Tom Girardi.Photo:Backgrid / SplashNews.com
Backgrid / SplashNews.com
Three days into the mental competency hearing intended to determine ifTom Girardi— the once-renowned personal injury lawyer, who has been embroiled in legal controversy —could stand trial, he lashed out at the federal prosecutor with a “f— you.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas was quick to report the alleged profanity to the judge overseeing the case,The Los Angeles Timesreported.
“Your honor, I want the record to make clear that the defendant said ‘f— you’ to me,” Moghaddas told U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton, per the outlet.
Although the outlet reported that the verbal flip-off could not be heard in the gallery, Girardi’s own lawyers did not refute the accusation. Meanwhile, Girardi locked on the prosecutor with a cold stare,Courthouse News reported.
Girardi gained a reputation for taking on “David vs. Goliath” cases and fighting against powerhouse companies, such as Pacific Gas and Electric, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. In his five-decade career, Girardi won more than 30 cases with at least $1 million payouts for his clients and settled more than 100 cases with similar payouts, according toThe National Trial Lawyersorganization.
Erika and Tom Girardi.Steve Eichner/AP
But it all came crashing down in 2020 when in the course of a month, Erika filed for divorce after 21 years of marriage and Girardi’s heavily-lined pocketscame under legal scrutiny. The top-hitting lawyer was accused of embezzlement and spending the money of the little guys he had built a career representing.
Hisformer law firm partnerssued him and his longstandinglaw firm dipped toward bankruptcy. In 2021, Girardi was diagnosed withdementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s diseaseanddisbarred. He was later moved to a memory care facility, where he has been living since October 2022.
In court Wednesday, the insulted federal prosecutor noted there was also the matter of the impeccable timing of the alleged disruption: Girardi hurled the f-bomb in the midst of Moghaddas’s cross-examination of Stacey Wood, a forensic neuropsychologist, who has testified that the dementia-ridden disbarred lawyer is not competent to stand trial,TheLos Angeles Timesreported. (Wood says Girardi does not even remember his former wife, according to the outlet.)
Tom and Erika Girardi.Bravo
At the time of the disruption, Moghaddas had been pouring through voicemail messages with the witness,Bloomberg Law reported. In one such voicemail Girardi placed in 2020, he said: “Don’t be bad to me. I’m a nice guy. I don’t want to have any problems with anybody,” according to the outlet.
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Moghaddas took the opportunity to opine to defense witness Wood that the timely explicative illustrated the government’s argument that the maverick lawyer can easily follow court proceedings and is therefore competent to stand trial for the 12-count indictment.
“Yes,” Wood deferred, per Bloomberg Law. “But it also speaks to poor courtroom behavior.”
source: people.com
