Tom Girardi took the stand in his own defense on Thursday. It’s the first time he’s publicly spoken up in the case of the alleged large-scale fraud he and his law firm carried out. And things got REALLY testy!!
As you’ll no doubt recall, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne‘s estranged husband is the focus of a major lawsuit over the compensation granted to the families of those who died in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia. The 85-year-old and his now-shuttered law firm Girardi Keese are accused of winning hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation on behalf of those families, and then cheating them out of the money in a mind-blowing fraud and embezzlement scheme.
Related: Erika Jayne Thought About Suicide ‘Many Times’ Amid Tom Girardi Embezzlement Battle
On Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times and others, Girardi himself stunningly took the witness stand in his own defense. His defense lawyers previously contended he was mentally incompetent to go to court due to the ravages of progressive cognitive decline related to his age. But last year, a federal judge rule that he was fit to stand trial and face four counts of wire fraud. We still didn’t expect him to testify though! And Thursday’s testimony was jaw-dropping!
Per the Times, those present in the courtroom gasped when his very own lawyer, federal public defender Samuel Cross, called him to the witness stand. Girardi shuffled in with his hands trembling, and then proceeded to shakily answer question for more than 45 minutes! It started with Cross, ironically on direct, asking about Girardi Keese, and what made the law firm so good. Tom replied:
“The firm was doing so well because of the wonderful people who worked there and still work there.”
But then, Cross started appearing to test Tom’s mental acuity (or, based on the defense’s argument, his lack thereof) for the jury. Cross asked:
“Is your law firm still open, Tom?”
It’s not… but Tom replied:
“Yes.”
Then his lawyer asked:
“Tom, what’s my name.”
To which Girardi answered:
“I don’t know. Bad, mean, terrible, it’s one of those.”
Uhhh… what?!?!
Tom did tell Cross all about the work he did in the famous real-life lawsuit featured in the movie Erin Brockovich, though — trying to paint himself as a hero, we guess. But when it came time to talk about the Lion Air accusations, Tom deflected and deflected and deflected! In those interactions with Cross, he claimed he’d had no idea that others at the firm were allegedly embezzling client funds. (FYI, Girardi’s longtime chief financial officer Chris Kamon is among those charged with wire fraud in connection with this investigation, too.)
Related: Erika Begs Andy Cohen To ‘Eviscerate’ Kyle Richards At RHOBH Reunion Over THIS!
But then the tone got REALLY weird again when Assistant US Attorney Ali Moghaddas began his cross-examination. To start it off, Moghaddas asked Girardi how he was feeling. The embattled lawyer answered:
“That’s up to you. You’ve got to be nice.”
Damn. Testy!!
After Moghaddas grilled him on a separate embezzlement accusation other than the Lion Air case, and accused Girardi of making up stories in his own defense, the lawyer lashed out from the witness box:
“It’s not a story, it’s the truth.”
Moghaddas accused Girardi of taking excess salaries from the firm during his time working there, too, but Girardi blew up at the accusation as well:
“I’ve never taken a salary as a lawyer. I wasn’t going to quote, ‘go steal money.’ I wouldn’t think of it.”
And when Moghaddas brought up Erika Jayne — specifically regarding Girardi’s expensive jewelry purchases on her behalf — Tom INSISTED that those buys were not made with ill-gotten client funds. He roared:
“Every client got every penny that every client was supposed to get. Every single client — and I swear to you — got every single penny that they were supposed to get.”
Oh, well if he swears it, then that’ll no doubt be good enough for the judge and jury. LOLz…
Inneresting how his lawyers were trying to paint him as unable to answer simple questions — but it seems he’s perfectly capable of denying any accusations. Like most defendants.
Soon after that, in another exchange on the stand, Girardi said a very curious thing to Moghaddas again:
“Be nice to me.”
That’s notable, because as the Los Angeles Times acknowledges, that was the exact phrase Girardi used repeatedly when dealing with enraged clients who were trying to get their money from him. So, it’s pretty unsettling — to say the least — that Girardi would go to that phrase under oath while being cross-examined by the federal prosecutor, too. Almost like he can’t help it. Jeez!!
As for the shocking decision for him to take the stand in the first place, the legal community is completely perplexed by it. As the Times notes, legal experts are gobsmacked that the 85-year-old would have been put on the stand in the first place. Former federal prosecutor Michael Weinstein, who is not involved with this case, explained to the Times that Girardi’s presence in the witness box — especially amid his defense hinging on his supposed cognitive decline — is a MASSIVE risk:
“If he mumbles, and forgets and acts as though he’s living in some parallel universe, the defense benefits. Conversely, if the government is able to draw out that he is aware, in whole or part of his actions, and made coherent decisions and is aware of his surroundings, his testimony will support government efforts to hold him accountable.”
By the end of this trial, we’ll certainly see whether that accountability comes. Reactions, Perezcious readers?? Share ’em in the comments (below)…
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