Jury Awards Nearly $8.5M to Guardian in Defamation Case Over Netflix Documentary
A Bexar County jury awarded nearly $8.5 million to Seguin guardian Tonya Barina in her defamation lawsuit over a Netflix documentary that allegedly falsely portrayed her as exploiting an elderly man. Despite settlements by Netflix and producers, former attorney Phil Ross and others went to trial. The jury found multiple defendants defamed Barina and set $6 million actual and nearly $2.5 million punitive damages, including punitive awards against Netflix and Ross.