Alex Jones again on the hook for damages after chapter decide sends Sandy Hook cases to Texas court docket

NEWTOWN — A federal chapter decide has released extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation circumstances back to state court docket in Texas, where the parents of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved however not shocked that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” mentioned Mark Bankston, an legal professional representing 4 dad and mom 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 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 before 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 history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully faux with actors.”

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the primary postponed defamation awards trial in Texas may start as quickly as June, Bankston prompt.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the bankruptcy court docket hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation cases have progressed. Jones has spent not less than $10 million on legal fees and has lost no less than $20 million, his representatives said in court docket. Jones did not file for bankruptcy protection himself, his representative stated in court, because he feared it might harm his model within the conspiracy concept market.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty additionally won a defamation case towards Jones in 2021, a hearing was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Tuesday that's anticipated to result in an analogous final result because the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on maintain the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques didn't file for chapter. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a combined monthly income of $38,000 while Jones himself made no less than $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the families no longer had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits in opposition to Jones and Free Speech programs may very well be launched back to the state courts for trial. The families argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Techniques, who were not party to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal bankruptcy courtroom in Texas agreed.

It stays to be seen whether Connecticut chapter courtroom 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