Zincwarrior
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Ammon Bundy, a unique and interesting individual subject to multiple run ins with the Federal government, including takeover of government property, lost a lawsuit against St. Luke's hospital. The jury just came back with a substantial damages award. Bundy had attempted to intimidate hospital staff after his grandson was rescued by authorities.
news.yahoo.com
Idaho jury hits Bundy, defendants with tens of millions in damages in St. Luke’s lawsuit
The health system said $16 million should be the bare minimum in compensatory damages. The jury exceeded that, and nearly matched the compensatory total in punitive damages.
Idaho jury hits Bundy, defendants with tens of millions in damages in St. Luke’s lawsuit
1.3k
Sally Krutzig
- Ammon Bundy
Mon, July 24, 2023 at 8:06 PM CDT·4 min read
In this article:
- Ammon Bundy
American activist
Fourteen months after St. Luke’s filed a defamation lawsuit against Ammon Bundy and another far-right activist — neither of whom ever came to court — the case has reached a conclusion.
The 12 jurors deciding damages in the civil action filed back into the courtroom early Monday evening to announce what Bundy, close associate Diego Rodriguez and their various entities would be ordered to pay the health system and other plaintiffs.
The verdict: a total of $26.5 million in compensatory damages and $26 million in punitive damages.
The $500,000 extra in the compensatory category came as a result of the jury’s finding that violations of the Idaho Charitable Solicitation Act by Rodriguez and his Freedom Man Press business had harmed the plaintiffs.
Compensatory damages are intended to repay plaintiffs for losses experienced because of defendants’ actions and punitive damages are meant to punish defendants for their actions.
“Taking legal action is not something we take lightly. But standing up to the threats, bullying, intimidation, disruption and self-serving actions of the defendants was necessary,” St. Luke’s CEO Chris Roth said in a news release Thursday night. “Inaction would have signaled that their menacing behavior was acceptable. Clearly, it is not, and the jury’s decision validates that fact.”
St. Luke’s attorney Erik Stidham told the jury on Friday that he thought $37 million would be the fairest number for compensatory damages and $16 million should be the minimum amount considered. He did not suggest an amount for punitive damages.
“My hope is that you will look at this and you will deter (Bundy) in a way that he hasn’t been deterred yet,” Stidham said in his closing statements.
Boise police arrest Ammon Bundy on a trespassing charge on March 12, 2022, at St. Luke’s hospital in Boise.
Bundy and Rodriguez led protests at the St. Luke’s hospitals in Meridian and downtown Boise in March 2022 over a child welfare case involving Rodriguez’s 10-month-old grandchild. The lawsuit named as defendants both men, Bundy’s People’s Rights Network, Bundy’s campaign for governor, and Rodriguez’s Freedom Man website and political action committee.
The suit said the defendants then posted multiple lies online about the hospital system, its employees and the reasons the baby was taken into custody. Over the past two weeks, St. Luke’s laid out in court via witness testimony and displays the volume of material that had been circulated by the defendants.
In the end, all were hit hard monetarily:
- Ammon Bundy: $6.2 million compensatory, $6.15 million punitive
- People’s Rights Network: $5.2M compensatory, $5.2M punitive
- Ammon Bundy for Governor: $1.55M compensatory, $1.65M punitive
- Diego Rodriguez: $7M compensatory, $6.5M punitive
- Freedom Man Press/Freedom Man PAC combined: $6.55M compensatory, $6.5M punitive
