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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances back to state court in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 dad and mom who won 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 earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully pretend with actors.”

The chapter choose’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may begin as quickly as June, Bankston advised.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the very least $10 million on authorized charges and has misplaced at the very least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative mentioned in court, as a result of he feared it would harm his model within the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also received a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an analogous final result as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for families 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 chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed monthly earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the households no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech systems could possibly be released back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut chapter courtroom 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