The Florida jury that awarded Hulk Hogan $115 million last week was given a measure about the depth of the defendants’ pockets.
When those six jurors returned to a St. Petersburg, Florida, courtroom on Monday afternoon for the punitive damages phase of Hogan’s invasion of privacy trial, they were asked to consider the net worth of Gawker Media, its founder Nick Denton and former editor A.J. Daulerio.
For the company, that’s $83 million, and for Denton, the figure is $121 million, Judge Pamela Campbell told the jurors. Daulerio was determined to have no assets, but did have $27,000 in student loans.
The jury of four women and two men determined on Friday that Gawker Media should pay Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, $115 million for violating his privacy by publishing excerpts from his sex tape in 2012.
Hogan sued Gawker Media, Denton and Daulerio. Attorneys for the former professional wrestler argued that he suffered as a result of Gawker’s post.
The jury agreed, awarding Hogan $60 million for emotional distress and $55 million for economic injury. Now they will decide whether to tack on an additional amount in punitive damages.
Attorneys for both sides convened Monday morning at the Pinellas County Judicial Building to determine jury instructions for the trial’s second phase. Hogan, clad in all black as usual, accompanied his counsel. Denton was also present.
The biggest disagreement centered around the language that will be given to the jurors. Hogan’s team objected to any instruction that would potentially limit the amount imposed against Gawker.
The attorneys for the plaintiff and defendants ultimately agreed to advise the jurors against imposing punitive damages that would be “financially devastating” to the defendants.
Another dispute stemmed from an effort by Gawker’s attorneys to inform jurors of prior federal court rulings in the case, specifically a denial of a motion from Hogan in 2012 for a temporary injunction that would have forced the removal of the video.
The judge in the trial, Pamela Campbell, later granted Hogan’s injunction in 2013, but the order was reversed by Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals months later.
Michael Berry, an attorney for Gawker, said Monday that the information was necessary to explain why the website kept the video online for several months — a fact that Hogan’s attorneys held up as proof of the defendants’ heartlessness.
“We believe it is unjust that this has been kept from the jury already,” Berry said.
Campbell was clearly taken aback by this line.
“Wow,” she replied.
She denied Gawker’s motion, saying the case was “complicated enough.”
