CNN defamation case: Jury remains undecided as hearing enters second day

PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – Jurors remain undecided in the CNN defamation case as deliberations continue Friday morning.

The plaintiff, US Army veteran Zachary Young, alleges that CNN defamed him by suggesting that he profited illegally while helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” as the Biden administration withdraws troops from the country in 2021. Omusha believes that CNN “damaged his reputation and business” by calling him an “illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans” in a Nov. 11, 2021, segment that premiered on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”

The jury had been deliberating for about six hours. 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry, who presided over the case in Bay County, Florida, had previously negotiated with the jurors twice to continue serving longer until Thursday evening after the judge asked to return Friday morning. The judges were given pizza after one of them said he was “tired and tired.” They were fired at 9:18 pm CT.

The trial will resume at 8:15 am CT on Friday.

The verdict comes after more than three years of trials and a chaotic, sometimes chaotic, eight-day trial. The court previously ruled that Young “did not act unlawfully or criminally” despite the network’s on-air report.

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Tapper first teased the 2021 part at the center of the suit by telling CNN viewers they were “desperate Afghans who are still trying to escape a country held captive by people who want them to pay big money to get out.”

Later in the show, Tapper reminded viewers that the story of “desperate Afghans” being “played by them” was to follow.

When the hot part began, Tapper said Marquardt found “Afghans trying to leave the country face a black market filled with promises, demands for exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”

Tapper lashed out at Marquardt, who said “desperate Afghans are being exploited” and are being forced to pay “expensive, often impossible” fees to flee the country.

Marquardt then nominated Young, putting a picture of his face on the screen and saying that his company was asking for $75,000 to transport a passenger car to Pakistan or $14,500 per person to end up in the United Arab Emirates.

“The prices are out of reach for most Afghans,” Marquardt told viewers.

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The heart of the case first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” (CNN/Screenshot)

CNN then broadcast Marquardt allegedly trying to call Young, who did not pick up the phone.

“In a text message, he told CNN that Afghans trying to leave are expected to be paid by sponsors,” Marquardt said, adding that Young told the network that evacuation costs are “highly variable and based on the realities of the environment.”

Marquardt then said Young “repeatedly refused to break costs or say he was making money,” before playing a clip of an anonymous sympathetic man who couldn’t afford to have his family removed from Afghanistan.

Marquardt went back to Young, saying he got another message.

“In one message, the person who is giving those people out, Zachary Young, wrote, ‘Supply is very limited, and demand is high’… he goes on to say, ‘That’s how the economy works, unfortunately,'” Marquardt told viewers.

Tapper replied, “Unfortunately, hmm,” before thanking Marquardt for the report.

No other persons or companies are named except Minors.

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CNN host Jake Tapper and reporter Alex Marquardt during the middle segment of the defamation lawsuit. (CNN/Screenshot)

The segment was shared on social media and repackaged on CNN’s website. The Marquardt report was also broadcast on November 13 on Jim Acosta’s CNN program and several times on CNN International.

Every second of the episode was dissected during the trial, CNN’s legal team insisting that Young was not a major part of the story and the plaintiff’s team suggesting that the “black market” interfered with Young’s work as a defense contractor, where that language existed. which are specifically stated as reasons for terminating the contract he signed.

Young’s legal team has obtained CNN’s internal communications that were found to repeatedly show employees expressing open hostility toward Navy veterans. Among those who were brought before the judges were one who called him a “shitbag” and an “a–hole” and another who said he had a “stingy face.”

Marquardt’s message to his teammate that “we’re going to nail Zachary Young mf—er” was often quoted throughout the case.

Young also testified that he rescued at least 22 women in Afghanistan, but that information was not reported by CNN.

At one point, CNN’s senior national security editor, Thomas Lumley, was questioned in court after internal messages showed he had serious doubts about the “flawed” report. Lumley was called as a witness after internal messages showed the report was “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”

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CNN issued an on-air apology on March 25, 2022, when Pamela Brown replaced Tapper. However, several CNN employees who testified said they did not feel an apology was necessary and CNN vice president Adam Levine testified that the apology was issued for legal purposes only.

The case also included Judge Henry berating CNNN’s lead attorney David Axelrod, who is not an on-air researcher of the same name, multiple times and forcing him to apologize to Young on the spot by calling him a “liar” when evidence proved he did not. ‘he lied about not being able to find work in his field after the CNN segment aired.

Axelrod insisted that the document showing Young still had a security clearance was proof that he was able to get a job after the CNN segment aired, but it turned out that the security clearance was revoked in 2022.

The trial will resume on Friday and will be broadcast live Fox News Digital.

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