Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer tells court awarding millions of dollars in damages would be like ‘death penalty’ for his client – as it happened

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to News@lemmy.world – 407 points –
Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer tells court awarding millions of dollars in damages would be like ‘death penalty’ for his client – as it happened
theguardian.com
79

Plaintiff are seeking up to $43m in damages in defamation case and Giuliani’s lawyer tells court it would ‘be the end’ of him if he loses

So the lawyer is saying the justice system is working as intended?

I see this as an absolute win

Me too, and I love the "if you punish my client, it will be bad for him" argument. That's clearly the sign of a good lawyer.

It's the best argument he's got, and can you blame him? There isn't a lawyer alive who could win this for old ink scalp. His only hope is a stacked court.

This should be taught in law school in Trial Law 101: best defense

“Your honor, this verdict is horrible for my client. Move for a mistrial.”

“Ah good point, didn’t think of that. Wouldn’t want to inconvience this man. Granted”

The dildo of consequences is approaching rapidly, and he's fresh out of lube.

gotta be careful. even a back-pat can kill him, you know.

(also... be extra mindful of safe sex. fucking this guy is how you catch all the STDs... and some new and interesting ones.)

Only his family members have to worry about STDs from him.

6 more...

Good time for Giuliani to find those bootstraps to pull himself up. Maybe cut back on the avocado toast and Netflix. If he has a phone on him, means he's won't be poor and bankrupt, just lazy.

Former Time Person of the Year, America's Mayor, and someone who once stood a realistic chance of becoming president.

What a fall from grace.

If only he'd retired at 65.

Makes you realize, like Trump, that all of those accomplishments were the result of his PR team and the mainstream media's propaganda machine — he succeeded in spite of his own stupidity and incompetence.

A lot of it also had to do with being mayor of NY when 9/11 happened.

Before 9/11, he wasn’t that popular of a mayor.

He really wasn't that popular not long after 9/11 either. The leftys in NYC always hated his guts and never bought the media lies.

Rudy had one of the longest lucky streaks in human history. He won the NYC Mayor's race because he was the Federal prosecutor who took down Donald Manes, a big Queens County Democratic boss. He got plenty of press coverage, but the truth was that the actual story was broken by Jimmy Breslin. Crime rates were already going down across the country when he became NY mayor, his boasts of beign a great crime fighter don't hold up. Then he became 'America's Mayor.' He made it to third on three errors but thought he hit a triple.

He made it to third on three errors but thought he hit a triple.

That's a great line.

Was that takedown really luck? or something else. I seem to recall something about the Russian Mafia coming into their own sometime after this.

https://www.newsweek.com/giuliani-mysterious-ties-russia-former-soviet-union-decades-1215349

E.g.,

"One of Giuliani's earliest associations was with Semyon 'Sam' Kislin, who donated money to both his 1993 and 1997 campaigns [for mayor] and was appointed by Giuliani to serve on the New York City Mayor's Council of Economic Advisors," Olga Lautman, an investigative reporter who spent three years tracking ties between the Russian mafia and Trump's associates, told Newsweek.

A jury decision awarding tens of millions of dollars in damages for defamation would be a “death penalty” for Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer said during opening statements in a trial that got underway Monday.

Hand me the soap, I need to cry a few tears for him.

Well, if it ruins him, it works as intended. He put them through hell and back with his lies, now it's ample time he pays up. I mean, it should suite him, as he is such a law and order guy.

Oh no, he’ll lose everything and become working class again! The death of a bourgeois! You can’t do this, judge! He’s supported to be protected by the system! 😱

I keep saying, making these people members of the working class is a fate worse than death in their eyes.

So we should do it more often.

It's not like wealthy people ever go broke anyways. Look at Alex Jones, owes millions in judgments but is still spending to the tune of 100k a month, and still making million and is on tv, etc. How is that broke and how is he not being forced to live in a trailer park till his judgments are paid? Any one of us owes money, they'll put you on the streets, literally, to get their money. But rich people get to go on being rich, even when they owe millions.

Yes, I understand why debtor's prisons are a bad thing for poor people. But, it does make me wish that rich people could end up locked up if they were unable to pay debts, especially when the debts are the result of fraud, defamation, and other crimes against innocent people.

Maybe sentence them to living in a halfway house with an ankle monitor on until they can pay what they owe. During the day they get to rant on their internet shows and try to drum up money. But, at night they have to report back to the halfway house and deal with their roommates and so-on.

I mean, why sentence them to anything? Seize their assets and garnish their wages until the debt is paid.

It's what happens to everyone else.

That works for The Poors. But, rich people can easily get around that.

"That Lamborghini? It's not mine, it belongs to a corporation housed in the virgin islands which is owned by a numbered entity in Cyprus"

"Income? I don't have any. But, this foreign bank was willing to loan me $200 million, which I'll definitely be repaying somehow."

"That expensive dinner in Paris? That was a gift from a close friend."

"That new flat screen TV? The non-profit I own is leasing it to me for $0 per month."

They pay people to come up with ways to make them look penniless as far as the law is concerned.

People like Alex Jones may actually have very little money in their name.

They are better at hiding their money, tying it up in investments, trusts, LLC's, etc. Most regular people don't have shell companies to mask their assets.

I'm sure his great friend Donald Trump will be happy to make Rudy whole; it's pocket change to the world's richest man!

[s/]

Trump could probably bail him out. He won't though. Fascists have contempt for the weak. Trump likely despises Giuliani now.

Trump has been broke for years. He personally doesn't drink, but sold his name to 'Trump Vodka.' He took a $1 billion bath when he brought and then had to sell The Plaza Hotel in NYC. He's a terrible dealmaker, but loves to play the big shot. He is a total joke to the real NYC wheeler dealers.

Here's a link to my favorite Trump story; the tldr is that he was given a golden opportunity to get in good with the Manhattan elites and blew it all through his own arrogance, greed, and stupidity.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellisicky/2020/10/03/how-donald-trump-took-down-bonwit-teller-a-fifth-avenue-landmark/?sh=72a36fa25f69

the time to consider whether you can serve the penalty for breaking the law is before you break the law, not after. if you don't have tens of millions of dollars, don't purposely cause tens of millions of dollars in damage.

Maybe Rudy shouldn't have said and done things that could cost him so much money then.

As Republicans like to say: "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime".

I don't see how this is a death sentence. Plenty of other people have gone bankrupt without dying.

He probably is being held alive by his medical staff and wouldn't be able to pay them. He was leaking after all.

Living like the rest of us is a fate worse than death in their eyes.

If I was the judge I'd interpret this as him having made suicidal threats to his council. And I'd place a psychiatric hold so he gets the help he apparently needs.

I like former New York mayor's who aren't involved with defamation crimes.

First of all, bullshit lmao

Second of all, I'd be OK with that even if it wasn't bullshit: These treasonous assholes shouldn't be allowed to get away with their many, many crimes.

Careful not to put him under too much pressure or his hair will start leaking

that drama queen facing any amount of justice is certain to result in legendary amounts of whining and crying

I can't get over how quickly and nonchalantly he was willing to have sex with that reporter in Borat 2.

Just goes to show he does that sort of thing all the time.

Rich people and their supporters make me sick.

Eight jurors were seated in Giuliani’s defamation case. Jurors were asked several questions, including, “Do you believe that Joseph R Biden’s election as president of the United States in 2020 was illegitimate?” and “Have you ever used the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” or the term or hashtag “WWG1WGA”?

According to his lawyer, who has been paid up front.

I hope people in Trump's circle pay attention, because it will happen to you too

Was Rudy like this before his involvement with Trump? All the smart people are saying that Trump guy is a bad influence.

Even if true, so what?

Is that really something the judge is meant to consider?

Yes. I've seen lots of news stories mention elderly criminals being given early release, lighter sentences, house arrest, etc. because of their general state of health.

Just to be clear, I don't think Giuliani has any health problems that would warrant special treatment.

The DTs are no joke but luckily I'm sure the prison doctors have seen it before and would be perfectly capable of treating him.

wait... Ghoulliani is still allowed to pracetice law?!

(reading is hard, okay? I thought this said Ghoulliani told the court his client would be facing the death sentence. Still. he's a greasy shit stain)

It's not like he was being a good steward of the money anyway. We all saw his hair spring a leak on national television.

It's not really relevant in this case, but I rarely miss an opportunity to reminisce about the time that Rudy's hair sprung a leak on national television.

All of this would be so comical if it wasn't actually evil.