Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after chapter decide sends Sandy Hook instances to Texas court docket

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation circumstances 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 shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 dad and mom who gained two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas last 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these families will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy courtroom where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to begin to find out what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may start as soon as June, Bankston advised.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on authorized fees and has lost at the least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his representative mentioned in court docket, because he feared it could harm his model within the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an identical consequence because the Texas cases.

The rationale has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook households took here and in Texas to outflank Jones in bankruptcy court.

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made not less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the families not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech systems could possibly be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't celebration to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal chapter courtroom in Texas agreed.

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

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342