Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after bankruptcy judge 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 cases again to state court docket 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 should pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an lawyer representing four dad and mom who received two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas final year. “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 court docket the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection 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,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

The chapter choose’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might start as quickly as June, Bankston prompt.

Among the many 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 authorized fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives said in courtroom. Jones didn't file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative stated in court docket, as a result of he feared it will injury his brand in the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College also gained a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to an identical final result because the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for households here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “bad faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech programs did not file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined month-to-month earnings of $38,000 while Jones himself made at the very 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. Because the families not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech programs may very well be released 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 stays to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy 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