Team Prenda Shows Up In Court, Pleads The Fifth... Angry Judge Ends Hearing In 12 Minutes
from the extinction-level-event dept
Well that happened much faster than expected. While Judge Otis Wright apparently had cleared his entire schedule today for the Prenda hearing, the actual hearing lasted all of 12 (count 'em) minutes, with Judge Wright declaring "we're done" before storming out. We'll have a more detailed writeup from Ken White, who was in the courtroom, shortly, but here's a quick summary of what happened. Unlike last time, everyone actually showed up (well, except for the imaginary Alan Cooper of AF Holdings who does not appear to exist) and promptly pleaded the fifth.From various reports from inside the courtroom, it appears that the Judge asked various questions and was not at all pleased with the decision by Team Prenda to clam up, noting that he would "draw reasonable inferences" from the "facts as I know them." Judge Wright's attempts to find out more information to support or rebut the facts as he knows them apparently did not go well. He asked about Alan Cooper, and got not response. He asked about who made the decision to not disclose to the court Prenda's financial interests in the outcome, and was told by the lawyer representing Prenda that "there's no evidence" that this was the case, which only upset the judge more. He asked the lawyer if she had even read Hansmeier's deposition. It didn't take the judge long to decide this was a waste of time, and based on his statements, it appears he's convinced that Prenda was up to no good, and will rule accordingly.
That's the quick nuts and bolts. Ken White is busy at work on a deeper dive analysis, which we'll post when ready. His short summary on what to expect? "Holy shit" and that this is an "extinction-level event" for Prenda. Stay tuned for more...
Filed Under: alan cooper, brett gibbs, john steele, mark lutz, otis wright, paul hansmeier, paul duffy, peter hansmeier
Companies: af holdings, ingenuity 13, livewire holdings, prenda, prenda law