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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation cases back to state court docket in Texas, where the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 dad and mom who gained two defamation instances in opposition to Jones in Texas final yr. “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 chapter court the place 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 dad and mom he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “completely faux with actors.”

The chapter judge’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could start as soon as June, Bankston steered.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent a minimum of $10 million on legal charges and has lost at the least $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his consultant stated in courtroom, because he feared it would damage his model in the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College also won a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that is anticipated to result in the same final result as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech programs did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed monthly revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made not less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the families now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech programs might be released back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut chapter court docket 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