Lori Loughlin Is Facing The ‘Trial Of Her Life,’ Legal Expert Says
Now that United States District Judge Nathaniel Gorton refused to dismiss the charges against Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, the pair has no choice but to prepare to face trial. Legal expert Silva Megerditchian weighed in on where the couple stands now in terms of the college admissions scandal, noting that the actress should prepare for the “trial of her life”, according to Fox News.
Every legal step Loughlin’s defense team has taken to prevent her from facing trial on schedule has failed thus far. In addition to trying to have the charges thrown out altogether, the couple’s lawyers have also tried to postpone the trial and attempted to have them tried separately from other parents. The court has rejected each request, which Megerditchian explained is a bad sign for Loughlin and Giannulli.
“There is no doubt that this is a major setback for her. It sure looked like the prosecution had made some major mistakes in prosecuting Lori and the others – but the judge just did not think it was enough to dismiss the charges. Now, Lori must prepare for the next stage – preparation for the trial of her life.”
Megerditchian did reference the alleged misconduct on behalf of prosecutors, which appeared to cause possible reasons for the charges against Loughlin and Giannulli to be dismissed. The couple’s defense accused prosecutors of manipulating William “Rick” Singer, the admitted mastermind of the scheme, to lie to his clients regarding how their money would be used. They further stated that it was because of this that Loughlin and Giannulli were unaware the $500,000 they paid Singer would be taken as a bribe.
Megerditchian emphasized that while she did think mistakes had been made, those are not enough to save Loughlin.
“The message is clear – that even though the judge acknowledged the Prosecution did some wrong tactics, by pressuring [William] Rick Singer to bend the truth and not turning over notes in a timely fashion, the conduct is not enough to dismiss the charges,” she said.
Megerditchian further explained that Loughlin and Giannulli are taking a gamble at this point. Instead of taking a plea deal and likely accepting a lesser sentence, they are determined to continue to fight to prove their innocence. Thus, the stakes are very high for them and their sentence will be longer if they are convicted.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, the pair is expected to face trial in October 2020 along with over a dozen other parents involved in the college admissions scandal.
