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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation cases back to state court in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four mother and father who received two defamation circumstances against Jones in Texas final 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these families 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 before a jury trial was to begin to find out 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 “utterly fake with actors.”

The chapter judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may begin as quickly as June, Bankston advised.

Among the disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives stated in court docket. Jones did not file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative said in court docket, as a result of he feared it would harm his model in the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that is expected to result in an analogous outcome because the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys 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 programs did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed monthly earnings of $38,000 whereas 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 families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech programs could possibly be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't get together to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter 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