Sandy Hook households’ defamation damages trial towards Alex Jones to move forward in CT

BRIDGEPORT — A federal decide cleared the way in which for Sandy Hook families to have the defamation lawsuit they won towards Alex Jones released from bankruptcy safety and returned to state court, the place a trial to determine the damages Jones must pay had been set for August.

After a short status convention on Tuesday, federal bankruptcy Decide Julie Manning received commitments from both sides to submit an agreement for the families to drop three Jones-controlled entities presently in bankruptcy protection from the defamation lawsuit the families gained final yr. As soon as Manning sanctions the agreement, it's going to permit the families to organize for trial to find out how much money Jones pays for calling the worst crime in Connecticut historical past “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a large hoax,” and “fully faux with actors.”

The Sandy Hook families can be free to pursue their damages as a result of they are going to now not be occasion to the three Jones-controlled companies in chapter. The families’ target will likely be Jones himself and his guardian company Free Speech Programs, which technically weren't part of the chapter filing, but which benefited from the automatic “keep” that federal chapter instances have over state courts.

The settlement reached in chapter courtroom Tuesday will also end a month-long saga for an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in 2012, when a gunman killed 26 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The saga started when Jones sought chapter safety for 3 of his enterprise entities only one week before the primary of two jury award trials were set to start in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two slain Sandy Hook boys also won separate defamation cases in opposition to Jones final yr.

The Sandy Hook households right here and in Texas accused Jones of “bad-faith” bankruptcy filings, because the three businesses in question had a mixed monthly revenue of $38,000. Jones himself made not less than $76 million in 2019 by way of his conspiracy-based internet merchandise and broadcast platform, Infowars, his representatives said in courtroom.

Final week, a federal bankruptcy choose in Texas launched Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation instances back to state courtroom in Texas. The first jury trial to award damages was expected to begin as soon as June.

On Tuesday in Connecticut, Manning expressed frustration that the case had persevered earlier than her for weeks and not using a decision.

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

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

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

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

Chapter was Jones’ “good faith” effort to “pay collectors and pay them in an equal trend,” his representatives stated in court docket.

Jones has already spent $10 million on attorney charges and has lost not less than $20 million because of the defamation lawsuits, based on his representatives.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342