Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after chapter choose sends Sandy Hook cases to Texas court docket

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation circumstances again to state court docket in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four dad and mom who gained two defamation circumstances in opposition to 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 finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court docket the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully pretend with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent a minimum of $10 million on legal charges and has misplaced at the least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative stated in court, because he feared it will harm his model in the conspiracy idea market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who lost family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally gained 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 a similar end result as the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made not less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court docket.

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

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

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut chapter court will rule equally. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342