Katy Perry Montecito trial: woman burst into court

As testimony continued in court Thursday in Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom’s lawsuit with entrepreneur Carl Westcott over a Montecito home, the proceedings took an unexpected turn when a woman burst into the courtroom.

The drama occurred during the afternoon session when Dr. Daniel Frank, a neuroscientist expert called to the stand by the celebrity couple’s business manager Bernie Goodwy, answered questions about Westcott’s “cognitive abilities” since July 2020 (after Perry and Bloom’s home purchase). for 15 million dollars).

The unidentified woman twice burst into the room where a PEOPLE reporter was present: the first time, a court clerk asked her to calm down and leave, and Westcott’s lawyer, Andrew Thomas, who looked shocked, called for sheriff’s deputies to be called. After the woman burst into court again, police arrived to escort her out of the courtroom.

The judge, who asked those present to remain in the courtroom until deputies deemed the situation safe, later said the woman was upset about a previous case he presided over.

Bloom, 46, and Perry, 38, are related to Westcott, 84, who filed a lawsuit against Goodvy in an attempt to stop the couple from purchasing a 1930s Montecito mansion in 2020.

The non-jury trial began earlier this week, and during opening statements Wednesday, Thomas told the court that his client was showing signs of “delusions” and “intrusive thoughts” after taking painkillers, hydrocodone, gabapentin and tramadol when he sold his home to the couple July 15, 2020. Thomas also claimed that Westcott had undergone spinal surgery on his back and that the sales contract was presented to Westcott while he was still recovering from “post-operative delirium.”

Eric Rowan, Goodwie’s lawyer, argued that Westcott’s degenerative brain disease diagnosis did not affect Westcott’s mental capacity and that he was recovering from surgery when he bought the house six weeks earlier in May 2020. mild mental retardation” until a year later.

Perry also countersued Westcott, seeking $2.7 million for the house to cover the cost of renting and maintaining a nearby mansion and $2.6 million in compensation for lost rent she would have received from the mansion to this day.

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that Perry would have to testify later this month in the counterclaim, adding: “I am not inclined to have a closed trial. She is a person like everyone else. She asks for a lot of money. ”

Closing arguments in Westcott’s lawsuit are expected to begin Nov. 3.