Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after bankruptcy decide sends Sandy Hook instances to Texas court

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and despatched his defamation instances again to state court docket in Texas, where the parents 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 shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four parents who won two defamation instances in opposition to 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 families will lastly have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court the place three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 safety one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two parents he defamed when he referred to as the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

The bankruptcy decide’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as soon as June, Bankston suggested.

Among the many disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation instances have progressed. Jones has spent at the least $10 million on legal fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives stated in court docket. Jones did not file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative stated in court, as a result of he feared it could harm his model in the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced family members in the bloodbath of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School additionally received a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut chapter court docket on Tuesday that's expected to lead to a similar end result as the Texas cases.

The explanation 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 put on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal court trumps state proceedings. Lawyers for families right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech programs 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 no less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in court docket.

In response, the households dropped Jones’ three business entities in bankruptcy from their lawsuits. As a result of the households now not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech systems could be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal 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 remains to be seen whether or not Connecticut bankruptcy court 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