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

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

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 dad and mom who received two defamation instances towards 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 families will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter courtroom the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than 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,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “utterly faux with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that got here out of the chapter court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the very least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones didn't file for chapter protection himself, his consultant mentioned in court, as a result of he feared it could injury his brand in the conspiracy concept market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College additionally received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Tuesday that is anticipated to end in an analogous outcome as the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a mixed month-to-month earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives said in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the households not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech programs might be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom will rule equally. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342