Tom Girardi's fraud trial opens in LA
A federal judge declared the disbarred lawyer competent for trial in January and said she believes he's exaggerating his mental decline.
Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame arrived at the new Los Angeles federal courthouse Tuesday morning for the beginning of jury election in his wire fraud trial.
By the end of the day, 12 jurors and three alternates had heard opening statements. They returned today at 9 a.m. for the first witness.
I got video of Girardi going into the courthouse. According to testimony in his mental competency hearing, he’s still in contact with his wife, Erika Jayne of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, so I am no longer describing them as “estranged” amid their pending divorce.
U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton banned all electronics from her courtroom and the overflow courtroom in a sweeping order that requires us to put our phones in locked pouches and check our laptops at the door. This means my coverage of the trial may be scarce.
That would be the case any time, but it’s especially the case right now with the Young Thug / YSL case in session in Atlanta and all the people on YouTube and TikTok who depend on my coverage.
I also am covering a bench trial about the Veteran’s Hospital in Los Angeles for Home of the Brave — a Long Lead Newsletter; please subscribe to follow my coverage.
Here’s my article on opening statements:
I did not watch opening statements in Girardi’s trial, but you can find coverage from my friends Matt Hamilton of Los Angeles Times, Hillel Aron of Courthouse News Service, Amanda Bronstad of my former employer ALM/Law.com and Craig Clough of Law360. I will be in court for some testimony this week and next and definitely for the verdict, whenever that comes down.
Girardi is charged with four counts of wire fraud after Staton dismissed a fifth count before trial at prosecutors’ request. You can read the prosecution’s trial memo here.
Meanwhile, you can catch up on the Young Thug / YSL trial in Georgia’s Fulton County Superior Court through my TikTok page and YouTube channel.
The big news right now is the jury is slated to return Monday for testimony from key prosecution witness Kenneth “Woody” Copeland.
Copeland was in the midst of his testimony when the trial halted amid the recusal motions against Judge Ural Glanville. Glanville was recused for publicly defending himself against the recusal motions, and the new judge, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, said Copeland’s testimony will begin anew because all previous testimony occurred after the first recusal motion against Glanville was filed.
Whitaker believes Glanville and prosecutors non-nefariously gave Copeland bad information during the June 10 ex parte meeting that sparked the recusal motions. That includes Glanville telling Copeland that if he continues to refuse to testify, he can be jailed for contempt of court for not just the duration of the current trial, but the duration of the upcoming trials for other defendants.
Whitaker brought Copeland into court on Tuesday to tell him that actually, it’s only for the duration of this trial, which could be through February or March of 2025. When she asked Copeland if he’ll testify next week, he said, “Depends on how I wake up.”
Needless to say, a lot of people are going to be watching the trial when it convenes Monday at 8:45 a.m. ET / 5:45 a.m. PT. I’ll be streaming on YouTube as always.
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