Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after chapter decide sends Sandy Hook instances to Texas courtroom

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation circumstances back to state courtroom 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 but not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all the others,” said Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing four parents who won two defamation cases in opposition to 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 households will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas chapter court where 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 mother and father he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully faux with actors.”

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

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the chapter courtroom 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 a minimum of $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones didn't file for chapter safety himself, his consultant stated in court docket, as a result of he feared it will harm his brand within the conspiracy theory market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who lost family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally received a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut chapter courtroom on Tuesday that's anticipated to lead to the same final result as the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on maintain the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for households 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 chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. Because the households now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech methods might be launched back to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, 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 or not Connecticut chapter courtroom 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