By John Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A jury is set to hear Dominion Voting Systems Inc.’s $ 1.6 billion defamation suit in April 2023, accusing Fox News of trying to increase its audience by falsely claiming that the voting machine in the 2020 US presidential election was rigged. President Donald Trump.
In a short written order issued Friday, Delaware State Court Judge Eric Davis said he would set a Denver-based Dominion trial for April 17, 2023. Mr Owens, who is part of Fox Corp., has demanded an early trial date of 2024. .
Mr. Davis plans a five-week trial, the first of a series of trials involving unfounded claims made by various media and individuals about Dominion technology. Dominion filed its lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021.
In the weeks following the defeat of Democrat Joe Biden’s Republican Trump in the November 3, 2020 election, lawyers associated with the Trump campaign, including Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, have issued conspiracy theories alleging that Dominion rigged the vote.
Dominion has filed defamation suits against several Trump allies and conservative television networks, including Giuliani and Powell, as well as Newsmax and One America News. SmartMatic, another electoral technology company at the heart of conspiracy theories, has filed similar lawsuits.
He said the defendants were commenting on matters of public interest and that their freedom of expression was protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
In December, Mr. Fox News’ request to dismiss Dominion’s case was rejected. Davis declined. Owens wrote in his conclusion that it was “reasonably imaginable” that Dominion had a potential defamation request, and that Fox had allowed the company to pursue the documents and testimony.
Fox News representatives said Dominion’s case was “unfounded” and that the network was determined to defend itself.
“As we have said, Fox News, along with all other news organizations across the country, actively covers key news surrounding the unprecedented 2020 election, providing an in-depth report and clear analysis of each story,” a Fox spokesman said. December.
Representatives from Fox News and Dominion did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.