This site is a public archive of court documents from Pozner v. Fetzer, Dane County Circuit Court Case No. 2018CV003122. It collects filings, orders, transcripts, depositions, and related materials so readers can see what the Wisconsin courts actually decided—without depending on secondhand summaries alone.
What this site is
Leonard Pozner sued James Fetzer (and others) for defamation after Fetzer and Mike Palecek co-wrote a book, Nobody Died at Sandy Hook, claiming the Sandy Hook shooting never took place and was instead staged by the federal government as part of an Obama administration effort to enact tighter gun restrictions. A Wisconsin judge ruled that Pozner was defamed by statements in the book that claimed he fabricated copies of his son’s death certificate. Major news outlets covered the jury verdict and later rulings.
Poznervfetzer.com hosts the primary papers: PDFs from the court file, short pages that introduce each document, and links to related materials. It is not a blog of commentary. The goal is a stable place to find the record.
The case in brief
In June 2019 the circuit court granted Pozner’s motion for summary judgment on defamation, finding that specific published statements about Noah Pozner’s death certificate were false and defamatory as a matter of law. In October 2019 a Dane County jury awarded $450,000 in damages. The court later entered an amended judgment of $1,107,395.13 (including attorney’s fees and costs taxed by the clerk). In December 2019 the court issued a permanent injunction barring Fetzer from repeating the statements held defamatory.
Fetzer appealed. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed in March 2021. Later proceedings continued over enforcement and contempt; a February 2024 appeals decision and an October 2024 sanctions order under Wis. Stat. § 802.05 are also on this site. Those pages point to the original PDFs.
What you’ll find here
Start on the homepage for a short overview, FAQ, and key rulings. The documents hubs group pleadings, orders, transcripts, and related filings. Notable items include:
- Pleadings — complaint, answers, and related papers
- Order granting summary judgment (June 18, 2019)
- Amended judgment for $1,107,395.13
- Order granting permanent injunction (December 17, 2019)
- Depositions, including the videotaped deposition of H. Wayne Carver, II, M.D., with a video page and full PDF
- 2021 Court of Appeals decision and the February 8, 2024 appeals decision
- 2024 decision and order sanctioning James Fetzer
Wherever possible, each page links the downloadable court PDF so you can read the same document the court filed.
Where else to read
Looking for a plain-English explanation? Leonard Pozner’s case and judgment explainer at jamesfetzer.org summarizes the case and the $1,107,395.13 judgment and links back to the primary documents here. That domain is Pozner’s own site; it is not Fetzer’s.
Pozner also founded the HONR Network, which helps people facing online abuse and harassment. Memorial pages for Noah are at noahpozner.com.
For news coverage of the verdict and rulings, see contemporaneous reporting such as the CBS and CNN stories linked above, and the case overview on this site’s news and links pages. When a detail matters, prefer the PDF on poznervfetzer.com over any paraphrase—including this About page.