Judge: No separate defamation trials for Fox News, Fox Corp.

WILMINGTON, Del. — The decide presiding over a voting machine firm’s defamation lawsuit towards Fox denied the corporate’s request Wednesday to carry separate trials – one for Fox News and one other for the community’s mother or father firm.

The request by Dominion Voting Systems got here a day after its attorneys informed the decide that Fox attorneys had withheld crucial details about the position firm founder Rupert Murdoch, who’s chairman of Fox. Corp., performed at Fox News.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who consolidated the instances towards each entities in December, refused Dominion’s request to carry a separate trial throughout which Murdoch would testify as a Fox News witness.

The request got here after Dominion attorneys informed the decide that they realized simply this week that Murdoch additionally was an officer of Fox News, holding the title of government chair. That was opposite to repeated assertions by Fox attorneys.

Murdoch’s position and that of different prime Fox executives is on the coronary heart of Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation case, which alleges that Fox broken the corporate by repeatedly airing false allegations that its machines and the software program they used rigged the 2020 presidential election towards former President Donald Trump.

The firm’s attorneys have sought to insulate members of the Murdoch household from the lawsuit, together with making an attempt to maintain them from testifying dwell earlier than a jury. The attorneys have argued that executives’ roles on the mother or father firm, Fox Corp., eliminated them from the day-to-day selections that allowed the false election claims to be aired on varied Fox News packages.

Fox Corp. had asserted since Colorado-based Dominion filed its lawsuit in 2021 that Rupert Murdoch had no official position at Fox News. In its filings, it had listed Fox News officers as Jay Wallace, Joe Dorrego and Suzanne Scott, who’s Fox News’ chief government officer. But on Sunday, Fox disclosed to Dominion’s attorneys that Murdoch is also “executive chair” at Fox News.

In an announcement, Fox stated Murdoch has been listed as government chairman of Fox News in SEC filings since 2019. Fox attorneys additionally famous throughout Wednesday’s pretrial listening to that Dominion attorneys, utilizing a publicly obtainable proxy assertion, had requested Murdoch at his deposition if he was government chair at Fox News.

“No. My son is the chief executive of everything at Fox,” Murdoch initially replied, referring to his son, Lachlan Murdoch, who’s government chairman of Fox Corp. He later stated, “I don’t know.”

“I may have had that title in the past. I may have it now. I don’t know,” Rupert Murdoch stated throughout the deposition.

Fox attorneys have stated Murdoch’s title at Fox News was “honorific,” and that he has had no position in day-to-day administration of Fox News.

Dominion attorneys contend that Fox’s late disclosure of Murdoch’s twin position has disadvantaged Dominion of the power to supply paperwork from Murdoch to which it in any other case would have been entitled. As an alternative choice to ordering separate trials, Dominion attorneys stated Davis ought to give an “adverse inference” to jurors about Fox’s conduct.

Davis declined to rule on that request, saying Dominion must supply proof to assist it and that Fox would have an opportunity to reply. The decide, nevertheless, appeared to have a extra urgent concern.

“What do I do with attorneys that aren’t straightforward with me?” he stated, suggesting that the conduct of Fox attorneys might end in unspecified sanctions.