The amount is three times as much as plaintiffs were seeking.
Following a week-long trial, a federal jury has ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss for defaming them with false accusations that the mother and daughter committed election fraud while the two were counting ballots in Georgia's Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the two women, leaving the trial to determine the full scope of the damages and penalties. Freeman and Moss were seeking between $15.5 million and an amount in the $40 million range.
As a juror read that Rudy Giuliani will have to pay nearly $150 million in defamation damages, he showed no emotion.
Giuliani looked at the jurors while the verdict was being read and then turned his attention to his tablet.
On the other side of the courtroom, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss sighed heavily and shared a smile with their attorneys.
The jury awarded Ruby Freeman $16,171,000 and Shaye Moss $16,998,000.
In addition, jurors awarded each of the woman $20 million for emotional distress.
Finally, they awarded them a total of $75 million in punitive damages, for a total award of nearly $150 million.
The amount is approximately three times the $48 million the plaintiffs were seeking.
The jury in Rudy Giuliani's defamation case has determined that the former New York City mayor will have pay former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss approximately $75 million apiece for targeting them with defamatory statements in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
The jury that has been deliberating the amount of damages Rudy Giuliani will have to pay for his defamatory statements targeting Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss has reached a decision.
Their determination is expected to be announced shortly.
