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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation circumstances again to state court docket in Texas, where the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four dad and mom who received two defamation circumstances towards Jones in Texas last 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 courtroom where 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 history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may start as soon as June, Bankston urged.

Among the disclosures that came out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized fees and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives said in court. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his consultant said in court, as a result of he feared it will harm his brand within the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also won a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in a similar end result because the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined month-to-month income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the households no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech methods could be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, 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 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