There was no jury that decided his guilt. A judge did that. No trial, no evidence presented.
The jury in a separate trial decided only "damages," after the judge essentially disallowed Jones from saying anything in his defense, at the threat of imprisonment for a contempt of court charge.
The whole thing was a farce. Viva Frei and Robert Barnes have some good discussion of how it all played out.
I don't think a default final judgement is appealable; there's nothing for the appeals courts to examine. He's already lost a motion to set aside the default.
There was no jury that decided his guilt. A judge did that. No trial, no evidence presented.
The jury in a separate trial decided only "damages," after the judge essentially disallowed Jones from saying anything in his defense, at the threat of imprisonment for a contempt of court charge.
The whole thing was a farce. Viva Frei and Robert Barnes have some good discussion of how it all played out.
Yep. The more you look into it the more obvious it is that he got railroaded.
The GOOD news is that his appeal will be so, so easy due to the insanely high damages and there is a case to get that judge removed.
Will that actually happen? Depends on the blowback.
I don't think a default final judgement is appealable; there's nothing for the appeals courts to examine. He's already lost a motion to set aside the default.
Default judgements can be appealed for various causes for up to 180 days, and in the case of 'fraud' there's no time limit.
This probably varies by state, so hit your local law library if it's relevant.