The words of a slain federal witness are expected to loom large in a New Orleans courtroom this week as a trial begins for two local lawyers and two others accused in a wild scheme to stage vehicle wrecks with big rig trucks across the Crescent City.
The trial, slated to start Monday in federal court, is the first in a sprawling insurance fraud case that gripped New Orleans legal circles even before authorities charged a murder plot.
Vanessa Motta, a Hollywood stuntwoman-turned-lawyer, attorney Jason Giles and the King Firm are accused of brazen, yearslong frauds that involved filling cars with people, ramming them into 18-wheelers on New Orleans highways and then suing for big insurance checks…