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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances again 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 must pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing 4 mother and father who gained two defamation instances against 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 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 find out what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “utterly fake with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on legal fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives said in court docket. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his representative mentioned in court, because he feared it might damage his brand within the conspiracy idea market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who misplaced loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College additionally won a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to lead to a similar final result because the Texas circumstances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the 2 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 “bad religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech programs didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 protection have a combined month-to-month income of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at 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 no longer had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech methods could possibly be released back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Methods, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

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

It remains to be seen whether Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom 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