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

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

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four parents who gained two defamation cases in opposition to Jones in Texas last 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 where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two mother and father he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

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

Among the many 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 a minimum of $10 million on legal fees and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives said in courtroom. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy protection himself, his representative stated in court docket, as a result of he feared it will harm his brand in the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally won a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that's expected to lead to an identical final result as the Texas instances.

The rationale 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 filing placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals 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 bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed month-to-month revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court docket.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the households now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech methods could be released back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who weren't occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not 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