Article author:
Reuters
Jacqueline Thomsen
A lawyer defending conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a Texas trial said this week that he accidentally passed sensitive data to his enemies. He drew his own national headline. Up to potential legal consequences.
Houston lawyer Federico Andino Reinal tells Jones' legal team a digital copy of Infowars founder's phone content to parents of a child killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The text message and medical record.
When the trial was nearing its end, the disclosure was published by a lawyer for parents in a dramatic exchange with Jones. {nL1N2ZG1XS]
According to post-trial court documents and lawyers, this revelation could have exposed Reinal to sanctions in another case and could have been fraudulently claimed by Jones. ..
Jones was able to file a false allegation against a lawyer, but proved that the Texas trial had better results if the phone information was not given. That needs to be done, said Randy Johnston, a legal affairs officer. Dallas Malpractice Lawyer.
"The complaint he would make was, in essence," but for my lawyer, I would have been a successful liar, "Johnston said.
Reinal told Reuters on Friday that his focus was "always in filing the best proceedings for the jury and Alex." He said the sanctions sought against him may be due to "tactical interests" by his enemies.
I couldn't immediately ask Jones for comment.
Austin's jury on Friday gave Jones $ 45.2 million for falsely calling the 2012 slaughter a hoax, in addition to the $ 4.1 million verdict of compensatory damages the day before. He gave his parents punitive damages.
Austin's judge declined a bid to protect Reinal's phone records on Thursday and denied a request for fraudulent disclosure.
A Connecticut judge overseeing another Sandy Hook defamation case against Jones on Thursday told Reinal and another Jones lawyer, Norm Pattis, against their "intended" unauthorized release. He ordered him to appear later this month in a hearing to consider sanctions or other disciplinary actions. Of the medical records of Plaintiff Sandy Hook.
Pattis did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Reinal's small Houston law firm deals primarily with criminal defense cases in state and federal courts.
He successfully defended former Miss Venezuela's Carmen Maria Montiel on suspicion of assaulting flight attendants in 2013. A jury acquitted her in 2015.
Montiel, now a Republican parliamentary candidate, said her daughter, who wanted to be her lawyer, was detained in Reinal. Montiel said she "she is always doing her best for her clients."
Reynal also represented Cody Wilson, who ran a 3D printing gun company. Wilson was charged with sexual assault in 2018 and subsequently pleaded guilty to less. Wilson told Reuters Friday that Reinal did an "impossible job" in the Jones case, but he represented Jones "as much as possible."
Prior to starting the company, Reinal was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. According to his LinkedIn profile, he used to practice at the law firm Baker Bots. Bar records in Texas do not list any official disciplinary action against him.
Johnston said information about Jones' phone related to Sandy Hook's allegations should have been provided to plaintiffs prior to trial as part of a court-monitored process known as Discovery. rice field. He said Jones' lawyer had to warn at least before Jones stood on the stand if he learned that he had accidentally shared a phone record.
Johnston said Sandy Hook's parents could seek sanctions against lawyers and perhaps Jones for not previously sharing relevant parts of the phone data, and other information was properly disclosed. He said a court investigation could be conducted to see if it did.
Following Friday's verdict, plaintiffs' lawyer Mark Bankston told Judge Maya Gera Gambling that their verdict would affect others. He said he would seek sanctions against Jones' lawyers on three issues, including telling him. Legal and protected speeches of people.
Towards the end of Friday's proceedings, Reinal told Gambling that while Jones testified on Wednesday, he noticed an inadvertent call disclosure.
"That's not true," the judge replied, telling Reinal that she had sent her an email stating she had noticed 12 days ago. "That's our position," Reinal stuck and laughed at the judge. (Report by Jacqueline Thomsen, Washington, edited by David Barrio, Amy Stevens, Kim Coghill)
