Jury to Hear Giuliani Defamation Case as Judge Rejects Bench Trial Request

Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media after leaving the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Aug. 23, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani goes on trial before jury Dec. 11 in Washington in a case brought against him by former Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter, after a judge rejected his request for a bench trial in an order issued late on Sunday, Dec. 3.

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell has already ruled Mr. Giuliani liable for defamation, and the upcoming trial will deal with how much he owes the election workers in damages.

In a strongly worded order and opinion, Judge Howell criticized Mr. Giuliani for being disruptive throughout the case process, resulting in sanctions for “willful shirking” of his discovery obligations and now arguing that the election workers are owed only “nominal” damages.

It was Mr. Giuliani’s failure to share documents with the plaintiffs that led to his pretrial judgment, and order to pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees. He argued on Nov. 30 that the damages should not be up to a jury; the judge ruled that punitive damages are awarded by juries.

“Having already scuttled plaintiffs’ right to ‘obtain relevant evidence both to support their claims and rebut any defenses,’ ...  Giuliani will not now be rewarded with his effort to abrogate plaintiffs’ properly pleaded demand for a jury trial on damages,” the judge wrote.

She added that making plaintiffs change how they are to present their case last minute would be yet another “procedural unfairness” on Mr. Giuliani’s part.

Lawsuit

On Dec. 23, 2021, Ms. Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss sued Mr. Giuliani and Herring Networks executives as “anti-democratic actors desperate for scapegoats” who have subjected the mother and daughter through “vitriol, threats, and harassment” because of “a campaign of malicious lies.”

The election workers had been identified in a video clip that became widely circulated after the 2020 general election, where they were seen putting ballots into suitcases.

Rumors followed that they were manipulating ballots, and that one had handed the other a USB related to the votes. Mr. Giuliani referenced these video clips himself when he made presentations and testified about alleged election fraud, accusing them of ballot tampering.

A social media post made by an anonymous user proclaiming to be Ms. Freeman and admitting to voter fraud further exacerbated the rumors. The poster was later identified by Georgia law enforcement and confirmed not to have been Ms. Freeman.

An investigation by the Georgia Elections Board later cleared Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss of wrongdoing, but mother and daughter said the damage had been done. They testified that what was passed between them was merely some gum, and that they had used suitcases to move the stacks of ballots regularly.

Jury Trial

On Aug. 30, Judge Howell had issued a default judgment in the plaintiffs’ favor, ruling that Mr. Giuliani had forfeited his case by refusing to turn documents over to Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss. Mr. Giuliani was also ordered to pay their attorney fees.

“Giuliani repeatedly flouted basic preservation and production duties, frustrating plaintiffs’ procedural rights to obtain any meaningful discovery in this case, necessitating the entry of default judgment against Giuliani on liability as a discovery sanction,” she summarized in the most recent order.

Afterward, both parties had agreed to a pretrial schedule, including when to interview jurors.

The plaintiffs had asked for a jury trial in their initial complaint, and on Nov. 30, Mr. Giuliani filed a brief arguing for a bench trial, noting that legal counsel had approach the plaintiffs about the issue on Nov. 1.

He argued that his no-answer forfeiture of the case should not result in a jury trial, and no case law was cited where a trial court “has discretion to allow a jury to determine damages in a situation where a party has been defaulted as a sanction.”

Judge Howell rejected this argument, writing that “a jury may properly hear the damages component of plaintiffs’ case.”

She noted that Mr. Giuliani’s earliest objection was a Nov. 14 footnote notice that he would file a brief arguing a jury trial was inappropriate, before he filed the brief more than a month past deadline for pretrial motions.

Judge Howell also noted that Mr. Giuliani has already contested to the amount he owes Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss.

“Moreover, he plans to raise factual challenges to the scope and extent of damages owed and to cross examine plaintiffs and their experts about any claimed harm,” she wrote.

“Quantification of damages, particularly where, as here, such calculation will require resolution of factual disputes and credibility assessments, falls within the traditional province of a jury.”

Plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages as well as punitive damages, and the judge wrote that punitive damages are to be determined by juries, subject to review by the court.

Financial Issues

The Nov. 30 brief was filed by attorney Joseph Sibley, after Mr. Giuliani’s entire Georgia legal team left him earlier this fall. Yet another law firm had sued Mr. Giuliani for not being able to pay almost $1.4 million in legal fees.

Then early October, it was revealed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) placed a tax lien of nearly $500,000 on a Palm Beach, Florida, condo owned by Mr. Giuliani, claiming he owes $549,435.26 in unpaid income taxes for 2021.