Second day of Alex Jones trial ends in turmoil as lawyers square off

Jurors were sent home about 15 minutes early Wednesday amid a dispute between lawyers for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the parents of a child who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2015.

Andino Reynal, Jones' lawyer, moved to admit a nine-minute segment of a Jones InfoWars video, but Mark Bankston, a lawyer for the parents, objected, saying the video contained hearsay and was not appropriate for a trial on the size of the damage award Jones must pay for calling the shooting a hoax.

State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble dismissed the jurors so the video dispute could be hashed out.

Reynal complained that said he wanted to show a complete segment to counter "little clips of cherry-picked videos" that Bankston had shown jurors. But Guerra Gamble reminded Reynal that he was supposed to have submitted all evidence at a pretrial hearing but didn't have the videos ready, handcuffing his presentation and putting the court in a bind.

Then tempers flared.

Reynal pointed to a written list of videos that had been submitted to the court, saying he believed he and Bankston had reached a pretrial agreement on admitting them.

Bankston disagreed. "That is a list of videos produced," he said. "I did not agree that they be introduced."

The judge also pointed out that the document was merely a list of InfoWars videos and that several had not even been introduced into evidence.

"Bankston is being dishonest with the court," Reynal said, repeating that that he and the opposing lawyer had agreed to introduce the videos into evidence, with Bankston repeating his denial, saying any agreement would have been submitted to the court in writing.

Exasperated, the judge ordered Reynal and Bankston to get together to work out an agreement on the videos, with Reynal identifying specific information needed to give jurors a complete picture and Bankston raising specific objections based on hearsay, allowing the judge to make decisions Thursday morning before jurors are seated.

Guerra Gamble also said she was going to chalk up Reynal's accusations to a tough day in court with emotions running high, adding: "If you are going to call other attorneys in my courtroom dishonest, you have to back that up."

The judge left the courtroom, but Reynal and Bankston continued sniping, with the exchange growing so heated that another lawyer stepped in to say that negotiations would begin later in the night, by phone, after heads cooled.

Back in court Thursday morning and with jurors not present, state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble immediately addressed the situation.

"The next time anyone wants to have an argument, you take it outside. You do not have it in here," she said.

Reynal rose to apologize, saying his words were inappropriate and acknowledging that the parents' legal team had filed several motions asking the judge to sanction him for the outburst.

"I'm not surprised," the judge said.

Reynal also said he emailed the parents' lawyers to apologize and offer hopes that they could work together. He also said the dispute now boils down to two videos of InfoWars segments totaling 18 minutes.

Bankston raised three objections, arguing the footage contains hearsay, violates an agreement on the use of affirmative evidence, and were not authenticated because they couldn't be found independently to be verified as unedited.

The judge then left the court to review the footage in private. When Guerra Gamble returned, she upheld Bankston's objections, and Reynal began playing InfoWars segments that had already been introduced into evidence.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Second day of Alex Jones' Sandy Hook trial ends in turmoil