The trial for the blockbuster $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems has waged against Fox News and its parent company is set to begin today.
Opening statements are slated to start at the New Castle County courthouse after jury selection is completed. At the conclusion of this six-week trial, 12 Delawareans will decide the outcome of one of the highest-profile defamation lawsuits in decades.
The trial was originally set to begin Monday morning, but the judge announced late Sunday night that it was being pushed to Tuesday. While Judge Eric Davis did not give a reason for the delay, media outlets reported that settlement talks are ongoing on Monday.
“I can’t think of another one that has been as consequential in recent history,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. “It clearly ranks as one of the most important, partly because of who the players are.”
Get a glimpse of what’s happening outside Wilmington courthouse
Delaware Online/The News Journal Photographer Benjamin Chambers has been outside the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center capturing what’s going on outside the courthouse as the Dominion defamation lawsuit against Fox News gets ready to start.
More:Judge in Dominion lawsuit sanctions Fox News, questions truthfulness of network’s lawyers
Here are some of the images he captured Tuesday morning outside Wilmington’s 500 N. King St.
Jury selected, alternates now being picked
The 12 jurors expected to hear the Fox News defamation trial have been chosen and now a dozen alternates are being determined.
Delaware jurors will decide if Fox committed “actual malice,” or the idea that Fox knowingly published false information about Dominion or recklessly disregarded information showing the claims were not true.
More:Fox News anchors may take the stand in Delaware, but you can’t watch it live. Here’s why
The trial is expected to last six weeks.
What’s happening outside the courthouse
A school bus filled with children drove past the courthouse. The children, who looked elementary or middle school-aged, yelled out the window at all the media lined up outside the courthouse. The kids laughed and stuck their tongues out, clearly excited about the commotion.
Will Kenkel, a local, stood outside the Wilmington courthouse with a sign that read “Tucker Carlson, ditch the fascistic, stick w/ fish sticks.”
Kenkel, who made the sign himself, said the slogan was prompted by his wife, who couldn’t tell if he was saying “fascistic” or “fish sticks.”
While Kenkel didn’t mention Carlson’s family fortune, the TV host’s father married the heiress to Swanson frozen foods when Carlson was 10. The frozen food empire is well known for its fish sticks.
Kenkel said he was a little bit worried Monday when they delayed the trial, joking that if they settled, his knee pain from making the sign was going to be for naught.
He added that he plans to protest throughout the weeks-long trial.
More:Delaware residents will decide outcome of Fox News defamation case. Trial to begin Tuesday
“I’ve just been dismayed for a long time about all the mistruths and selective coverage on Fox,” he said. “There’s just some sense of justice after finally getting called out on it and take it to court, and hopefully made to pay for their broadcasting known falsehoods.”
A third protester showed up around 9 a.m., wearing a shirt that said Make America Kind Again. He held a small sign that said, in all capital letters, “Fox + GOP = fascist propaganda.”
Objections to opening statements
The final part of jury selection has officially started.
Just before, lawyers for each side indicated they have objections to each other’s opening statement slides. Fox lawyer Dan Webb said Dominion is “objecting to huge amounts” and that it would “cripple” their argument.
Fox has also objected to a significant portion of Dominion’s presentation, he said.
Final stage of jury selection kicks off Tuesday
The final stages of jury selection started at 9 a.m., with opening statements starting shortly after.
These 12 Delaware jurors will have to decide if Fox committed “actual malice,” or the idea that Fox knowingly published false information about Dominion or recklessly disregarded information showing the claims were not true.
Last week, Delaware Superior Court summoned more than 1,000 people, who were asked a series of questions about their media consumption and if they worked at polling places, among others.
WHAT TO KNOW:Delaware residents will decide outcome of Fox News defamation case. Trial to begin Monday
In the course of the upcoming six weeks, a dozen jurors will hear the evidence with 12 alternates, who will fill in if jurors have to drop out due to sickness or other circumstances.
Waiting for the trial to start
Reporters began lining up outside of a Leonard L. Williams Justice Center courtroom before 7 a.m. when the room opened an hour later.Reporters have two options to watch the trial: They can watch from the courtroom or via a livestream in a neighboring courtroom – both on the seventh floor.
Outside the Wilmington courthouse, media largely swarmed the area. But one man held a handmade sign saying, “Make Them Pay” and “Fox is guilty.”
The man appeared to focus on a group of well-dressed people, though it’s unclear what their role in the trial is. One man in a suit and two women stood in the group chatting. As the news cameras gathered around them to take a photo of the protester, they would move.
Mobile billboards
Two mobile billboard trucks trolling Fox News have been circling the area near Wilmington’s Leonard L. Williams Justice Center, where the Fox News defamation trial is scheduled to start.
The mobile billboards, commissioned by left-leaning media watchdog group Media Matters for America, have messages reading “Fox News Lied,” “Lachlan Murdoch Knew,” “Rupert Murdoch Knew,” “Tucker Carlson Knew,” “They All Knew,” “FoxKnew.com”
The billboards highlight that Fox News knew the election fraud claims Trump’s team was pushing in 2020 were lies and promoted them anyway, according to a statement by Media Matters for America. The billboards specifically call out Fox Corp.’s chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who are scheduled to testify at the trial.
Shortly after 8 a.m., the trucks moved from their spot on King Street and began driving down the road, turning onto Fourth Street as they circled the courthouse. As they drove by a DART bus stop, one man looked at them and smiled, saying “wow, wow.”
“That’s wild, isn’t it?” he said.
What to expect at the trial and what’s at stake
Dozens of journalists are expected to flock to Delaware to cover the trial. This case will also likely be one of the most significant trials The First State has ever hosted. Judge Eric Davis has prohibited any use of cameras in the courtroom or publishing audio recordings.
Dominion filed a lawsuit against Fox in 2021 after the cable news network aired false claims about Dominion, specifically that it helped rig the 2020 presidential election.
Jurors will have the task of determining if Fox committed “actual malice,” or the idea that it knowingly published false information about Dominion or recklessly disregarded information showing that the claims were not true.
Dominion claims Fox knowingly spread falsehoods to pander to its conservative base of customers.
Fox has denied all wrongdoing, saying its hosts were covering the most important news story of the day. Fox News released a statement days before trial that described the lawsuit to be a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”
Many Fox hosts are expected to testify during the course of the trial, including Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. It’s expected that Fox chairman and media mogul Rupert Murdoch will also testify.
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