Attorneys for a number of Sandy Hook families engaged in legal action against conspiracy theorist and broadcaster Alex Jones said he and his legal team employed a routine tactic to delay key witnesses in the case from being deposed.

According to a statement issued to The Newtown Bee, at around midnight Tuesday, November 17, and just hours before a hearing at which a state court was expected to order that Jones’ accountant and executive assistant be deposed, the defendant sought to have the case transferred to federal court.

Chris Mattei from Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder said, “The families brought this case more than two years ago to hold Alex Jones responsible for his abusive claims.

“On the eve of being ordered to make both his accountant and executive assistant available for deposition, he filed a motion just a few minutes before midnight last night seeking to delay the process by moving the entire case to federal court, a known stalling tactic that Sandy Hook families have seen and defeated before in other high-profile cases,” Mattei said. “Alex Jones is terrified that the depositions will reveal the truth about him and his business practices. Every attempt to delay justice only strengthens the resolve of the Sandy Hook families.”

In related news, The Connecticut Law Tribune reported earlier this month that New Haven attorney Norm Pattis is back in court representing the right-wing radio host — this time on an appeal to the US Supreme Court — even though he had withdrawn from the case in which relatives of people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre had sued Jones for defamation.

In late July, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a sanction against Infowars host Jones over an angry outburst on his web show against an attorney for relatives of some of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who are suing him for defamation.

The court issued a 7-0 decision rejecting Jones’ claims that his comments aimed at attorney Christopher Mattei were protected by free speech rights, and upholding a lower court’s ruling that Jones violated numerous orders to turn over documents to the families’ lawyers.

The lower court judge barred Jones from filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, as a penalty for his actions.

Associated Press content was used in this report.