Judge slashes damages awarded in deadly Charlotteville rally

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has slashed millions of dollars from the damages a jury ordered white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay for their role in the violence that erupted during the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017. U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ordered the $24 million in punitive damages reduced to $350,000. That is the cap imposed under a Virginia law. Moon upheld the $2 million in compensatory damages awarded by the jury. The reduction in damages was expected because of the 1988 state law. Moon’s ruling also affirmed the jury’s central finding that the defendants were liable under a state conspiracy law for planning and participating in the rally.