Dr. Craig Wright got emotional during his long day on the witness stand when his late-best friend Dave Kleiman, as well as his failed relationship with his ex-wife, were mentioned. There was only one witness on Day 7 of the Kleiman v Wright trial and that was the defendant in the case, Dr. Craig Wright.
Picking up where he left off on Day 6, plaintiff’s lawyer Vel Freedman continued his examination of Dr. Wright. Old and new evidence was shown to the court; however, the evidence shown was not really relevant to the question at the core of this court case: whether or not Dr. Wright and Dave Kleiman had a partnership in which they mined 1.1 million Bitcoin together as Satoshi Nakamoto and whether or not Dr. Wright fraudulently transferred Kleiman’s bitcoin to himself.
Many of the documents shown to the court today were documents and correspondences related to or from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), banks, holding companies, and Dr. Wright’s email address.
Dr. Wright has been adamant in his testimony that he didn’t write these documents/emails and is arguing that the foundation that Freedman is attempting to build off these documents is invalid because Freedman is inaccurately expressing the documents.
However, in making that argument, Dr. Wright may be inadvertently casting doubt on himself from the perspective of the jury. His answers to Freedman’s questions create confusion and make it difficult to understand whether Dr. Wright is being truthful.
At first glance, some of Dr. Wright’s testimony seemed in conflict with the statements he gave in his video deposition, at least until Dr. Wright clarified what he meant in each instance after the evidence and deposition were shown.
But generally, the responses Dr. Wright has provided during his examination could be leaving people with more questions than answers.
Dr. Wright’s net worth?
Some of the evidence introduced today was meant to support the idea that Dr. Wright has an “astronomical amount” of money.
“Dr. Wright and Mr. Kleiman’s tulip trust document claims Dr. Wright contributed 1.1 million BTC to the trust…Ms. Nguyen has stated that 650k of the BTC come from CSW and 350k from Dave Kleiman,” read one document.
“Dave Kleiman has received 1,110,111 BTC from Dr. Wright at the time of transfer, this is valued at around 100,000 USD. All BTC will be returned to Dr. Wright on January 1, 2020,” read another piece of evidence introduced to the court.
These documents seem to be laying the foundation for an argument about Dave Kleiman and Dr. Wright having a partnership. However, a housekeeping matter at the end of the court session revealed that the amount of Bitcoin that is allegedly in Dr. Wright’s possession is relevant because the case could result in Dr. Wright having to pay punitive damages, and therefore, Dr. Wright’s estimated net worth is a factor that should be in play.
Summary
It was a slow day and long day with only one witness, Dr. Wright, on the stand. The plaintiffs are wearing Dr. Wright down and applying pressure when it comes to sensitive topics that make Dr. Wright emotional, Dr. Wright was also getting visibly frustrated during today’s examination.
The plaintiffs have not advanced their position via their arguments; however, the plaintiffs are providing strong evidence that might be leading the court to perceive Dr. Wright in a more negative light.
Dr. Wright has done a decent job of dismantling the foundation that the plaintiffs are trying to build to make an argument, but in the process, he comes off as confusing and potentially untrustworthy.
However, Dr. Wright is doing a good job of telling the world why Bitcoin was created and why he had to create so many different companies and shuffle their assets and IP around. A core point in this story is that Dr. Wright was feeling pressure from the ATO attack, and they tried to seize everything he owned and had they succeeded, Bitcoin wouldn’t exist today. Dr. Wright says this is why he transferred many of his assets to a foreign land, a land where the ATO had no authority to seize the assets—in the United States with Dave Kleiman.
“Dave helped me act as a front, a sham as the ATO called it. So it looked like he ran all my companies… the Australian Taxation office almost bankrupt me and became the owner of Bitcoin’s IP,” said Dr. Wright in his testimony.
Overall, the plaintiffs had a more successful day than the defense but it’s a long trial and we still are not even at the halfway point. Freedman’s examination of Dr. Wright is expected to come to an end on Wednesday, November 10. The defense attorneys will defer cross examining Dr. Wright at this stage and address all the discrepancies in his testimony when they get to start the defense stage of the trial later next week. After Dr. Wright is finished on the stand, the plaintiffs have one more witness to examine before they turn it over to the defense to finish out the case.
CoinGeek will feature Kurt Wuckert Jr. in daily recap coverage which will be livestreamed on a daily basis at 6:30 p.m. EST on our YouTube Channel.
Watch our Day 7 Special Report from the Kleiman v Wright trial here:
Check out all of the CoinGeek special reports on the Kleiman v Wright YouTube playlist.
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