An attorney for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, had urged the eight-person jury to “send a message” with its verdict.

An attorney for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, had urged the eight-person jury to “send a message” with its verdict.

Rudy Giuliani should pay a pair of Georgia election workers he repeatedly and falsely accused of fraud $148 million in damages, a federal jury said Friday.

The eight-person jury awarded Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, the sum after a four-day trial, during which they testified that Giuliani’s lies in support of former President Donald Trump’s bogus stolen-election claims subjected them to a torrent of racist and violent threats and turned their lives upside down.

Freeman testified Wednesday that she was terrorized by Trump supporters and forced to move from her home because of Giuliani’s smears. “I was scared to come home at dark, you know,” a visibly emotional Freeman said on the witness stand. “I was just scared, I knew I had to move.”

  • drolex@sopuli.xyz
    22·
    11 months ago

    Can somebody familiar with the US legal system explain how these massive damage verdicts work?

    • Are they proportional to the publicity of the offence, the wealth of the parties? I’m happy it happens to Giulani but it doesn’t make much sense to me… It seems hugely excessive for this kind of offence
    • Does anybody actually expect anyone to pay that amount?
    • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
      18·
      11 months ago

      From the reporting I read, the huge cost is driven by the need for a ‘counter-messaging’ campaign to debunk the existing, repeated libel committed by Rudy. Given how his words were broadcast wide and often, the claimants will have to basically keep a PR team employed for several years until her name is restored or forgotten - which is very expensive.

      There’s absolutely the usual pain and undue suffering award as well, but that’s not what ballooned this judgment

    • neanderthal@lemmy.world
      14·
      11 months ago

      Juries have a LOT of discretion regarding damages in civil cases. The damages are what the 12 jurors say it is.

    • kamenoko@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      11 months ago

      The actual damages is how much money would it reasonably take to undo the damage done to the wronged party.

      Pain and Suffering is compensation for the distress the damage caused

      Punitive damages are a way for the jury to punish the accused for the moral repugnancy of what they did

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      To your point about being expected to pay that amount:

      Ken Frydman, a former spokesman for Giuliani during his 1993 mayoral campaign, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” that while it’s not likely Giuliani will be able to pay the entire judgment, “it sends a message and sets a precedent for the other defamation cases.”

      https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/politics/will-georgia-election-workers-collect-148-million-rudy-giuliani/index.html

    • SatanicNotMessianic
      1·
      11 months ago

      It was actually a bit of a big deal because it involved elections. It wasn’t a simple defamation case. It also had consequences that exceeded most defamations because of the scope and prominence of the people and stories involved.

      The courts do have the ability to adjust judgments based on juries over-awarding. Because cases like this are the only recourse against powerful people and companies, I am personally on the side of juries that award fees high enough that it’s not something that can be written off as the cost of doing business.

      Besides, I’m sure Don will just write him a check to cover the cost, since going by his real estate valuations and justifications, a couple hundred million is just a rounding error.