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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation cases again to state court in Texas, the place the parents of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 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 in the coming weeks, and these families will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter court where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

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

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

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also received a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that is expected to lead to a similar final result as the Texas instances.

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

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 “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 safety have a mixed monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the families now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs could possibly be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not 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 docket 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