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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation cases again to state courtroom in Texas, the place the mother and father 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 stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four mother and father who received two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas final year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these families will lastly 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 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may start as quickly as June, Bankston recommended.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter court docket 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 said in court docket. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his consultant mentioned in court, as a result of he feared it will damage his model within the conspiracy principle market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced family members within the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Tuesday that is expected to lead to an identical outcome as the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined month-to-month earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the households not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech methods might be launched again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target 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 remains to be seen whether Connecticut chapter court 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