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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation instances back to state court docket in Texas, where the parents of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 dad and mom who gained two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas final 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom in the coming weeks, and these households will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court docket 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,” “an enormous hoax,” and “utterly pretend with actors.”

The bankruptcy decide’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could start as soon as June, Bankston recommended.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter 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 authorized fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives said in court docket. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his representative said in court docket, as a result of he feared it will damage his brand in the conspiracy principle market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally gained a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that is anticipated to lead to an analogous final result as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy 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 combined monthly earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the families no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs might be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not party to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal bankruptcy courtroom 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 families in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342