Former Bachelor Clayton Echard has finally had the first part of his day in court. Laura Owens, a woman he had one night of unwise relations with, which he says did not include intercourse, sued him for paternity of her alleged twins whom she says she became pregnant with eleven days after their encounter.
Echard has maintained over the last nine months that Owens was never pregnant and that the entire lawsuit was based on fraud. Legal filings allege that Owens wore a fake pregnancy belly, provided Echard with faked sonograms, went to the media to ruin Echard’s reputation, refused discovery, and would not allow Echard to speak to her alleged doctors. Further investigation into the case found that Owens had taken at least two other men to court with similar allegations in the past.
Owens tried to have the case against Echard dismissed in January when she filed a motion claiming she was “no longer pregnant,” hoping the entire thing would get scrapped. Echard’s attorneys filed a motion to continue the court process to prove that the allegations she made were in bad faith and based on lies.
On Wednesday, a Maricopa County, Ariz., judge denied Owens’ attempt to flee the court system, and the case will be heard on June 10. Further, the judge granted Echard’s motion for more time to present his evidence against Owens.
The hits kept on coming on Wednesday when Judge Julie Mata also forced Owens to sign a HIPAA release that she had been refusing to sign to date. This means that Echard’s lawyers can subpoena medical records, and the judge allowed it back to 2020 when Owens was alleging another pregnancy with another man she dragged through court for a year.
Owens will also be deposed in March, which she had previously refused to do and failed to show up for the last scheduled deposition because of “privacy” concerns. Owens filed a motion to seal the records in the case and claimed she couldn’t be deposed due to the embarrassment she would suffer if the public was privy to her claims. Judge Mata denied her request to seal the records noting that there is significant public interest in the case and she will have to face questioning on the record.
From Clayton's Expedited Motion to Set Virtual Status Conference 2/12/24 which led to today's hearing - full docs will be up on https://t.co/3nHWNKMZBd later tonight. #justiceforclayton #truecrime #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/etft8mXayq
— Seeking Justice for Clayton Echard (@ClaytonsJustice) February 21, 2024
The mainstream press finally picked up on this story after months of independent journalists carrying the load and an AZ Central reporter was in the courtroom on Wednesday. Owens’ ever-changing story of why she is “no longer pregnant” has reached absurd heights.
"I believe my client went to the doctor in mid-November, and that's when it was determined that she had had a miscarriage," said Cory Keith, Owens’ lawyer. "We would believe that it was in the, maybe, month, or two months, leading up to that time," reported AZ Central.
Gregg Woodnick, attorney for Echard responded with incredulity. "The statement of counsel was just that the mother says she had a miscarriage two months before November," Woodnick said. "In November, the parties appeared in front of Judge Gialketsis where mother had a pregnant belly and told Judge Gialketsis that she was 100% pregnant by my client."
Owens did indeed tell a judge in November that she was “100% pregnant” and she added that she had just seen an OBGYN on October 27. There is no way that her OBGYN would not have noticed that the babies were no longer living. Further, she reported that she was 24 weeks pregnant in November and if she had lost the babies in October or September, she would have had to go through labor and delivery with babies at that stage of pregnancy.
But this is absurd. Owens had to have been around 20 weeks pregnant when she allegedly miscarried. First, at that gestational date, it’s a stillbirth and there is no possible way a woman would not know she was birthing two babies as there would be bodies to dispose of. This would also trigger an investigation if there are no fetal death certificates on record for the deaths. It’s interesting that her lawyer, while claiming this could be the case is also at the same time saying, “I’m not saying that is the circumstance here.” Excuse my confusion, but…what?
Disturbingly, Keith’s arguments continued to get worse. "I am saying that my client has not lied in this case. She has not intentionally lied to the court," Keith said. "Whether or not she was pregnant on that date — I think she could have testified that she was pregnant, and she could have had a miscarriage days prior. I don't know."
However, it is Keith's job to know if his client is presenting false information to the court. According to the American Bar Association rules of professional responsibility, he must report fraud. At this point, there is no excuse for Keith to not know the evidence that exists around his client's outlandish claims.
(a) A lawyer shall not knowingly:
(1) make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer;
(2) fail to disclose to the tribunal legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to the lawyer to be directly adverse to the position of the client and not disclosed by opposing counsel; or
(3) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer, the lawyer’s client, or a witness called by the lawyer, has offered material evidence and the lawyer comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal. A lawyer may refuse to offer evidence, other than the testimony of a defendant in a criminal matter, that the lawyer reasonably believes is false.
Owens has released several articles on Medium about this situation that she has constantly edited as her story changes. She is currently in a deleting phase, but the sub Reddit r/JusticeForClayton has archived all original versions of her writing.
Why is LO going back & editing her past Medium articles? Original is in white. #justiceforclayton #truecrime pic.twitter.com/CSENsnjFwh
— Seeking Justice for Clayton Echard (@ClaytonsJustice) February 22, 2024
Owens is the daughter of a well-known radio host in San Francisco, Ronn Owens, whose Facebook postings appear to support his daughter, and journalist Jan Black. But Owens also suffers from Parkinson's disease, and it’s not clear who runs his page.
Jan Black has been caught on police recordings seeming to encourage her daughter to go after Echard, calling him “a joke.” It is widely speculated that the Owens family fortune could be funding the endless lawfare their daughter wages against her ex-lovers. Notably, Owens arrived at the courthouse in a black SUV alone and no one, including family members, was in the courtroom to support her.
The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but in this case, justice is finally being dealt out to a serial perpetrator of harassment and fraud. It’s only a matter of time until Owens is forced to admit that she has wronged Clayton Echard, and we can only hope the media outlets that allowed her to use them as a weapon against him will vindicate him in writing and apologize for the part they played in printing unproven allegations.
Dave Neal of Bachelor Rush Hour Podcast hosted a live stream on Wednesday as the hearing was happening and went over all the details.
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