LOS ANGELES—After months of taking what seemed like reckless risks to further their porn-trolling campaign, the top lawyers associated with Prenda Law seem to have finally realized how much trouble they're in. They were ordered to appear today in the Los Angeles courtroom of Judge Otis Wright to answer questions about allegations of identity theft and other forms of misconduct. Unlike last time, they all showed up. But rather than answer Judge Wright's questions, they all invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Our own Joe Mullin was in the courtroom, and he told us that each Prenda-affiliated individual had his or her own lawyer. Steele's lawyer said he was taking the Fifth because "the word fraud was used" by Judge Wright in his March 11 hearing, prompting concerns that Steele could face criminal charges.
"If you say answering those kinds of questions would incriminate him, I'll take you at your word," Judge Wright retorted.
Ken White, an author at the legal blog Popehat, was also present in the courtroom. In a tweet following the event, he described Judge Wright as "incandescently angry" about the lawyers' refusal to answer his questions.
"The Prenda attorneys taking the Fifth is an extinction-level event for Prenda," he tweeted.
A little more than 10 minutes into the hearing, Judge Wright got fed up. "We're done," he said, and walked out of the courtroom.
Stay tuned for in-depth Ars coverage from Los Angeles.
Update: Ars' full report on today's hearing has been published.
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