The defamation trial with Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News was supposed to start Monday, but a judge delayed the trial until Tuesday.
It’s the “biggest defamation trial in recent American history,” according to The New York Times.
One reason for the delay is to allow time for both Dominion Voting Systems, which is bringing the lawsuit, and Fox News to consider settling out of court, The Washington Post reported.
“This does not seem unusual to me,” the judge in the case, Eric M. Davis, said — also adding the trial will likely continue as planned, per the Post.
Both parties are meeting Monday after Fox “made an 11th-hour push to reach a deal,” per the Times.
Rarely are defamation trials decided before a jury, and they are often taken care of outside of court, per the Times.
What is the Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News defamation case?
Dominion makes election technology, and after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, Fox reported on Trump claiming the election was “stolen.”
“Dominion alleged Fox pushed various pro-Trump conspiracy theories, including false and potentially damaging information about the company’s voting technology, because ‘the lies were good for Fox’s business,’” CNN reported.
Fox is arguing that it reported the stories because they were newsworthy and claimed it was just reporting on what Trump’s administration was saying about the election, per CNN.
What could happen in the Fox News defamation trial on Tuesday?
Some of Fox’s star hosts could take the stand — including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo.
According to MSNBC, questions the jury will have to decide include three things. First, was Fox Corp. liable for the alleged involvement of owner Rupert Murdoch and other Fox executives in the decision to report the claims, naming Dominion?
Second, did the defendants disseminate “false information with actual malice”? And third, if they do find Fox liable, the jury will determine “the amount of actual and presumed damages,” per MSNBC.
Defamation suits are tricky to win, and Fox argues it’s protecting “the rights of the free press” and that the case could have implications about the First Amendment, per CNN.
Dominion has a cache of emails, texts and information between Fox News management and its involvement in the reporting, which legal experts believe make the case stronger than the average defamation case.
“There are so many emails and texts. Each one might be actual malice,” Jeff Kosseff, a cybersecurity law professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, told Vanity Fair.