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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy decide has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation circumstances back to state courtroom in Texas, where the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four mother and father who gained two defamation circumstances towards Jones in Texas last year. “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 chapter court docket the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety 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 referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a large 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 urged.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent a minimum of $10 million on authorized fees and has lost not less than $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his representative mentioned in courtroom, because he feared it could harm his brand within the conspiracy idea market.

Meanwhile 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 additionally received a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in the same consequence because the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for families right 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 month-to-month revenue of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the families now not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech techniques might be launched again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who weren't celebration to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not 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