Is Tom Girardi mentally incompetent, or is he exaggerating? On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, we heard the stories from Erika Jayne about his debilitating mental capacity. But, it seemed like his health issues started to become more apparent right as his legal problems started becoming inescapable.
With Tom on the hook for millions of dollars of misappropriated funds, prosecutors believe that Tom could be exaggerating his mental capacity to avoid stiffer punishment. So, this week, he had to appear in court to prove that his mind isn’t what it used to be.
Meghann Cunniff, a legal affairs journalist who always has the tea, shared a mega-thread on Twitter and delivered live updates from Tom’s competency hearing. Based on Meghann’s analysis, it sounds like Tom has some damn good lawyers fighting for him.
Disgraced and disbarred
On Twitter, Meghann shared a video of a disheveled Tom entering the courtroom. The hearing lasted for hours, but he reportedly made it through the entire thing without any “outbursts.”
During the hearing, a neuropsychologist testified in Tom’s defense. They suggested that Tom couldn’t recognize his ex-wife Erika in a picture and needed help from an assistant. However, the assistant then suggested that perhaps it was because Erika “wasn’t wearing any makeup” and the picture was “pre-plastic surgery.” Did the assistant really need to shade Erika that bad?
Either way, Meghann’s analysis of the hearing revealed that Tom’s lawyers are good at what they do. Although his legal reputation has been completely tarnished, he still was able to retain the best of the best to represent him.
“Girardi’s lawyer is a good performer – the last time I saw [Craig Harbaugh] in action he was defending Stephen Beal in the first bombing trial before [Judge Josephine Staton]. Harbaugh managed to get a mistrial, and Beal has got to be one of the guiltiest guys to ever walk the face of the Earth,” Meghann explained as she observed Tom’s hearing.
The recent hearing was just the first step in a long road to determining if Tom is mentally competent enough to be held accountable for his actions. Stay tuned for more updates, and follow Meghann if you have an appetite for legal gossip out of California.
TELL US – ARE YOU STILL FOLLOWING TOM GIRARDI’S LEGAL PROBLEMS? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE INITIAL HEARING?
