Twelve New Castle County residents will determine the outcome of what could be the country’s most high-profile First Amendment case in decades.
Monday will see the completion of jury selection and start of trial testimony in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News and its parent company in Delaware Superior Court.
On Thursday, hundreds of Delawareans streamed into the New Castle County courthouse on King Street in Wilmington to be asked a series of questions aimed at determining whether they can evaluate evidence in this case in a fair and impartial manner – a process called voir dire.
The voting technology company sued Fox in 2021 after the cable news network made false claims about its voting machines and its role in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
What will jurors have to decide in this trial?
One of the major questions jurors will have to decide is whether Fox committed “actual malice,” or the idea that Fox knowingly published false information about Dominion or recklessly disregarded information showing that the claims were not true.
Fox has denied all wrongdoing, saying its hosts were covering the most important news story of the day. Dominion claims Fox knowingly spread falsehoods to pander to its conservative base of customers.
This week, during pretrial hearings, Judge Eric Davis determined what questions will and will not be asked of potential jurors. The jurors are expected to hear testimony from many high-profile Fox News personalities and executives, including Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
How will the jury be selected?
Before addressing potential jurors Thursday morning, Davis told attorneys and reporters that the jury process will largely take place behind closed doors to protect jurors' identities.
Intake forms filled out by potential jurors will also remain under seal because those forms will include identifying information. Davis told the court that state law gives him the ability to seal juror information, as well as conduct portions of the process behind closed doors.
“I am concerned about interference with jurors,” Davis said.
He noted the case has received attention from across the world and it is his job to make sure jurors remain “unaffected” by this, adding that he fears some “third party” could try to interfere with their work.
Before Thursday, the court summoned more than 1,000 individuals, noting jury duty could take weeks. Many of those potential jurors were able to apply for deferments because work or other circumstances would not allow them to serve for such a long proceeding.
Thursday's process began with a pool of hundreds of potential jurors who live in New Castle County. The first step sought to whittle that number to 36 people.
Potential jurors were asked questions agreed to ahead of time by the attorneys and aimed at judging whether they can impartially review the evidence as jurors. Jurors who answer affirmatively to any of those questions are then questioned by the judge in a private room.
That screening process is complete and attorneys for each side will have the opportunity to strike six potential jurors based on information the potential jurors included in intake forms starting Monday.
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