Cleared in wife-slaying attempt conspiracy, lawyer sues defense counsel for ex-mistress
Cleared after initially being accused of playing a role in a claimed conspiracy in which others unsuccessfully attempted to kill his wife, a Texas personal injury lawyer is turning the tables on those who formerly sought to prove his guilt before all charges against him were dropped.
Jeffrey Stern has filed a lawsuit against two attorneys who represented his former mistress in a related criminal case contending that husband-and-wife defense lawyers James Stafford and Deborah Keyser tried to help a Harris County prosecutor to convict him in hopes they could get a book and movie deal out of the high-profile case, Courthouse News reports.
The prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence from a lawyer for a defendant in another related case, Stern contends, although he doesn’t name the prosecutor as a defendant in his suit.
His ex-mistress, Michelle Cabrera Gaiser, pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to decades of prison time.
Stern essentially alleges that Stafford and Keyser, eager to benefit from a book and movie deal, improperly tried to help the prosecutor convict him:
“As Mr. Stafford has a book/movie deal signed from his client, he and his wife begin to feed Ms. Allen false information to further prosecute Jeffrey Stern. If Jeffrey Stern is not prosecuted, there will be no book/movie deal, so Stafford and Keyser offer ‘theories’ and suggest ways of admitting evidence against Jeffrey Stern, truthful or not, regardless of whether it is based on facts or evidence,” the complaint contends.
Earlier, Stern’s wife, Yvonne, reconciled with him after being shot during one attack. She filed suit against Gaiser for assault in 2012, in what Gaiser’s lawyers have claimed was an effort, on Jeffrey Stern’s part, to obtain information about the case that he otherwise might not have been able to discover.
The same lawyer who represented Yvonne Stern in the suit against Gaiser, Dean Blumrosen, now represents Jeffrey Stern in the new litigation. He is seeking punitive damages for claimed malicious prosecution.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Charges Dropped; No Trial for PI Lawyer Jeffrey Stern Once Accused in Contract Hit Plot On His Wife”
ABC News: “Murderous Mistress Plea Deal Called ‘Corrupt’ in Texas Furor”
