NEWTOWN — In the first Connecticut court appearance since Alex Jones was sprung from bankruptcy protection to face a damages award trial for a defamation case he lost to Sandy Hook families, his New Haven-based attorneys asked to be dropped from the case.
“We are in an untenable position — our communication with our client has broken down,” said Cameron Atkinson, a lawyer who works with high-profile New Haven attorney Norm Pattis. “We have not had direct communication with our client in over a month.”
State Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis said she has heard that story before. She listed 13 separate motions where Pattis and other attorneys have either replaced each other or asked to be dropped from Jones’ case over the last four years. In an unusually lengthy ruling, Bellis called it a “tortured history of appearances,” which was “convoluted and bizarre.”
Thursday’s hearing, which revealed that Jones is seeking to forestall a similar damages award trial in Texas where he lost two other defamation cases to Sandy Hook parents last year, is the latest development after a springtime saga that saw Jones seek bankruptcy protection for his business interests without seeking bankruptcy protection for himself. Lawyers