Alex Jones again 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 sent his defamation circumstances again to state court docket in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

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

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as quickly as June, Bankston instructed.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on authorized charges and has lost no less than $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones did not file for chapter safety himself, his representative stated in courtroom, as a result of he feared it could harm his model within the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court on Tuesday that's anticipated to end in a similar outcome as the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the families now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't occasion to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter court docket 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