Media Event Irks Judge, Who May Gag Counsel for PI Lawyer Charged re 3rd-Party Attacks on His Wife
At a press conference earlier this week, a defense lawyer for a Texas personal injury lawyer accused of masterminding three failed contract murder attempts against his wife contended that his client, defendant Jeffrey Stern, is now in fear for his own life. That’s because Stern’s jailed ex-mistress, Michelle Gaiser, is now trying to have Stern himself murdered, defense lawyer Paul Nugent contends.
Gaiser, who has admitted a role in the third-party attacks on Stern’s wife, faces no criminal charges concerning the claimed effort to eliminate Stern. However, Nugent, who at Tuesday’s news conference read from a letter he said the FBI determined that Gaiser authored, said Stern and his wife are in fear for their lives, according to ABC News, the Beaumont Enterprise and other media outlets.
The Sterns are on good terms despite his alleged role in the murder attempts on Yvonne Stern and she is expected to testify for her husband when he is tried for the attempts made against her.
Meanwhile, a Texas judge is threatening to issue a gag order over the Tuesday news conference, contending that it violated a verbal agreement among the lawyers in the case not to try it in the media. At a Thursday emergency hearing, Harris County District Court Judge Denise Bradley blasted Nugent and other lawyers, contending that their actions are creating a circus-like atmosphere, according to the Belleaire Examiner and the Houston Chronicle.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer’s Mistress to Take Plea in Capital Murder Attempt on Lawyer’s Wife”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer’s Wife Sues the Other Woman; Lawyer, Ex-Mistress are Accused in Murder Attempts on His Spouse”
