The $1.6bn defamation trial towards Fox Information by Dominion Voting Techniques has been pushed again by a day by the choose, simply hours earlier than the scheduled begin of the landmark case on Monday, elevating expectations of a last-minute settlement.

In an announcement revealed late on Sunday night time, Choose Eric Davis, who’s overseeing the case in Delaware, the place each firms are integrated, mentioned that the court docket had determined to delay the beginning of the trial till Tuesday.

He didn’t present a purpose for the delay to the trial, which had been scheduled to begin on Monday morning with the jury being seated and opening statements.

The choice to postpone the trial has raised the prospect of an eleventh-hour settlement being sought by Fox within the case, which is predicted to contain Fox Corp chair Rupert Murdoch testifying, alongside Fox executives and hosts reminiscent of Sean Hannity.

The Wall Road Journal, which can also be owned by Murdoch, reported that Fox was pursuing settlement talks shortly earlier than the choose’s announcement.

The defamation lawsuit pertains to the community’s protection of the 2020 US presidential election, with allegations that Fox knowingly aired false conspiracy theories over whether or not the voting machine maker’s gadgets have been rigged in favour of President Joe Biden.

Regardless of the notoriously excessive commonplace for proving defamation within the US, a number of authorized analysts mentioned Fox confronted an “uphill battle” after pre-trial filings uncovered a generally frantic and fractious behind-the-scenes news-gathering course of.

Fox was not instantly obtainable for remark. Dominion declined to touch upon Sunday night.

The 2 sides are contesting a libel declare over whether or not Fox broken the status of Dominion by permitting baseless claims that its machines secretly modified votes for Donald Trump’s democratic rival in 2020.

Dominion alleges that Fox executives knew that they have been airing false statements and continued to take action because the broadcaster battled for right-wing viewers towards rival networks and media shops. Dominion desires $1.6bn in damages — though this determine is disputed by Fox.

In an announcement forward of the trial, Fox mentioned the lawsuit was “a political campaign seeking a monetary windfall” and claimed “the actual price [of a loss] could be cherished first modification rights”.

It added that Dominion had pushed “deceptive data to generate headlines” whereas Fox was “steadfast in defending the rights of a free press”.

Dominion mentioned it was a “robust believer within the first modification”, however the regulation “doesn’t defend broadcasters that knowingly or recklessly unfold lies”.

It added that “following Fox’s defamatory statements, Dominion’s enterprise suffered enormously, and its declare for compensatory damages relies on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies”.