The $15 million Montecito House case involving Katy Perry and her fiancé Orlando Bloom has finally resulted in a verdict. Judge Joseph Lipner of Los Angeles County Superior Court decided on Wednesday, November 8, in favor of the singer’s eviction of 84-year-old handicapped veteran Carl Westcott, the former owner of the opulent property. “Wescott presented no persuasive evidence that he lacked capacity to enter into a real estate contract,” the court ruled. The provisional decision will become final in ten days.
Perry’s lawyer Eric Rowen issued the following statement, “Today’s proposed decision is clear — the judge found that Mr. Westcott could not prove anything other than he was of perfectly sound mind when he engaged in complex negotiations over several weeks with multiple parties to transact a lucrative sale of the property that netted him a substantial profit,” according to People.
“The evidence shows that Mr. Westcott breached the contract for no other reason than he had changed his mind. We look forward to wrapping this matter up at the scheduled damage trial phase set for February 13 and 14, if not before,” the statement further added.
Chart Westcott, Westcott’s son, who disagrees with the decision, stated, “Katy Perry will now have to testify, in person, on damages and the contradictory claims she has made over lost income for the rental of my father’s home. While this has been a long road, the fight for my father is not over and we will continue to represent him and his legacy of incredible achievements.” The 101st Airborne veteran of the US Army moved into the contentious home just two months prior Perry and Bloom acquired the 8.9-acre estate.
According to the NY Post, he stated in his lawsuit that he had a “major six-hour surgery” in the days preceding the proposed contract, which had “seriously impaired his mental faculties to the point he was of unsound mind and not competent to give his free, voluntary, or intelligent consent to the contract.” But once the effects of the opiates from his operation subsided on July 22, 2020, Westcott began to “feel mentally clear again.”
