Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after chapter decide sends Sandy Hook cases to Texas courtroom

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances back to state court docket in Texas, where the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing four dad and mom who gained two defamation cases in opposition to Jones in Texas final yr. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these households will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter courtroom the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “completely fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy decide’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might start as quickly as June, Bankston prompt.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent no less than $10 million on authorized fees and has lost not less than $20 million, his representatives mentioned in courtroom. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his representative said in courtroom, because he feared it will injury his brand within the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced family members in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also received a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that is expected to end in an identical end result because the Texas instances.

The reason has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook families took right here and in Texas to outflank Jones in bankruptcy court docket.

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech programs did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined month-to-month earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the households no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech programs may very well be released back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who were not get together to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal bankruptcy court in Texas agreed.

It stays to be seen whether Connecticut chapter court will rule similarly. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342