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

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

“(We) are relieved but not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an lawyer 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 in 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 bankruptcy court docket the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week before 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 fake with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones did not file for chapter safety himself, his consultant said in court docket, as a result of he feared it might injury his brand within the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced family members in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally won a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to lead to a similar end result because the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed monthly earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in courtroom.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech techniques might be released back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who weren't get together to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut chapter courtroom 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