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

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation circumstances back to state court docket in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook bloodbath await jury trials to see how a lot Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 dad and mom who won two defamation cases in opposition to Jones in Texas final 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within 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 chapter court where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he known as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous 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 recommended.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent no less than $10 million on legal fees and has lost no less than $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his consultant mentioned in court docket, as a result of he feared it would damage his brand within the conspiracy principle market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally won a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that's anticipated to result in a similar consequence because the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed month-to-month revenue of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the families not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech techniques may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who were not social gathering 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 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