NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – An attorney testified that a lawyer on trial in federal court accused him of defamation and threatened to report him to the bar association when he raised concerns about fraud.
The attorney said he defended lawsuits filed by injury attorney Vanessa Motta — a former Hollywood stuntwoman turned lawyer — over what he suspected were staged car crashes. He said many of those cases remain pending and have been in process for years.
Prosecutors pointed to a deposition in which Motta allegedly said, “I’m just going to say this: if you’re going to continue on these insinuations that are actually completely (unethically) about me… I’m going to report them to the bar association.”
Crash video presented as evidence
Prosecutors also presented a video in court on Wednesday from a 2017 crash. They argued it was proof of a scheme that continued for years. They allege Cornelius Garrison and other so-called “slammers” would intentionally crash into commercial vehicles in exchange for kickbacks and insurance payouts…