Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after bankruptcy decide sends Sandy Hook cases to Texas courtroom

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation cases back to state court in Texas, where the mother and father 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 surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four parents who received two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas last 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in 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 court the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to start to find out what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

The chapter decide’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could start as soon as June, Bankston advised.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on legal fees and has misplaced not less than $20 million, his representatives stated in court docket. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his representative said in courtroom, as a result of he feared it might injury his model within the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also won a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to end in a similar consequence as the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing put on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” 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 safety have a combined monthly income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in courtroom.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the families no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech programs could possibly be released again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who weren't celebration to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal bankruptcy court 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 households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342