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

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

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

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter court 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 called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The chapter decide’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might start as quickly as June, Bankston prompt.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on legal fees and has misplaced not less than $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his representative said in court docket, as a result of he feared it will injury his brand within the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that's anticipated to result in an analogous 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 submitting placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined month-to-month revenue of $38,000 while Jones himself made no less than $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 methods may very well be released back to the state courts for trial. The families 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 chapter court docket in Texas agreed.

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter courtroom will rule equally. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook families in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342