Sandy Hook families’ defamation damages trial against Alex Jones to maneuver ahead in CT

BRIDGEPORT — A federal decide cleared the way in which for Sandy Hook households to have the defamation lawsuit they gained in opposition to Alex Jones released from bankruptcy protection and returned to state courtroom, the place a trial to determine the damages Jones must pay had been set for August.

After a brief status convention on Tuesday, federal bankruptcy Judge Julie Manning acquired commitments from either side to submit an agreement for the households to drop three Jones-controlled entities presently in chapter protection from the defamation lawsuit the families won last yr. As soon as Manning sanctions the agreement, it would permit 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,” “a large hoax,” and “completely pretend with actors.”

The Sandy Hook families can be free to pursue their damages as a result of they may no longer be get together to the three Jones-controlled businesses in bankruptcy. The households’ goal will be Jones himself and his guardian company Free Speech Systems, which technically were not part of the chapter filing, but which benefited from the automatic “keep” that federal chapter circumstances have over state courts.

The agreement reached in chapter courtroom Tuesday may even finish a month-long saga for an FBI agent and eight households who lost loved ones in 2012, when a gunman killed 26 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The saga began when Jones sought bankruptcy safety for three of his enterprise entities only one week earlier than the primary of two jury award trials had been set to begin in Texas, where the mother and father of two slain Sandy Hook boys also gained separate defamation cases towards Jones last 12 months.

The Sandy Hook families right here and in Texas accused Jones of “bad-faith” bankruptcy filings, for the reason that three businesses in question had a combined monthly earnings of $38,000. Jones himself made at the least $76 million in 2019 via his conspiracy-based web merchandise and broadcast platform, Infowars, his representatives stated in court docket.

Last week, a federal bankruptcy judge in Texas released Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation cases back to state court in Texas. The first jury trial to award damages was expected to start as soon as June.

On Tuesday in Connecticut, Manning expressed frustration that the case had persevered earlier than her for weeks without a decision.

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

“I've wasted too much time with this back-and-forth on these cases,” Manning said. “If lawyer Sterling drafts an order and lawyer Atkinson agrees to a stipulated dismissal the place everybody signs it eradicating the defendant debtors, is that going to suffice?”

“I can actually make it occur, your honor,” Sterling said.

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

Bankruptcy was Jones’ “good faith” effort to “pay collectors and pay them in an equal fashion,” his representatives stated in courtroom.

Jones has already spent $10 million on lawyer fees and has misplaced at the very least $20 million because of the defamation lawsuits, in line with his representatives.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342