Two attorneys for Alex Jones could potentially face discipline for wrongfully releasing the medical information of plaintiffs in a case accusing the InfoWars host of defaming them, Connecticut court filings show.
Jones was recently ordered to pay $4.11 million in defamation damages for spreading lies that the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which killed 26 in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax. Attorneys representing Jones in that case purportedly sent an opposing plaintiffs lawyer a data dump containing two years of Jones’ text messages, and psychiatric info for plaintiffs in the case.
On Thursday, the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Waterbury ordered two of Jones’ attorneys, Andino Reynal and Norman Pattis, to show cause as to whether or not they should be referred to disciplinary authorities for the “purported release of medical records of the plaintiffs” in violation of state and federal laws. The court did not expressly connect the medical records to the data dump.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Mark Bankston confirmed to Bloomberg Law that the records were part of that turnover.
Pattis said he does not believe that discipline is warranted.
“Our office shared with other lawyers representing Jones discovery material. We believe we acted appropriately and did not violate a rule.” Pattis told Bloomberg Law in an email Friday.
When asked if the allegedly released plaintiff medical information was connected to the released text messages, Pattis added, “Still trying to figure out what happened.”
The two orders note that the superior court has jurisdiction to address the potential disciplinary concerns, because the allegations are directed at counsel and not the parties of the lawsuit.
Reynal didn’t immediately return Bloomberg Law’s request for comment Friday.
The case is Lafferty v. Jones, Conn. Super. Ct., No. UWYCV186046436S, 8/4/22.
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