuate Afghans in what amounted to a black market in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.
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The segment from Alexander Marquardt was aired on CNN on November 11, 2021, and re-aired three times. Links to the segments also were posted on social media, and a digital article was posted on November 13.
In one instance, Young’s image appeared on screen with the chyron, “Afghans trying to flee Taliban face black markets, exorbitant fees, no guarantee of safety or success.”
Judge William Henry said that a jury would have to decide whether the use of the term “black market” meant illegal or criminal activity.
The jurors will have to decide a series of questions, starting with, Did CNN commit defamation per se? Did CNN commit defamation by implication?
If they answer yes to either, they will then have to determine damages, including those for lost earnings, as well as for pain and suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience and injury to reputation.
The final question facing jurors is whether punitive damages are warranted. The threshold for such damages is higher, as the jury will have to determine that CNN acted with malice, not just negligence, against Young. If the jury favors punitive damages, the trial will move to another phase to determine the amount.
The deliberations started shortly before 4 p.m. ET.
During the trial, correspondent Alexander Marquardt defended the piece, as did other CNN staffers who worked on the segment. The term “black market” was not in the story itself but appeared on the chyron, but Marquardt said that he supported the use of that term as well.
After it aired and Young began a legal challenge, CNN aired an apology. In a segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper on March 25, 2022, the anchor told viewers that “the use of the term ‘black market’ in the story was in error. The story included reporting on Zachary Young, a private operator who had been contacted by family members of Afghans trying to flee the country. We didn’t mean to suggest that Mr. Young participated in the black market. We regret the error and to Mr. Young, we apologize.”
But in his closing argument, Young’s attorney, Devin “Velvel” Freedman told jurors that the network’s on air apology “was a lie.”
“Every single CNN employee got up on this stand and told you that they thought ‘black market’ was accurate,” he said. “Each of them paraded a uniform lie that they thought to term ‘black market’ meant an unregulated market. Each of them conveniently told you that they understood the word to mean the opposite of every single dictionary.”
He argued that the story cast Young as an illicit profiteer, when in fact he didn’t take money from Afghans and worked with corporations and non profits to fund evacuations.
Freedman told jurors that the story ruined Young’s career and reputation. “He can’t function anymore, and they did it. You saw him break down on the stand. We talked about the relationship with his wife, his inability to be intimate with her, and in speaking out loud for the first time, that he’s just not the same man that she married.”
“No man or woman should have to endure the pain, and certainly not because they want clicks and views.”
But CNN’s attorney, David Axelrod, told jurors they were being instructed to look at the words “Black market” in context. “It’s the wild, wild west. Some people were taken out and killed. People were using safe houses. People were flying under the radar. People were avoiding the Taliban. You couldn’t just go to the airport. ‘Black market’ was a perfect way to describe that. That’s what it was used for, and that’s the way it was understood.”
He also added, “If the black market was used to talk about the secondary market for Taylor Swift tickets, would anybody say that was criminal?”
Axelrod, who is no relation to the political commentator, said that the report was factual and reported on Young’s public advertisements on LinkedIn. Axelrod also noted that there was a dearth of evidence to support Young’s claims or lost work and reputation.
Jurors also were shown text messages during the trial give them a glimpse of the newsgathering process. In one, written about 10 days before the story ran, from Marquardt wrote to another CNN staffer, “We gonna nail this Zachary Young mf—er.”
Young’s legal team has tried to make the case that the text and others were evidence of malice, but Axelrod argued that the Marquardt and others involved in reporting the story showed restraint. During the trial, Marquardt said that they found that Young told one woman to “f-off” and told another seeking to get someone out of the country “to run for the border and see how far they get.” But those comments weren’t included in the finished story.
The trial, Axelrod told the jurors, was “about the truth of this case. It’s not about sending a message.”
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