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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation circumstances again to state court in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 dad and mom who gained two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas final 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 court the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

The bankruptcy decide’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as quickly as June, Bankston suggested.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on legal fees and has lost not less than $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his representative mentioned in courtroom, as a result of he feared it would harm his brand in the conspiracy idea market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that is anticipated to lead to a similar end result because the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for households 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 bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed month-to-month earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the households now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs could be released back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether Connecticut chapter courtroom 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