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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation instances again to state courtroom in Texas, where the parents of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four dad and mom who received two defamation cases in opposition to Jones in Texas final year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in 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 the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The chapter choose’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may begin as soon as June, Bankston steered.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the very least $10 million on legal fees and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives stated in court docket. Jones did not file for chapter safety himself, his consultant mentioned in court docket, because he feared it will injury his brand within the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally received a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that's expected to result in an analogous final result as 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 put on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous 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 safety have a combined month-to-month earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the families 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 systems could be released again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who were not party 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 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