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 released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation cases again to state courtroom in Texas, where the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four parents who received two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas final year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within 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 bankruptcy courtroom the place 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 called the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might start as soon as June, Bankston suggested.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on legal fees and has misplaced at the very least $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his consultant stated in court, as a result of he feared it could damage his brand in the conspiracy principle market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally won a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in an analogous outcome as the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” 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 month-to-month earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at least $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 no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs might be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who were not party to the bankruptcies.

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

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

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342