经过为期一周的审判，联邦陪审团下令前纽约市长鲁迪·朱利安尼向前佐治亚州选举工作人员鲁比·弗里曼和旺德雷·“叶莎”·莫斯支付近1.5亿美元诽谤他们诬告这对母女犯有选举欺诈罪当两人在2020年选举日在佐治亚州富尔顿县计票时。

美国地区法官贝丽尔·豪厄尔在八月被判缺席判决这两名妇女，离开审判，以确定损害赔偿和处罚的全部范围。弗里曼和莫斯的要价在1550万美元到4000万美元之间。

弗里曼虽然心存感激，但表示“钱不会解决我所有的问题”

前选举工作者鲁比·弗里曼告诉记者，“今天是美好的一天”，但在鲁迪·朱利安尼针对她和她的女儿发表诽谤性言论后，他警告说，“金钱永远不会解决我所有的问题”。

“我将永远不得不小心我去哪里，我将能够分享我的名字，”弗里曼说，由于害怕威胁，她需要保持匿名。“我想念我的名字。”

弗里曼说:“陪审团见证了鲁迪·朱利安尼对我和我女儿的所作所为……为此我心存感激。”。但是，她说，“我希望人们明白这一点:钱永远不会解决我所有的问题。”

弗里曼的女儿叶莎·莫斯说，“朱利安尼用谎言点燃的火焰……改变了我们生活的方方面面。”

“我们希望没有人会为了恢复你的名字而如此努力地抗争，”莫斯说。

“我们最大的愿望是没有人……经历过我们所经历的任何事情。”莫斯补充道。

朱利安尼说，他不能“出示证据”，将上诉的决定

鲁迪·朱利安尼在法庭外对记者说，他没有“提出证据的机会”，他计划对这一判决提出上诉。

朱利安尼说:“很明显，我们将申请重新审判，我们肯定会上诉。”。

当记者问他为什么不作证时，朱利安尼说，他认为法官是在用藐视法庭来威胁他。

朱利安尼说:“我没有作证，因为法官明确表示，如果我犯了任何错误或做错了什么，她会考虑藐视法庭。”

“我毫不怀疑我的评论已经发表，而且在今天是可以支持的。我只是没有机会展示我们提供的证据，”他说。

周二法官贝丽尔·豪厄尔告诫朱利安尼因为他在周一晚些时候对鲁比·弗里曼和叶莎·莫斯进行了“额外的诽谤性评论”，当时他告诉美国广播公司新闻部的特里·莫兰，他坚持自己的声明，即这两名女性“参与了改变投票”

这些评论“可能支持另一个诽谤索赔，”豪厄尔告诉朱利安尼，谁后来选择不作证的情况下。

朱利安尼在宣读奖项时没有表现出任何情绪

当一名陪审员读到鲁迪·朱利安尼将不得不支付近1 . 5亿美元的诽谤赔偿金时，他没有任何表情。

宣读判决时，朱利安尼看了看陪审员，然后将注意力转向他的平板电脑。

在法庭的另一边，鲁比·弗里曼和叶莎·莫斯重重地叹了口气，并和他们的律师一起微笑。

裁决包括精神痛苦、惩罚性赔偿

陪审团判给鲁比·弗里曼16171000美元，叶莎·莫斯16998000美元。

此外，陪审员判给每位妇女2000万美元的精神损失费。

最后，他们判给他们总计7500万美元的惩罚性赔偿，总赔偿金额近1.5亿美元。

这一金额大约是原告寻求的4800万美元的三倍。

Giuliani defamation trial live updates: Jury awards election workers nearly $150 million

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 fordefaming themwith false accusations that the mother and daughtercommitted election fraudwhile the two were counting ballots in Georgia's Fulton County on Election Day in 2020 .

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Augustawarded a default judgmentto 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.

Freeman, though thankful, says 'money won't solve all my problems'

Former election worker Ruby Freeman told reporters that "today is a good day," but cautioned that "money will never solve all of my problems" after Rudy Giuliani targeted her and her daughter with defamatory statements.

"I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I will be able to share my name with," Freeman said of her need to remain anonymous due to the fear of threats. "I miss my name."

"A jury stood witness to what Rudy Giuliani did to me and my daughter … for that I am thankful," said Freeman. But, she said, "I want people to understand this: Money will never solve all of my problems."

Freeman's daughter, Shaye Moss, said that "the flame Giuliani lit with those lies … changed every aspect of our lives."

"We hope no one ever has to fight so hard just to get your name back," Moss said.

"Our greatest wish is that no one … ever experiences anything like what we went through" Moss added.

Giuliani says he couldn't 'present evidence,' will appeal decision

Speaking to reporters outside court, Rudy Giuliani said he didn't have "an opportunity to present evidence" and that he plans to appeal the decision.

"Obviously we will move for a new trial, we will certainly appeal," Giuliani said.

When asked by reporters why he didn't testify, Giuliani said he believed the judge was threatening him with contempt.

"I didn't testify because the judge made it clear that if I made any mistake or did anything wrong, she was considering contempt," Giuliani said.

"I have no doubt that my comments were made and they were supportable and supportable today. I just did not have an opportunity to present the evidence that we offered," he said.

Judge Beryl Howell on Tuesdayadmonished Giulianifor making "additional defamatory comments" about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss late Monday when he told ABC News' Terry Moran that he stands by his statements that the two women "were engaged in changing votes."

Those comments "could support another defamation claim," Howell told Giuliani, who subsequently elected not to testify in the case.

Giuliani shows no emotion when award is read

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.

Award includes emotional distress, punitive damages

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.