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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation cases back to state court in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 mother and father who gained 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 households will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court docket the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully faux with actors.”

The chapter judge’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could begin as soon as June, Bankston recommended.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost at the very least $20 million, his representatives mentioned in courtroom. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his consultant stated in courtroom, as a result of he feared it might damage his model in the conspiracy principle market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where 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 bankruptcy court on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an identical final result as the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed monthly revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at least $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 families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs could be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't celebration 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 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