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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation circumstances back to state court docket in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four dad and mom who won two defamation circumstances towards Jones in Texas final 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in the coming weeks, and these households will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court where 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 giant hoax,” and “completely fake with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the chapter court docket 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 charges and has lost at the least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his consultant stated in court, because he feared it will injury his brand in the conspiracy principle market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that is expected to lead to the same final result 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.

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” 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 protection have a combined monthly income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in courtroom.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the households not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech programs could be released again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who were not get together to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter court docket will rule similarly. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook families in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342