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

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

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 mother and father who won two defamation instances against 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 docket where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as soon as June, Bankston steered.

Among the 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 no less than $10 million on authorized fees and has misplaced at the very least $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court docket. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his representative mentioned in court, because he feared it will damage his model in the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that's expected to result in the same consequence as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made no less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the families no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech systems may very well be released again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not celebration to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy court docket 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