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

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

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 parents who gained two defamation circumstances against 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 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 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully faux with actors.”

The chapter judge’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may begin as quickly as June, Bankston steered.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized fees and has lost not less than $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his consultant mentioned in courtroom, as a result of he feared it could harm his model in the conspiracy principle market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also received a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to result in a similar final result because 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 maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families 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 bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed month-to-month income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in courtroom.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the families not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech techniques may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not social gathering to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut bankruptcy 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