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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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The judge presiding over Zachary Young's defamation case against CNN slammed lawyers on both sides for a lack of professionalism on Wednesday.
"This isn't kindergarten," Judge William S. Henry said. "You all matriculated from kindergarten a long, long, long time ago, or at least that's what it says because you all have bar licenses."
Why It Matters
Trust in legacy media organizations has been decreasing in the United States in recent years. In April 2023, Fox News settled a lawsuit for $787 million after broadcasting false claims that voting machines were rigged in the 2020 presidential election.
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The CNN case is being monitored closely by media organizations to assess the limits of the First Amendment's freedom of speech protections.
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What To Know
Zachary Young is a U.S. Navy veteran featured in a segment on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper on November 11, 2021, about the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan. He operated a business that helped Afghan citizens evacuate during that time. He is accusing CNN of defamation and libel.
Lawyers on both sides discussed several issues in the case before the jury came in. Devin Freedman, Young's lawyer, said he recently learned that his client's security clearance has been dropped, but they have "no ability to get that in" now that the trial has started.
Freedman asked the judge if additional documents could be submitted if one of their witnesses could not testify. He said he's been put in an "untenable situation" due to late and partial disclosure of the documents.
"I'm at a loss," David L. Axelrod, a lawyer representing CNN, said. "We didn't have this document from Helios because plaintiff never produced it in discovery."
He said that Young's legal team alleging they have been "prejudiced" by CNN lawyers is "far-fetched."
Freedman also said that CNN's lawyers issued a subpoena for a witness without notifying the other side. Axelrod explained why this was done.
"The problem is you can't list somebody as an impeachment witness, because then you tell the other side exactly what you're going to do. And so we thought it was kosher. If it was not, I apologize."
Axelrod alleged that Young's legal team issued several subpoenas to witnesses who were not disclosed on its witness list.
Henry reprimanded the lawyers as they continued to debate the disclosure of documents in the case. He said he is "overly concerned with the level of professionalism, or lack thereof" in the case.
"I'm tired of these blatant misrepresentations that are being made, and they're being made of both of y'all," Henry said.
Henry said that had he known the documents were produced after the discovery deadline, "there was no way in hell" he would have admitted it into evidence.
"It seems like everyone wanted to do everything at the last minute without telling the other side that we're going to this discovery and then accuse the other person of being the bad person," Henry said.
Henry also increased the fine for personal insults in the case from $100 to $1,000.
What People Are Saying
Judge William S. Henry, in court: "You all may lawyer like that in Philly, or New York, or D.C., or wherever the heck it is, or Miami. We don't lawyer like this around here. You all may have handled some big cases. We're not going to play these shenanigans anymore in this case."
What Happens Next
More evidence will be presented and more witnesses will be called as the trial continues. It is expected to last two weeks.
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