Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after bankruptcy choose sends Sandy Hook cases to Texas courtroom

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter judge has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation cases again to state courtroom in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four mother and father who won two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas final yr. “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 where 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 known as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully pretend with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the chapter court docket 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 charges and has lost no less than $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his consultant stated in courtroom, because he feared it could harm his brand within the conspiracy theory market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty also gained a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy court docket on Tuesday that's anticipated to result in an analogous final result as the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous religion” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech systems 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 stated in court.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the families no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech methods could possibly be released again to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not social gathering to the bankruptcies.

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

It stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy court 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