I've been following the Unsworth vs. Musk saga on and off:
And that lawsuit appears to be a cluster-sugar for Unsworth, in a really bad way.
Discovery must have really gone against Unsworth, and they filed to exclude a dozen pieces of evidence Elon's team found against Unsworth from being seen by jurors:
NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION IN LIMINE to Exclude Evidence filed by Plaintiff Vernon Unsworth. Motion set for hearing on 11/25/2019 at 03:00 PM before Judge Stephen V. Wilson.(Wade, Nicole) (Entered: 11/04/2019)
Which motion was opposed by Elon's team:
The evidence they were trying to get the jury not to see is a laundry list that paints Unsworth in a very unflattering fashion:
- "Mr. Unsworth, however, does not want to live by these rules. For example, he seeks to keep the jury from knowing that: (a) both Mr. Unsworth and his expert have admitted that they have no evidence that his reputation has been harmed, e.g., that no one believes that Mr. Unsworth is a pedophile or child rapist (No. 4);
- (b) Mr. Unsworth has been on a campaign, starting when the rescue was still underway, to claim fame and fortune for himself, while diminishing the role and recognition accorded everyone else involved, and that his damage-less lawsuit is a mere manifestation of that campaign (Nos. 2 and 7); and
- (c) he already had a negative business reputation due to a government determination that his company had engaged in unlawful business practices. (No. 5.) This evidence is relevant and admissible. Similarly, the jury will have to decide whether it was “reasonably foreseeable”that BuzzFeed would republish Mr. Musk’s “off-the-record” email.
- Mr. Unsworth seeks to exclude evidence and testimony regarding his partner, Tik, who gave an interview to the Thai news outlet, Big Kren, that reported: “When asked about Elon Musk’s accusation that her husband was a pedophile, Tik said that her husband found that humorous.”"
Elon's lawyers were also hinting at various other bits of evidence, like that he abandoned his family in the UK when he moved to Thailand, and that Unsworth's partner allegedly wrote about "night work" that requires "fortitude":
- Mr. Unsworth seeks to preclude Mr. Musk from offering evidence that Mr. Unsworth abandoned his wife and daughter when he moved to Thailand, and that his daughter refuses to communicate with him as a result.
- Mr. Unsworth also seeks to preclude evidence and testimony regarding a post Tik made on the Jobpub.com discussion board regarding night work, in which a web user with Tik’s email address(to which Tik testified that only she has access) made the following post: “There are lots of types of night work. I work at night. The money’s good, too. But you need a bit of fortitude. You can contact me.”
Is "night work" for women that requires "a bit of fortitude" the obvious euphemism in Thailand too that it is elsewhere?
Elon's team is also hinting at other types of evidence against Unsworth:
- "Mr. Musk has no intention of presenting evidence at trial regarding Mr. Unsworth’s or any witnesses’ pornography tendencies, adult or otherwise. However, in Mr. Unsworth’s lawsuit regarding accusations of pedophilia, the truth or falsity of that allegation is relevant. If Mr. Unsworth opens the door to pornography in his case-in-chief, Mr. Musk cannot be foreclosed from exploring it, with the Court’s approval at trial."
That motion also includes interesting new tidbits about how Buzzfeed violated their own rules of journalistic ethics by publishing Elon's off-the-record email, and then after Elon pointed out that they violated their own rules they modified their rules to make it appear as if publishing off-the-record emails was fine ... It also mentions evidence that Unsworth's lawyer was in contact with Buzzfeed and Elon's off-the-record email was published at her request (!).
Plus it looks like Elon might have succeeded in securing testimony from the real cave diving team, against Unsworth:
- "Mr. Unsworth asks the Court to exclude two witnesses on Mr. Musk’s trial witness list, Ben Reymenants and Ray Lightfoot (aka Raymond Huber), on the grounds that they were not disclosed as potential witnesses until Mr. Musk served his trial witness list on November 1. The Court should deny this request."
I presume these two gentlemen would be willing to go on the record as in what light the cave rescue team viewed Mr. Unsworth?
I.e. Unsworth doesn't look like a hero at all, and was absolutely fishing for a payday. His stunt on CNN might have been part of a payday campaign to begin with.
Instead of defending their motion, Unsworth withdrew it:
- Notice of Withdrawal of Motion to Compel, 84, Motion to Compel, 86 filed by Plaintiff Vernon Unsworth. (Wood, L) (Entered: 11/11/2019)
Which is basically unilateral capitulation.
Unsworth's lawyers also withdrew their 'expert witness', after Elon's team objected:
- NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF ERIC ROSE AS AN EXPERT WITNESS re MOTION IN LIMINE (#4) to Exclude the Expert Opinion of Eric W. Rose 100 filed by Plaintiff Vernon Unsworth. (Wade, Nicole) (Entered: 11/13/2019)
The objection by Elon's team is a SMH read:
In Limine - Exclude – #100 in Vernon Unsworth v. Elon Musk (C.D. Cal., 2:18-cv-08048) – CourtListener.com
"As explained below, Mr. Rose has not used any recognized methodology or facts to opine that Mr. Unsworth needs his “reputation recovery” plan, that its $30 million price tag is justified, or that a jury can even consider this evidence. He plans to offer other improper, speculative, and unsupported opinions based on untestable “subjective” judgments, his instincts, and a review of the record in which he considered no depositions and no document the parties produced. For example, despite his having put on blinders, and
possessing no education or experience in psychology or psychiatry (or a college degree in any field), Mr. Rose wants to testify as to what Mr. Musk was thinking when he took certain actions and to usurp the jury’s role by opining that it was “reasonably foreseeable” for BuzzFeed to republish Mr. Musk’s August 30, 2018 emails to its reporter, Ryan Mac."
Eric Rose was the "designated expert" in Unsworth's lawsuit, he was the one who offered expert testimony as to the damages Unsworth suffered, and would also testify as to the meaning and effect of Elon's tweets. Elon's expert will now be heard by the jury, unopposed by Unsworth's expert.
In light of these facts I wouldn't be surprised if Unsworth already approached Elon's team, trying to explore a settlement - and Elon
refused.
While the trial is certainly going to be a spectacle, and the usual suspects will be spinning it against Elon - I think Elon has pretty good chances at this point.
Previously I thought Unsworth should probably win a monetary settlement in addition to the apology from Elon - now I'm more of the opinion that the jury should see all that evidence and decide whether Unsworth deserves a
single dollar.
