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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation cases again to state court in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing four dad and mom 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 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 protection one week before a jury trial was to begin to find out what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

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

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on authorized charges and has misplaced at the very least $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative mentioned in court docket, as a result of he feared it will damage his model within the conspiracy theory market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to result in the same outcome as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families 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 protection have a combined monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the households now not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs could possibly be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't social gathering to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy court 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