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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation circumstances again to state court in Texas, the place the parents 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 surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four mother and father who gained two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas final yr. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these households will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter courtroom the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to begin 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 large hoax,” and “completely faux with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent a minimum of $10 million on authorized fees and has lost no less than $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his representative said in courtroom, as a result of he feared it could harm his model in the conspiracy theory market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally gained a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to lead to the same outcome because the Texas instances.

The reason 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 filing put on hold the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous religion” 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 safety have a mixed monthly earnings of $38,000 while 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 households no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech techniques could possibly be released back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who were not get together 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