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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation instances again to state court in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four dad and mom who gained two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas last yr. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these households will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy courtroom the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before 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,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “utterly faux with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the chapter court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on legal fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative mentioned in courtroom, as a result of he feared it might damage his model in the conspiracy idea 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 listening to was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in a similar final result because the Texas cases.

The explanation has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook families took right here and in Texas to outflank Jones in chapter courtroom.

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket 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 systems didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the households no longer 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 families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter court docket 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