Kim Kardashian's Lawyer Gives Inside Look at Paris Jewelry Heist Trial

TMZ

Kim Kardashian's lawyer in her Paris jewelry heist trial says it was no easy decision for her to testify ... because she's coming awfully close to her alleged robbers in court.

Transcript

00:00Kim was wearing jewelry that was impossible to ignore, and this case was about jewelry.

00:09So am I wrong to think this was a statement?

00:13And if I'm right, what's the statement?

00:15I would think of it this way.

00:17She was being her authentic self.

00:20So if that's a statement, you know, I'll let you draw that conclusion.

00:24But, you know, as somebody who tries cases for a living or did until very recently, I

00:28recently retired from my law firm, I think it's just important to be yourself, be authentic

00:33to what you are.

00:34And I think she pulled that off today.

00:36This event was a fundamental paradigm shift in her life, in the way she lived her life,

00:42from everything about the security apparatus, the loss of freedom, the sense of vulnerability,

00:48the security bubble that she lives in currently.

00:52So I would emphasize the fact that this was a very pivotal moment in her life, and it

00:57did change the way she lives.

00:59Can you give us the anticipation of testifying from her?

01:04You know, was she nervous?

01:07Was she looking forward to doing this?

01:10What was her state of mind as she walked those steps into the courtroom?

01:14It was a process for her to come to the conclusion that she should absolutely come to Paris.

01:18She should testify live.

01:20The French authorities asked her to, and she decided on her own to do that.

01:26I think she felt that it would be a way of starting the process of closure of this event

01:33and what it meant to her in her life.

01:36As you know, she's very devoted to justice in sort of the general sense of the term,

01:42whether it be advocating for prisoners who have reformed themselves, advocating for people

01:48that are wrongfully convicted, trying to improve the justice system, trying to become a lawyer.

01:56So I think she was very comfortable in the end, but it was a process for her to get to the

02:02point where she could come to this point, testify live.

02:05It's a historic court, and you're in really close proximity with all of the defendants

02:11and their lawyers.

02:12It's not like an American court where you kind of have two sides of the house, so to speak.

02:17There's a dais at one end, and the three judges and the jury sits up there.

02:21But where you testify in the middle of this, you're surrounded by everybody.

02:26So you feel their physical presence around you.

02:29So in that sense, I think it's even more heroic than it may seem to your watchers who may not

02:34understand how intimate of setting this really is and how close you are to the defense teams,

02:41both the lawyers and the defendants.

02:43Was there, from your vantage point, a visible reaction from people either in the jury or the

02:52gallery to Kim Kardashian, you know, one of the biggest celebrities in the world, most

02:58recognized, and her walking in, I would imagine there was some reaction from people in the

03:03courtroom?

03:04Just the measures that were taken to get her into the courthouse, right?

03:07So if you were looking at it from the outside, there was an extraordinary amount of police,

03:14some military.

03:15There were, you know, barriers.

03:17When I came into the courthouse this morning, because we had another witness testify, Simone,

03:21who was her assistant, and also in the apartment the night, we literally had horses, you know,

03:27walking with us to kind of create a physical barrier.

03:30It was extraordinary.

03:31The public at large, people were lining up very early in the morning.

03:37So I don't think there was the kind of drama you're describing in the courthouse itself or

03:42when she was testifying.

03:43It was more the sense of excitement.

03:45There were people everywhere around trying to get a look at her.

03:49And I think it kind of recognized what this event meant for her and for Paris.

03:55I have to give Paris credit.

03:58They really put their best foot forward.

04:00We were incredibly appreciative of our relationships with the security officers in the court and

04:06the accommodations they gave us.

04:09I don't know a lot about French law.

04:10Was she cross-examined by defense lawyers?

04:14So in their system, the presiding judge examines her first, fairly thoroughly.

04:20The wing judges can ask questions.

04:22There's also a prosecutor who sits in the courtroom.

04:26In this case, a woman.

04:27She can ask questions.

04:28And then there are what are called civil parties.

04:31These are people, think of them as like the victims.

04:33And it's really, in this case, three people.

04:37The concierge who was bound at gunpoint, Simone, her assistant, who was also there, kind of

04:42witnessed the events, and then Kim.

04:45And they have lawyers.

04:47And so their lawyers question next.

04:50And then all of the 10 defendants through their lawyers can then do what you would think of

04:55as cross-examination.

04:56But it's really very different.

04:58It's a lot of it is speeches, very long statements that they say into the record, presumably for

05:05the gallery or the other audience at large.

05:08And then they sort of ask a question, like, do you agree?

05:10Do you have anything to say to that?

05:11And it's much less of cross-examination the way we would think of it.

05:15So she wasn't really confronted by them.

05:18They weren't disputing what she was saying?

05:21They challenged her.

05:22One guy, you know, kind of suggested that she, you know, wasn't coming clean about the value

05:26of the jewelry.

05:27So in that sense, that's more of a traditional cross.

05:30But stylistically, it's very different.

05:32It's a big, somewhat bombastic speech, a lot of hand gestures, theatrics, and then sort

05:38of, you know, give me a reaction to it kind of thing.

05:41Kim is famous now for taking up causes of inmates she believes should be freed from prison.

05:48And there are some people who thought maybe she was going to Paris and to testify to show

05:55mercy for these people because that's what she's done in the United States.

06:00That's not my understanding.

06:02It's a great, it's a great, let me interrupt you.

06:04Great question.

06:05But two of the defendants and essentially a third through counsel all but apologized to

06:12her in court.

06:13One man struggles to speak.

06:16I mean, he may have had a medical issue.

06:18And he wrote out a handwritten apology, which was read to her in court.

06:24She was asked directly about her willingness to accept their apology as part of a redemptive

06:31act for them, I suspect.

06:33And she did do that.

06:34She was very graceful about that and said, I appreciate what you're saying to me.

06:40You acknowledge what happened to me.

06:43And she talked about her work in the regard that you mentioned and said this is a balance

06:47between trying to be empathetic for people that are imprisoned or convicted and who seek

06:54redemption and also advocating for victims of crime and victims of violent crime as she

07:00was.

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