Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after bankruptcy judge sends Sandy Hook circumstances to Texas court docket

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation cases back to state court in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four parents who gained two defamation circumstances in opposition to Jones in Texas last yr. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in the coming weeks, and these households will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter courtroom where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to find out what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

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

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on authorized fees and has misplaced a minimum of $20 million, his representatives said in courtroom. Jones did not file for chapter safety himself, his representative mentioned in court docket, as a result of he feared it could injury his model within the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College additionally received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that is anticipated to end in an identical end result because the Texas cases.

The explanation has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook households took here and in Texas to outflank Jones in chapter courtroom.

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the households not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech programs could possibly be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who weren't occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy 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