Lori Loughlin’s Defense Appears to be Claiming to be as Dumb as Her Kids
Lori Loughlin’s college bribery trial is moving ahead and she has a plan; play dumb. TMZ reports that Loughlin’s defense appears to be claiming that she had no idea Rick Singer, the person at the core of the scandal, was doing anything illegal or unethical.
At its core … Lori and Mossimo’s defense is they relied on Singer — who helped “10s of thousands” other clients — to get their daughters into USC. They gave him $500,000 — some parents paid less and some more — and assumed the money would end up in the hands of the University. In other words, it wasn’t a bribe — so their defense will go.
Now, I’ve taken one semester of tort law like twenty years ago so I feel entirely qualified to get into the details of American law, so let me explain how this will work. Whether or not this defense is accepted, barring evidence that proves Loughlin knew what Singer was doing was illegal, will generally rely on the “reasonable man” standard. In the most basic abstract, the question is if the belief Loughlin and her husband are claiming to have is one a reasonable man might have.
It’s impossible to know what a jury will decide, but it does seem plausible. Loughlin’s defense is clearly relying on the arcane nature of the college admissions process and the fact that it is entirely legal to make large donations to colleges to get your idiot kid accepted to even the most elite schools to convince jurors that she had a reasonable belief she was ‘t doing anything illegal.
Along with this, the incriminating photos of Olivia Jade and Loughin’s non-influencer daughter on rowing machines were apparently never sent to USC.
Sources connected to USC tell TMZ, the photos were never submitted as part of the girls’ admission package. As we reported, the mastermind of the scandal — Rick Singer — told Lori and Mossimo to get the pics taken so it would appear they had experience on a crew team.
Things don’t look all that dire for Loughlin, honestly. She could be doing those sappy Hallmark movies again by the end of the year if things go her way. And the rumors that she hired some advisor to teach her not to end up as Crazy Eyes’ bitch on the inside were just that, too.
On another note … there’s a story out that Lori hired a “prison expert” to help her handle life behind bars if she’s convicted and sent to prison. Totally false. Never met with a “prison expert.”
I can’t say for sure that Loughlin is going to walk here, but things are looking good for her for the first time since this scandal broke.
