Jury finds CNN committed defamation against Navy veteran, settlement reached on punitive damages

[Earl]

Fox News

Jury finds CNN committed defamation against Navy veteran, settlement reached on punitive damages​

Zachary Young alleged CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.

Jury finds CNN committed defamation against Navy veteran, settlement reached on punitive damages

Zachary Young alleged CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Earl]

Young’s lead counsel Vel Freedman urged jurors to punish CNN during a powerful closing statement on Thursday.

"It was a calculated attack by CNN on his character that has inflicted deep and lasting wounds," Freedman said.

CNN's Jake Tapper first teased the 2021 segment at the center of the suit by warning CNN viewers of "desperate Afghans still trying to escape the country being preyed on by folks demanding that they pay up big time to get out."

Later in the show, Tapper reminded viewers that the story about "desperate Afghans" being "preyed upon" was up next.

Tapper’s teasers ended up being a key part of the trial, as jurors asked to take another look at them during the deliberation process.

 

[Earl]

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – A jury found that CNN committed defamation against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young and is responsible for punitive damages on Friday after more than eight hours of deliberation.

The six-person jury ruled Young was awarded $4 million in lost earnings, $1 million in personal damages such as pain and suffering and said that punitive damages are warranted against CNN.

As the jury was gearing up to determine punitive damages, 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry announced that Young and CNN reached a settlement for the amount that would be awarded to the Navy veteran.

 

[Earl]

CNN sucks.