Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after chapter judge sends Sandy Hook instances to Texas court docket

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation instances again to state court docket in Texas, the place the parents of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 dad and mom who won two defamation cases 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 families will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy courtroom where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before a jury trial was to begin to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

The bankruptcy judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as soon as June, Bankston urged.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on legal charges and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his consultant said in court docket, as a result of he feared it might harm his brand in the conspiracy principle market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced family members within the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College additionally won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that is anticipated to end in the same final result because the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put 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 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 whereas Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the families no longer had a stake in 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 families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal chapter courtroom in Texas agreed.

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut bankruptcy court docket will rule similarly. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342