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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation circumstances back to state courtroom in Texas, where the parents 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 shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four dad and mom who won two defamation circumstances against 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 finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter court docket where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “completely faux with actors.”

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

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost at the least $20 million, his representatives said in courtroom. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy protection himself, his consultant said in court docket, as a result of he feared it could damage his model within the conspiracy concept market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that's expected to result in an analogous final result because the Texas instances.

The reason has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook households took right here and in Texas to outflank Jones in bankruptcy court docket.

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech systems might be released back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy 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