Sandy Hook families’ defamation damages trial against Alex Jones to move forward in CT

BRIDGEPORT — A federal choose cleared the way for Sandy Hook households to have the defamation lawsuit they won in opposition to Alex Jones released from bankruptcy safety and returned to state court docket, the place a trial to determine the damages Jones should pay had been set for August.

After a quick status conference on Tuesday, federal chapter Choose Julie Manning received commitments from both sides to submit an agreement for the households to drop three Jones-controlled entities at the moment in bankruptcy protection from the defamation lawsuit the households gained last yr. Once Manning sanctions the agreement, it would enable the households to organize for trial to find out how much cash Jones will pay for calling the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “an enormous hoax,” and “fully fake with actors.”

The Sandy Hook families shall be free to pursue their damages because they may no longer be celebration to the three Jones-controlled companies in chapter. The households’ goal might be Jones himself and his mum or dad company Free Speech Methods, which technically weren't part of the chapter submitting, however which benefited from the automatic “keep” that federal bankruptcy cases have over state courts.

The agreement reached in bankruptcy court docket Tuesday can even finish a month-long saga for an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members in 2012, when a gunman killed 26 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary College.

The saga started when Jones sought bankruptcy safety for three of his enterprise entities only one week earlier than the first of two jury award trials had been set to begin in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two slain Sandy Hook boys also gained separate defamation circumstances in opposition to Jones final 12 months.

The Sandy Hook families here and in Texas accused Jones of “bad-faith” chapter filings, because the three businesses in question had a combined monthly income of $38,000. Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019 through his conspiracy-based web merchandise and broadcast platform, Infowars, his representatives stated in courtroom.

Last week, a federal chapter choose in Texas launched Jones from Chapter 11 protection and despatched his defamation cases again to state court in Texas. The primary jury trial to award damages was expected to begin as soon as June.

On Tuesday in Connecticut, Manning expressed frustration that the case had endured earlier than her for weeks with out a decision.

She proposed a solution to Alinor Sterling, a Bridgeport lawyer representing the Sandy Hook households, and Cameron Atkinson, a New Haven attorney representing Jones.

“I have wasted an excessive amount of time with this back-and-forth on these instances,” Manning stated. “If attorney Sterling drafts an order and lawyer Atkinson agrees to a stipulated dismissal where all people signs it eradicating the defendant debtors, is that going to suffice?”

“I can actually make it happen, your honor,” Sterling stated.

What happens for Jones with three defamation damages trials pending is unclear.

Bankruptcy was Jones’ “good religion” effort to “pay collectors and pay them in an equal style,” his representatives mentioned in court docket.

Jones has already spent $10 million on lawyer fees and has misplaced not less than $20 million because of the defamation lawsuits, based on his representatives.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342