AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) — A lawyer for Alex Jones told KXAN an Austin judge canceled a trial over how much conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Bankston, told KXAN “the trial is officially postponed.”
The Infowars host has already lost defamation cases over his comments that the shooting was a hoax.
The Associated Press reported the judge ordered a delay, but Jones’ lawyer Federico Reynal said Thursday morning Judge Maya Guerra-Gamble determined she no longer had jurisdiction over the case and canceled the trial. Reynal said her ruling allows for a federal judge to resolve all pending defamation cases.
The decision came after Infowars sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week.
Bankston said Jones’ attorneys, “knowingly misled the court as part of a perverse scheme to defraud the Sandy Hook parents.”
“While Mr. Jones’ false pleadings have resulted in temporary delay and disrupted the trial, this dishonest plot will have severe consequences for both Mr. Jones and the fawning attorneys who went along with this sham,” Bankston said.
Bankston reported Judge Guerra-Gamble made comments Wednesday “that Mr. Jones and his attorneys are engaged in an act of profound injustice which will be addressed in due course.”
A new trial date was not set. A Connecticut judge also paused all proceedings surrounding defamation lawsuits against Jones in that state after the bankruptcy filing.
