Ex-White House Lawyer Takes 5th in Wife's $15M Damages Suit Over Alleged Murder Attempt
She had endured “years of emotional and verbal abuse” from her husband, former White House attorney John Michael Farren, testified his wife, attorney Mary Farren, in a Connecticut court hearing yesterday.
But when she refused to withdraw her divorce filing, he snapped, Mary Farren, 44, told a Stamford Superior Court judge. She said he beat her with a foot-long metal flashlight in the master bedroom of their mansion in New Canaan, breaking her jaw and and other facial bones and putting her in and out of consciousness, reports the Stamford Advocate.
Farren has also had difficulty processing large amounts of information after the Jan. 6 attack, which may adversely affect her ability to continue working at her $300,000-a-year job at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, she says. “You have to be agile with your ability to form thoughts and file motions as they are coming at you.”
Her testimony concerns a civil suit in which she seeks to freeze up to $15 million of her husband’s assets in anticipation of potential damages. A temporary freeze has already been granted, and the hearing is to determine whether it will continue, the newspaper explains.
Appearing in a green jumpsuit, her 57-year-old husband, who worked in the White House as a lawyer in both Bush administrations, asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify at the hearing concerning Mary Farren’s injuries, answering questions only concerning his background and assets. John Farren was charged with attempted murder shortly after his wife fled to a neighbor’s home with their two young daughters and has been in prison ever since.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Attempted Murder Case Against Former White House Lawyer Followed Fizzling of His Legal Career”
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-White House Lawyer Accused of Strangling Wife Now Faces a Civil Suit”
ABAJournal.com: “Conn. Used Newer Strangulation Statute to Charge Ex-White House Lawyer”
