Sandy Hook families want to question Alex Jones in court

In this April 17, 2017, file photo, "Infowars" host Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas. In this April 17, 2017, file photo, "Infowars" host Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas. Photo: Tamir Kalifa / Associated Press Buy photo Photo: Tamir Kalifa / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sandy Hook families want to question Alex Jones in court 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEWTOWN — For years following the killing of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook School, extremist media figure Alex Jones questioned whether one of the worst crimes in modern Connecticut history actually happened.

Now some of the families that lost loved ones in the 2012 shootings would like to question Jones.

Lawyers for eight victims’ families who filed defamation lawsuits against Jones and his Texas-based internet business InfoWars have asked a judge for permission to interview Jones under oath as part of the pre-trial phase.

In essence, the families’ attorneys want to put Jones on trial before the judge orders a trial.

“Just as in any other case, questioning of relevant witnesses — especially the defendants — is essential for discovering relevant evidence,” the families’ attorneys argue in court papers.

A state Superior Court judge in Bridgeport could rule at a hearing on Thursday whether to grant the families’ request.

The families and an FBI agent who investigated the shooting are claiming defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Jones, who has been labeled a conspiracy profiteer by one of the families’ attorneys.

Jones’ attorney has already moved to have the lawsuits dismissed.

On Monday, Jones’ attorney argued in court papers that the families’ request to depose Jones is only meant to “harass, burden, and oppress him.”

At the same time, Jones’ attorney has asked to have the cases moved as far away from Sandy Hook as possible, in the hopes of getting a fair trial.

The lawsuits are separate from three other defamation suits filed in Texas against Jones by parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook shootings. In January, a Texas judge ordered Jones to turn over marketing and business records to the parents.

Locally, the families are asking the judge’s permission to question Jones under oath for seven hours, to prevent him from “long, nonresponsive answers (that) would allow him to run out the clock.” The families also want permission to question Jones without bench restrictions about the subject matter, because of Jones’ behavior during his 2017 child custody trial, and his behavior outside the courtroom.

“Jones also has a long history of outrageous confrontational behavior, including attempting to gain access to non-permitted spaces, aggressively ambushing and confronting public officials, private citizens, and other media personalities, and threatening a member of Congress,” the families’ attorneys argue.

“He has also displayed a disregard for the obligations of the oath and the requirement that litigants act in good faith ... at deposition and trial in his custody proceeding,” the families’ attorneys said. “[H]e allowed his attorneys to represent in court that he was a ‘performance artist,’ only to broadcast a video later that day in which he expressly disclaimed that representation, claiming ‘[t]he media is deceiving everywhere.’”

Jones’ attorney Jay Wolman disagrees, writing to the judge on Monday the law requires people to have “admissible evidence supporting their claim before they file the complaint.”

“(The) Plaintiffs’ memorandum makes clear that they filed first and are asking questions later, the very type of practice the law was intended to prevent,” Wolman writes. “An unbounded, seven-hour deposition of Mr. Jones is an improper request under the statute.”