There aren’t enough trials and enough courtrooms to accommodate Joe Francis.
from www.newsherald.com – “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis’ federal civil trial stemming from Spring Break shoots in Panama City Beach has been moved to January to accommodate his tax evasion trial in California.
According to court records, Francis was in his second day of picking a jury for the tax trial when California U.S. District Judge S. James Otero granted Francis’ motion to continue the trial.
Francis told The News Herald on Wednesday that Otero continued the trial when one of the main witnesses in the case came to court with more than 6,000 e-mails between Francis and his accountant that had not been provided to the defense.
Otero continued the trial to allow Francis’ defense team time to review the e-mails.
Francis said a lawsuit he filed Wednesday came about from information that came from those e-mails. He filed suit in California against three former “Girls Gone Wild” employees, claiming that they set him up to be jailed on the tax fraud charges so they could embezzle money from his company.
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Francis is facing up to 10 years in prison for allegedly misrepresenting $20 million dollars in income. Francis insists that he did nothing wrong and his accountant set him up.
The three- to four-week tax trial was rescheduled for October, which is when Francis’ civil trial in Panama City was set for, prompting its rescheduling. Panama City U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak also ordered that Francis give another deposition in that case by the end of September.
Smoak deemed Francis’ original deposition in April as a waste of time because he refused to answer even the simplest questions.
Francis’ attorney, Rick Bateman of Tallahassee, said he will have to petition the California court to allow Francis to travel to Gainesville for the deposition before a U.S. magistrate there.
“We welcome the deposition in front of the magistrate,” Bateman said. “We’re looking forward to answering questions that are pertinent to the case.”
He said Francis took offense to the accusatory nature of some of the questions in the first deposition.
“You have to understand that Joe has a long history in Bay County and that history is still part of how he is judged in Bay County,” Bateman said.
Another federal judge recently issued a $3 million judgment against Francis in a lawsuit in Washington because Francis claimed Fifth Amendment protection from answering questions in a deposition in that case. According to court records, one question that Francis claimed legal protection from answering was whether he had a cell phone, while he was texting on his cell phone. A lawyer also complained that Francis repeatedly interrupted the deposition with loud flatulence.
“What can I say, I’m a farter,” Francis said of the accusation. “I do have some gas issues. To be frank, I fart.”
Francis was sued in Panama City by four area girls who say they were 13 to 17 years old when they were filmed in 2003 by “Girls Gone Wild” in stages of undress or engaged in sexual activity.
He said Wednesday he was looking forward to coming to Panama City for the January trial.
“I’m looking forward to finally having a fair trial and letting the world see how ridiculous the claims are that these young women have made against me,” Francis said.