A judge has ordered Craig Wright to return to the UK to face a contempt of court hearing after the Australian entrepreneur failed to argue that his autism and plans for Christmas should prevent him from appearing in person.
Patent attorney David Pearce attended the hearing today and documented Wright and Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) legal representative Jonathan Hough’s arguments for and against his attendance.
Today, COPA called Wright’s arguments “not remotely convincing,” and claimed, “wanting to spend Christmas in Indonesia is not a reason that should carry any weight.”
It also argued that Wright’s £900 billion claim would have to have, “very strong grounds against attendance in person.” Wright was also accused of “expert shopping” his autism expert, Dr. Kiln, and noted that Kiln never suggested he should give evidence remotely during previous trials.
Read more: Craig Wright lawsuit made 184 ‘twisted and incoherent’ claims, say analysts
Wright previously argued that his autism should prevent him from attending in person and that the proposed timings weren’t ideal given his intended Christmas schedule.
Today, attending virtually, he claimed he has received social media abuse and that he needed two “ex-secret service” bodyguards to observe him over fears he was being followed.
Wright’s evidence also argued that the judge, overseeing today’s session, Mr. Justice Mellor, was affiliated with David Pearce. Mellor, however, shot down this allegation, noting that he’d only met him twice at official events. Mellor stated, “I reject in no uncertain terms any allegations of bias.”
COPA accused Wright of contempt of court earlier this month and claimed he breached his court injunctions when Wright filed a lawsuit against Jack Dorsey’s Square Up and BTC Core.
Mellor ultimately rejected the argument supported by Wright’s expert and instead, admitted the evidence of another doctor who decided that Wright’s attempted remote attendance wasn’t justified.
The hearing is now scheduled to take place in person on December 18.
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