Jury Starts Deliberations In Security Contractor’s Defamation Case Against CNN Over Story On Black Market For Afghan Evacuations

A Florida jury began deliberations this afternoon in a security consultant’s defamation lawsuit against CNN.

Zachary Young sued the network following a report in 2021 that he sought exorbitant fees to evacuate Afghans in what amounted to a black market in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.

The segment from Marquardt was aired on CNN on November 11, 2021, and re-aired three times. Links to the segments also were posted on social media, and a digital article was posted on November 13.

In one instance, Young’s image appeared on screen with the chyron, “Afghans trying to flee Taliban face black markets, exorbitant fees, no guarantee of safety or success.”

Judge William Henry said that a jury would have to decide whether the use of the term “black market” meant illegal or criminal activity.

The jurors will all have to decide on five questions: Did CNN commit defamation per se? Did CNN commit defamation by implication?

If they answer yes to either, they will have to determine damages “for both lost earnings in the past and for the loss of his earning capacity in the future, reduced by the amount that [Young] could have earned from comparable employment,” the judge said. They also will have to determine damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience, injury to reputation and loss of capacity “for the enjoyment of life that he’s sustained in the past and that he [will] sustain in the future.”

The final question is whether punitive damages are warranted. The threshold for such damages is higher, as the jury will have to determine that CNN acted with malice, not just negligence, against Young. If the jury favors punitive damages, the trial will move to another phase to determine the amount.

More to come.