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

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances back to state court in Texas, the place the parents of two boys slain within the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones must pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not stunned that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four mother and father who received two defamation circumstances against Jones in Texas final 12 months. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within 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 bankruptcy courtroom 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 dad and mom he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

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

Among the disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at least $10 million on authorized charges and has lost at the very least $20 million, his representatives mentioned in court. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his representative stated in courtroom, as a result of he feared it would damage his brand in the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who lost family members within the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also gained a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a hearing was deliberate in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that's anticipated to end in a similar final result because the Texas cases.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 filing placed on hold the two trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Legal professionals for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods did not file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined month-to-month earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. Because the households not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech methods may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Programs, who were not occasion 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 chapter court 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