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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances again to state courtroom in Texas, the place the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 mother and father who gained two defamation instances against Jones in Texas last yr. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in the coming weeks, and these families will lastly 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 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to begin to find out what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could start as quickly as June, Bankston suggested.

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

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost family members within the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that is anticipated to lead to an analogous end result as the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing put on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the households no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech methods might be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

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

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

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342