Elon Musk’s attorneys filed a motion Saturday seeking a mistrial in the Twitter shareholder lawsuit case, alleging that the tech mogul cannot get a fair trial with the current San Francisco jury.
Musk’s lawyers cited “animosity in the community toward Mr. Musk apparent during jury selection,” as well as four other alleged violations by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and Judge Charles Breyer, who is overseeing the case.
Former Twitter shareholders sued Musk, alleging that he intentionally sought to drive down the company’s value before his October 2022 purchase of the company. The plaintiffs said they lost money by selling shares of the company at a lower price, with the belief that Musk would walk away from the acquisition.
Musk’s attorneys claim that Breyer exceeded his supervisory role during examinations last week of former CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal, who is now Mayor Daniel Lurie’s chief of housing and economic development. Breyer allegedly interrupted and criticized Musk’s attorneys, they said, while not holding the plaintiffs’ lawyers accountable.
The mistrial filing alleges that plaintiffs’ attorneys violated Breyer’s order during the trial to not bring up Musk’s secret purchases of over 9% of Twitter stock before disclosing his position in 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission has separately sued Musk over alleged failure to disclose his stake, and a judge recently declined to dismiss that case.
The defense also said plaintiffs’ counsels sought to make Musk cite attorney-client privilege and appear secretive during his questioning, while also asking Musk about his wealth and decision to move companies out of California. Musk’s lawyers claim the tactics were meant to turn the jury against him.
Musk’s lawyers also claimed the court improperly blocked Musk from challenging the plaintiffs’ claim that European privacy laws prevented Twitter from sharing user data to Musk during the acquisition process.
In its filing, Musk’s team acknowledged that many jury candidates said they disliked Musk, leading to the dismissal of 40 prospective jurors. Amid that hostility, “the Court has an obligation to protect Mr. Musk’s right to a fair trial,” his lawyers said.
This article originally published at Elon Musk seeks mistrial in Twitter lawsuit, citing ‘animosity’ in San Francisco.