Jury Finds Rally Organizers Responsible for Charlottesville Violence
Source: NYT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Jurors on Tuesday found the main organizers of the deadly right-wing rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 liable under state law for injuries to counterprotesters, awarding more than $25 million in damages. But the jury deadlocked on federal conspiracy charges.
The case in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, was brought by nine plaintiffs, four men and five women, including four people injured in the same car attack that killed one counterprotester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
In addition to their physical injuries from the crash, including three concussions and a skull fracture, the plaintiffs testified that they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, including insomnia, the inability to concentrate, flashbacks and panic attacks.
All were seeking compensatory and unspecified punitive damages, including payment for medical costs as well as $3 million to $10 million for pain and suffering depending on the degree of their injuries.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/us/charlottesville-rally-verdict.html
Prominent white supremacists Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Christopher Cantwell and others engaged in a conspiracy in advance of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, a jury has ruled.
The jury did not reach a verdict on two federal conspiracy charges, but did find that every defendant was liable for civil conspiracy under Virginia law.
The jury then awarded $500,000 in punitive damages against all 12 individual defendants, and $1 million against five white nationalist organizations on that conspiracy count. Other damages followed on further counts.
The 11 jurors need only to find a preponderance of the evidence, rather than the higher bar of beyond reasonable doubt in criminal trials. But they deadlocked on two federal claims of a race-based conspiracy, while agreeing that there was a conspiracy under Virginia state law and that the victims were entitled to compensation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/11/23/charlottesville-verdict-live-updates/
packman
(16,296 posts)Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)It's important to celebrate our victories as well as mourn our defeats.
gademocrat7
(10,672 posts)iluvtennis
(19,876 posts)calimary
(81,510 posts)For a change!
Roc2020
(1,616 posts)electric_blue68
(14,949 posts)FakeNoose
(32,777 posts)Nobody's going to jail because this wasn't a criminal trial, but the defendants will all pay fines that will be awarded to the victims. That's good enough for me.
Volaris
(10,274 posts)Short of declaring bankruptcy and just starting a new grift she'll company, they wont be hurt.
At least the victims will have some cash in their pockets...
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)They need to see it for what it is..and what it is not..
turbinetree
(24,720 posts)and just think Spenser and this bunch of traitors will be indicted... for an insurrection, if memory serves me correctly....
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,234 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)Just like the January 6th insurrectionists, these fascists put another dent in America's Democracy and in international trust in her light on the hill.
Their beloved GOP does not care and in fact encourages more violent fascist actions.
KY.......
2Gingersnaps
(1,000 posts)but this incident is where the domestic terrorist Brownshirt movement for Hair Fuhrer went full public, culminating in January 6.