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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation circumstances again to state court docket in Texas, where the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four mother and father who gained two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas last year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within 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 courtroom the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week before a jury trial was to start to find out what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may start as soon as June, Bankston suggested.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent a minimum of $10 million on legal charges and has misplaced at the very least $20 million, his representatives said in court docket. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his consultant said in court docket, as a result of he feared it will injury his brand within the conspiracy principle market.

In the meantime 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 College additionally won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an identical final result because 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 bankruptcy courtroom.

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined month-to-month income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made no less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the households no longer 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 families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who weren't get together to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom will rule similarly. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342