(CN) — Alki David, the eccentric Greek Coca-Cola bottling heir, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, flanked by three hangers-on and a large Doberman named Vader, clad in a "service dog" vest.
The appearance was part of a proceeding in which a former employee of his, Chastity Jones, is seeking to collect on an $8.4 million (plus attorneys fees and costs) judgment leveled against David, after Jones successfully sued him for sexual harassment and sexual battery. David was a no-show at last week's hearing; the day before that, he walked out of an examination refereed by a retired judge.
David showed up intent on reading a statement, which Superior Court Judge Judge Yolanda Orozco allowed. In the statement, David demanded that Orozco recuse herself from the case and "immediately step down from the Superior Court altogether." He accused the judge, who was first elected in 2010, of being "tainted by the corruption of Tom Girardi," a prominent plaintiff's attorney who's now accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars from his clients, in a legal scandal that cast a shadow over the state bar.
David continued to unfurl an inscrutable conspiracy theory involving Girardi, former Senator Harry Reid (who died in December), Congressman Adam Schiff, former LA County Sheriff Lee Baca (who's now serving a three-year sentence in federal prison), attorney Michael Avenatti and attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented two different plaintiffs suing David.
Orozco all but ignored the statement, though she did say: "I’m not going to recuse myself or resign from the Superior Court at this time."
The judge was more concerned with whether David had complied with a pair of orders from 2021 to turn over a bevy of financial documents, including tax returns and bank statements. He said he had. Joseph Chora, an attorney for Jones who specializes in collecting on judgments, said David had turned over tax returns from 2017 and 2018, and little else.
"Most of these bank accounts are located in Europe," said David's attorney, Dana Cole. "He would have to go to Europe to get the documentation."
"Counsel, it can be done," said the judge.
Cole then pivoted to a different excuse: "These accounts are all closed. They’ve been closed for years."
David, growing more and more agitated, shouted at Chora: "How do you obtain the unobtainable, you moron?"
David is scheduled to be examined — again — by Jones's attorneys on March 7 in Superior Court.
"Mr. David indicates to me that he’s not certain he will actually attend," Cole told the judge, as Wednesday's hearing was wrapping up.
"Mr. David," said the judge, who'd been fairly tolerant of David's outbursts, "I hope that you do take this seriously."
"Is the court deaf, your honor?" David shouted. "There is no more justice in this court."
David's comments were even more pointed before the hearing, when speaking to Courthouse News.
"This is the most corrupt fucking meat house you’ve ever seen in your fucking life," he said in an interview, referring to the courthouse. "This is the real fucking crime syndicate." As for the judge, he said, "this sanctimonious bitch is going to preside over why I won’t pay up these criminal thugs."
When asked by Courthouse News if David planned on ever paying the judgment, he replied, "That question, you can take it and fuck off away from me."
In the past, both David and his lawyer have suggested that David may not have the money to pay all his judgments. But in an interview, Chora dismissed that idea, saying that, according to the tax returns he's seen from 2017 and 2018, "he holds his money in trusts and in corporations. ... I think counted close to $50 million [in assets]." Chora said he hopes the examination will help him find out exactly where the money is.
"The $50 million went somewhere," he said.
Chora said that he plans to file a motion to hold David in contempt, saying it was his only option since David had defied a court order.
"This judge has taken less than a firm hand," he added. "There’s only so much I can do without the backing of the judge."
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