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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation instances again to state court in Texas, the place the dad and mom 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 surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 dad and mom who won two defamation cases against Jones in Texas last year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within 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 bankruptcy courtroom where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety 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 referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “fully pretend with actors.”

The chapter judge’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could begin as soon as June, Bankston urged.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives said in court. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his consultant mentioned in court docket, as a result of he feared it might injury his brand in the conspiracy concept market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced loved ones within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in the same consequence as the Texas instances.

The rationale 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 filing put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households 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 combined monthly income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court.

In response, the households 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 against Jones and Free Speech techniques could possibly be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families 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 stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter court will rule similarly. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook families in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342