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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation instances back to state courtroom in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 mother and father who received two defamation instances against Jones in Texas last yr. “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 protection one week before a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “utterly faux with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on authorized fees and has misplaced no less than $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones did not file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative mentioned in court docket, because he feared it would harm his model within the conspiracy theory 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 College additionally gained a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that's expected to lead to an identical consequence as the Texas instances.

The rationale has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook families took right here and in Texas to outflank Jones in bankruptcy court docket.

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined monthly income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the households not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech systems could possibly be launched again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not get together to the bankruptcies.

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

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

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342