In a shocking transfer, disgraced former lawyer Tom Girardi took the witness stand Thursday to testify in his protection, asserting that he by no means deliberately misled purchasers and that “each shopper acquired each penny that each shopper was presupposed to get.”
Girardi, 85, was the ultimate witness referred to as by his legal professionals to testify at his ongoing legal trial.
A grand jury indicted Girardi on 4 counts of wire fraud, with prosecutors accusing him of swindling greater than $15 million from his regulation agency’s purchasers between 2010 and 2020. His attorneys have lengthy sought to painting Girardi as mentally incompetent and within the throes of progressive cognitive decline, however a federal decide this 12 months deemed him match to face trial.
For the final two weeks, jurors within the downtown Los Angeles courtroom have heard emotional testimony from Girardi’s former purchasers, who recounted the belief they positioned in him and their efforts to gather hundreds, and in some circumstances, tens of millions of {dollars} of the settlements he gained for them.
Sporting a gray blazer, Girardi smiled as he shuffled towards the witness stand, with fingers trembling. He answered questions for 45 minutes, first from Deputy Federal Public Defender Samuel Cross.
Girardi started by portray a rosy image of the agency he owned and ran for greater than 40 years, Girardi Keese.
“The agency was doing so effectively due to the fantastic individuals who labored there and nonetheless work there,” he stated. Later, his lawyer requested if his regulation agency, which shuttered in late 2020 and was pressured out of business, was nonetheless open.
“Is your regulation agency nonetheless open, Tom,” Cross requested.
“Sure,” Tom stated.
“Tom, what’s my identify,” Cross requested.
“I don’t know,” Tom replied. “Unhealthy, imply, horrible, it’s a type of.”
Girardi famous that he labored greater than 50 hours every week and took on huge circumstances such because the go well with towards Pacific Fuel & Electrical featured in “Erin Brockovich.” He identified that Julia Roberts starred within the award-winning movie.
However when Cross, his public defender, requested about particular circumstances wherein he’s accused of stealing purchasers’ settlement funds, Girardi minimized his function and denied misconduct.
Requested about Joseph Ruigomez, who gained a settlement of greater than $50 million for burns he suffered within the San Bruno fuel explosion, Girardi acknowledged engaged on the case however denied misappropriating funds.
For different victims who’ve testified in the course of the ongoing trial — resembling Judy Selberg, who by no means obtained the complete settlement in connection along with her husband’s demise in a boating accident — Girardi stated he had no thought which legal professionals at his agency dealt with every case.
Girardi stated he acquired into the authorized occupation with a aim of “serving to individuals who have been harmed.”
“It’s been fantastic. It’s an amazing job,” he stated from the witness stand.
And he painted himself as a selfless boss who put his workers first, repeatedly telling the jury that he by no means took a wage.
“I needed an increasing number of [of] the cash to go to the fantastic individuals who labored there,” he stated.
As to accusations that Girardi stole from purchasers, he shifted blame to his longtime chief monetary officer, Chris Kamon. (Kamon can also be charged with wire fraud in reference to the theft of shopper cash, together with a separate case wherein he’s accused of embezzling funds from the agency to finance the acquisition of properties and a $20,000-per-month fee to his girlfriend.)
Girardi stated Kamon “was fairly intelligent in stealing tens of millions of {dollars}.”
Cross requested what Girardi would have finished if he had recognized earlier concerning the alleged embezzlement. “I’d go loopy. I’d get him indicted. I had no thought,” Girardi stated.
However the tone turned testy as soon as Assistant U.S. Atty. Ali Moghaddas started his cross-examination of Girardi.
Moghaddas requested Girardi how he was feeling.
“That’s as much as you,” Girardi replied. “You’ve acquired to be good.”
The prosecutor requested Girardi why he instructed the Ruigomez household their settlement was $5 million when it was ten occasions as massive, $53 million.
“I wouldn’t have stated that,” Girardi insisted, including that “there’s no means on this planet” he would misinform a shopper.
“I didn’t deliberately ever inform any person the flawed factor,” he added.
Pressed by the prosecutor, Girardi claimed that Ruigomez and one other shopper had drug issues and urged he was performing of their greatest pursuits by withholding settlement funds from them.
Girardi stated Ruigomez’s mom instructed him, “You’ll be able to’t give him a bunch of cash. He’ll kill himself.”
“I keep in mind that, I declare beneath penalty of perjury,” Girardi continued.
When the prosecutor dismissed this as a “story” that Girardi instructed, he was defiant: “It’s not a narrative, it’s the reality.”
Girardi was determined that his agency acquired cash out to households the day the settlement funds arrived “as a result of that cash is essential.”
“I’ve by no means taken a wage as a lawyer. I wasn’t going to cite ‘go steal cash.’ I wouldn’t consider it,” he stated.
When Moghaddas requested about Girardi’s buying of knickknack for his now-estranged spouse, “Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Girardi, he insisted this was not derived from purchasers’ funds.
“Each shopper acquired each penny that each shopper was presupposed to get,” he testified. “Each single shopper — and I swear to you — acquired each single penny that they have been presupposed to get.”
Close to the top of his cross-examination, Moghaddas referenced how Girardi made a profession — and a fortune — out of persuading individuals to see his (or his purchasers’) viewpoint.
“I don’t know, we’ll discover out,” Girardi stated as he appeared on the jury. Moghaddas requested what he meant by that.
“I used to be seeking to the jury,” Girardi replied, earlier than including, “I don’t wish to persuade them to imagine me, I would like them to imagine me.”
Instances workers author Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
