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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation instances back to state courtroom in Texas, the place the dad and mom 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 shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 parents who received two defamation cases 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 chapter court docket 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 called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could begin as quickly as June, Bankston instructed.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on legal fees and has lost at the least $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones did not file for chapter safety himself, his consultant mentioned in courtroom, as a result of he feared it might harm his brand in the conspiracy idea market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that is expected to result in an identical end result because the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined month-to-month income of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech techniques may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who weren't occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy 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