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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation cases again to state court docket in Texas, the place the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 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 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 bankruptcy court docket where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than a jury trial was to begin to find out what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent no less than $10 million on authorized fees and has misplaced at the least $20 million, his representatives said in courtroom. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his representative stated in courtroom, as a result of he feared it might injury his model within the conspiracy concept market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced family members in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College also gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an identical end result because the Texas circumstances.

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 deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined monthly income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the households no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs could be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains 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