Rudy Guiliani defamation cost him $148 million

[*Nately120*]

(12-21-2023, 05:05 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, I know that we compare this to amounts others have faced for things seemingly more serious than this. I was listening to a legal analyst talking about this case just a few moments ago, though, and they brought up some good points.

First, it is easy to get lost in the circus of this all. Giuliani is a complete clown and makes it easy to forget just how bad this trial was for him. He refused to cooperate with discovery resulting in a summary judgement against him because of how obstinate he was. He failed to show any remorse for his actions and continued to stand by his statements that had been shown to be factually incorrect.

Second, the damage done to these two women was immense. They were the target of racist attacks, death threats, damages to reputation, etc. There was one recounting of one of them going into a job interview to have the interviewer go "this is you, right!?" and turning around a computer screen to show an article calling her a traitor. They did not get murdered, but they have had to live in fear of physical harm coming to them on a constant basis because of these actions.

Third, the amount is not outrageous when you take into account the first two points. What would normally limit the amount would be the defendant's personal wealth. However, Giuliani refused to comply with the part of discovery seeking to determine his wealth to avoid too high of a penalty. He has no one to blame but himself on this front. The punitive amount is within the reasonable limits set on those when calculated against the actual damages, as well.

The analyst also brought up a point I hadn't thought about, and that is that Giuliani will have a difficult time making any sort of appeal because of his refusal to comply. For instance, trying to appeal the amount by saying it is too much of a burden will be a problem for him since he would not comply with the discovery intended to ascertain the amount he would be able to pay.

I'd wager it's all strategic to ensure things go so badly against him that he can claim it's rigged and absurd. There seems to be legitimate benefit to being so wrong or guilty that you can claim that the entire thing is too absurd to be believed.