Jurors will soon have to decide whether a formerly high-flying Los Angeles attorney, Tom Girardi, intentionally stole more than $15 million from his clients, allegedly in part to bankroll the extravagant lifestyle of his now-estranged wife, a “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, Erika Jayne, or if he fell victim to a “bizarre elder abuse scheme” at the hand of his firm’s bookkeeper. 

Weeks of dramatic testimony came to a close on Thursday when, in a shocking turn of events, the 85-year-old lawyer was summoned to testify in his own defense before the jury. Audible gasps could be heard in the courtroom when he was called to the witness stand. 

During his 45-minute testimony, Mr. Girardi affirmed his innocence and repeated the claim espoused by his lawyers that it was the firm’s former head of accounting, Christopher Kamon, who orchestrated the theft. 

“Obviously, we didn’t know about it. The firm was doing well. Everything was great,” Mr. Girardi said. “He was pretty clever in stealing millions of dollars.” Later, during cross-examination, he said that “if I had one clue the guy in accounting was stealing money, I would’ve gone crazy.”

He denied tapping into the settlement funds of several former clients who had testified during the trial, including Joseph Ruigomez, who received a $53 million from a California utility company, PG&E, after a gas line ruptured in his home, leaving him with burns on 90 percent of his body and killing his girlfriend. 

Mr. Ruigomez claimed that Mr. Girardi lied about the true value of the settlement and delayed providing payments, repeatedly placing blame on the retired judge who presided over the mediation proceedings. 

Yet when asked by the prosecution about why he had allegedly told the Ruigomez family that the settlement was only $5 million — a fraction of the true award — he contended, “I wouldn’t have said that,” adding “there’s no way in the world” he would have made such a claim. 

He suggested, though, that Mr. Ruigomez had developed a drug problem after his injury, which prompted Mr. Girardi and the judge presiding over the case to deliver the settlement in increments. Mr. Girardi testified that Mr. Ruigomez’s mother told him, “You can’t give him a bunch of money. He will kill himself.” 

While Mr. Ruigomez testified earlier in the trial that he had developed a year-long pain medication dependence after his accident, the witness upheld that neither he nor his mother gave his lawyer the authority to withhold funds for such a reason. 

The former personal injury attorney also painted himself as a generous and hard-working boss, repeating the claim that he never took a salary in order to give more of the money “to the wonderful people who worked” at his firm, Girardi Keese. Over the course of his testimony, he repeated the phrase “I don’t take a salary” at least six times. 

Mr. Girardi’s poor short-term memory — a key element of his defense’s case — was also on full display. 

When asked by his own lawyer, Samuel Cross, whether his law firm — which closed in 2021 — was still open, Mr. Girardi wrongfully answered, “Yes.” 

He also said he did not remember any of the witness testimonies that took place over the past two weeks. He claimed he “didn’t see” his longtime assistant, Shirleen Fujimoto, testify, even though he was present in the courtroom during the time. 

Mr. Girardi was also seemingly unable to recall the name of his own lawyer, saying, “I don’t know. Bad? Mean? Terrible? It’s one of those.” 

The former personal injury lawyer — best known for participating in the Erin Brockovich lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric — stands accused of stealing $15 million in settlement funds from clients of his law firm between 2010 and 2020. 

The prosecution is arguing that Mr. Girardi intentionally stole from his clients — many of whom had come to him for legal representation after suffering wrongful injury — and used their settlement funds “like his personal piggy bank” to pay for private jets, luxury jewelry, cars, ritzy social club memberships, and even to bankroll the entertainment career of his then-wife, 53-year-old Ms. Jayne. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Girardi’s defense team has maintained his innocence, pushing the claim that their client, who was diagnosed in 2021 with mild-to-moderate dementia, “got old” and ultimately fell “victim to a bizarre elder abuse scheme” by his co-defendant, Mr. Kamon, who took advantage of his declining mental state. 

The opposing narratives will be reiterated on Monday when the prosecution and the defense deliver their closing arguments. The jury will then be tasked with deciding whether Mr. Girardi stands innocent or guilty of four counts of wire fraud — each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.