He is busted. His only real hope is to appeal the judgment and to try to at least attack the punitive damages for being excessive. SCOTUS has set a general rule of no more than 10x actual damages. The Plaintiff didn't really have actual damages (he'd have to attack that portion of the judgment too).

I say this because defamation is at base an economic, not emotional, tort. For men, being called a molester could hurt their business opportunities, e.g. people won't hire them, and for women, being called unchaste (classic defamation) interferes with their ability to find a husband who will care for them, i.e. they lose money / property / economic advantage.

No plaintiff here had any real economic injury, and the idea that injury to feelings is a basis for defamation simply isn't what defamation is about.

What I don't hear Jones talking about is that appeal though