Elon Musk wins defamation case over 'pedo guy' tweet about caver

11:14 • 07.12.19
Law

Elon Musk did not defame a British caver who helped in last year's rescue of trapped Thai schoolboys by calling him a "pedo guy", a US jury has found.

Vernon Unsworth sought $190m (£145m) in damages from the Tesla founder, arguing that the tweet damaged his reputation, BBC News reports.

A public row broke out between the two men over the rescue of 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave in June 2018.

Mr Musk told the court this week the phrase "pedo guy" was common in South Africa, where he grew up.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after the jury reached its decision, Mr Musk said: "My faith in humanity is restored."

Mr Unsworth's lawyer Lin Wood said their side would leave the court "with our heads held high" but that the decision was "not a good verdict for society".

"This verdict sends a signal, and one signal only - that you can make any accusation you want to, as vile as it may be and as untrue as it may be, and somebody can get away with it," he said.

 
The case had been closely watched as it was seen as testing the legal threshold in the US for defamatory material on social media.Appearing dejected, Mr Unsworth himself added: "I respect the jury's decision. I'd just like to say my legal team have been absolutely awesome. I came here for a verdict, unfortunately it's not gone the way I expected but I respect the jury's decision and thank them for that."

Jurors took less than an hour to return their unanimous verdict, following a four-day trial at a federal court in Los Angeles.

Jury foreman Joshua Jones said Mr Unsworth's legal team were unable to prove their case and should have focused more on the evidence.

"I think they tried to get our emotions involved in it," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

 

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