Education

Federal Judge Rules That Lori Laughlin Doesn't Have To Change Attorneys In Varsity Blues Case


Annie I. Bang/Invision/AP

As all the world knows, Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have been indicted on numerous charges related to the ‘Varsity Blues’ investigation, better known as the college admissions scandal. To briefly recap, Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying half a million dollars to William “Rick” Singer in order to have him procure admissions to U.S.C. for their daughters. Singer is alleged to have falsely represented their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team, though neither actually had any intention or history of participating in crew.

Loughlin and her husband were indicted for several crimes related to the scandal and the prosecutor added a second indictment last April. According to the federal prosecutor, “The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering.” This would be in addition to the penalties for the other crimes.

So the stakes for Loughlin and her husband are high. They appeared in court today and the judge made an important ruling. Loughlin and Mossimo are currently being represented by the attorney Perry J. Viscounty who is pursuing an aggressive legal strategy, fighting the charges, rather than settling the matter as Felicity Huffman and many other parents have done.

The problem is that Viscounty is an attorney at the law firm Latham and Watkins, which has also recently represented the University of Southern California (“USC”) in an unrelated matter. USC is the very university that Loughlin and Mossimo allegedly defrauded and USC may well bring a legal action them.

That opened the very real possibility that the judge could have ordered Loughlin and Mossimo to change attorneys to avoid any possible conflicts of interest. After a hearing on the matter today, the judge decided to allow them to continue with their current representation. The attorneys wasted no time demonstrating that they would not be backing off from their aggressive defense of Loughlin and Mossimo stating during the hearing that the couple truly believed that they were merely making charitable donations.

At the hearing, the judge also cleared the way for Loughlin and Mossimo to remain represented by the same law firm. The judge warned both of them that it is essential for criminal defendants to have the “undivided loyalty of counsel.” While Loughlin and Mossimo are maintaining a united front, it is possible that over the course of the trial their interests might diverge and it is even possible that one might end up testifying against one another.

Nevertheless, both of them signed waivers allowing the joint representation and the judge did not stand in their way. Neither Laughlin nor Mossimo took any questions from the media and they exited the courthouse through a back door.

Meanwhile, the situation at USC remains chaotic as a result of the fallout from the admissions scandal. According to the New York Times, over 20 first-year students are entering USC without yet knowing whether they will be allowed to remain. According to the Times: “Joshua Ritter, a lawyer who is representing students who are under investigation by the university in connection with the case, said that his clients were ‘in a complete state of limbo.’”

 



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