Clayton Echard’s accuser Laura Owens finally had to face the music in court on Monday in front of Judge Julie Mata, who heard the almost-year-long case against Echard that Owens filed last August alleging paternity of what Echard calls “fictitious twins.” I flew to Arizona with several other content creators who have been reporting on this case. Steve Carbone of Reality Steve Podcast, Dave Neal of the Rush Hour Podcast, and I broadcast live from the parking lot of the Maricopa County Superior Court for five hours on the day of the trial.
Police officers in SWAT gear used dogs to sweep the parking lot and the courthouse in anticipation of the hotly contested court case that attracted national media attention. Despite the popularity of the case, the only media who showed up to report on the outcome were Bachelor podcasters, YouTubers, and me.
The Sun, which first printed Owens’s allegations against Echard was not in attendance. Local media chose not to attend. The courtroom only had room for thirty people so the court opened an overflow room to house the large crowd that showed up to witness the trial.
A live video feed of the proceedings was also broadcast and can be seen in the live coverage. (The audio of the feed gets much better about 20 minutes in.)
Judge Mata has not ruled on the case yet and has taken it under advisement and will issue a ruling in the coming weeks. On the stand, Owens told her story including alleging that the former star of ABC’s The Bachelor, Echard, had intercourse with her against her will (a story that has changed from consensual to non-consensual during the case).
Echard maintains that the only sexual contact the two had was oral sex. The alleged twin babies never appeared, and neither did any verifiable medical evidence of pregnancy. Owens’ many attorneys who appeared and withdrew throughout the litigation told competing stories about the alleged miscarriage Owens says she suffered.
Owens’ former attorney, Cory Keith, submitted a notice of candor last week alerting the court that his former client Owens lied to the court, and he was informed by ethics counsel to correct the record.
“During the Status Conference and while discussing the previous Injunction Against Harassment proceedings from November 2, 2023, above-mentioned counsel [Keith] stated, ‘[Ms.Owens] has not lied in this case. She has not intentionally lied to the Court.’ At the time, counsel believed this statement to be true. Counsel no longer believes this statement to be true for the reasons outlined infra.”
Keith went on to include portions of Owens’ deposition where she admitted to doctoring a sonogram she sent to Echard and said it was submitted to the court through attorney Bonnie Platter in a previous proceeding.
On the stand on Monday, under intense and savvy cross-examination by attorney Deandra Arena, Owens told another whopper that had never before been claimed in the case. Regarding the doctored sonogram, Owens had claimed in her deposition in March that she received the sonogram at a Planned Parenthood in Mission Viejo, Calif., "anonymously."
Echard’s defense team sent discovery requests to all Planned Parenthood locations in Orange County and San Bernadino County and came up empty with no responsive records. On the stand on Monday, Owens told the Court that she got the sonogram at a Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles under an assumed name.
But discovery rules don’t allow a litigant to lie about the location of records, so if Owens told the defense team that her records were in Mission Viejo for discovery purposes, and they were elsewhere, it wouldn’t even matter if those records exist or not because she gave the defense false information during discovery which is a sanctionable offense.
Further, finding out at trial that records Echard was entitled to exist somewhere and weren’t turned over is prejudicial to Echard’s case, leaving no time to verify her new claim. However, Planned Parenthood informed the court that no one can obtain services without a valid ID at any location.
A #JFCCREW member gives a thumbs up to Echard's smiling legal team after court on Monday. #MinorPerjury #OwensVEchard pic.twitter.com/Ew007S7MrQ
— Megan Fox (@MeganFoxWriter) June 12, 2024
The crowd that showed up to witness the trial came from all corners of the United States. Many of them were Reddit moderators from the r/JusticeForClayton page who dedicated many hours of their lives to tracking down and exposing the lies Owens told in this case. During the cross-examination of Owens, the limited number allowed in the gallery couldn’t stifle a muffled laugh when Owens got caught in a quagmire of her own making.
Arena: As of October 17, 2023 when you received this test result you had reasonto believe you were not pregnant right?
Owens: Um yes, after doing some research, yes.
Arena: Okay but then you proceeded to lie under oath at hearings before this court on October 24th, October 25th, and November 2nd correct?
Owens: That's not correct, no.
Arena: Instead of telling the truth you tampered with this hCG test to increase the level and offered that as support for a pregnancy.
Owens: To a content creator not to the court.
Arena: You also testified on November 2nd unequivocally that your OBGYN were Dr.Makhoul and Dr. Higley right?
Owens: Right.
Arena: In fact you went so far as to state that your main OBGYN is the perinatologist Dr Makhoul, right?
Owens: Correct
Arena: You further testified on November 2nd that you had last seen Dr Higley on last Friday right?
Owens: Right.
Arena: You lied to the court when you made these statements, right?
Owens: I had the appointment scheduled
Arena: This is a yes or no question, I need you to answer the question.
Owens:(Overtalking)...which you guys have, I know but they… it needs to be answered correctly. It needs to be answered I had an appointment scheduled with him that I did not attend but I did have an appointment scheduled
Arena: You said you were seen by a doctor but that's not the same as having an appointment scheduled, correct?
Owens: Correct.
Arena: So we would agree that you were dishonest and you said you were physically seen by Dr Higley the Friday before the November 2nd.
Owens: Correct that's a very minor thing.
Woodnick to gallery: STOP.
Owens: Yeah, really. yeah never I mean if this is I, I I'm not comfortable if this if the JFC crew is going to be having reactions honestly.
Judge Mata: Okay I'm going to stop the clock at this time. Councilor you ask questions. Ma'am you answer the questions. I could ask the gallery to please keep your…
Owens: you know I…
Judge Mata: I'm still talking ma'am. Keep your comments to a minimum or you will be asked toleave. Go ahead Council.
Arena: So you’ve never been seen by Dr Makhoul or Dr hickley for any medical appointment correct?
Owens: correct
Arena: and the records from Dr. Makhoul’s office indicate that you made four appointments that you never attended, correct?
Owens: Correct.
Arena: And the records from Dr Higley's office that we obtained indicate that they have no records for you from August 2020 through the present, right?
Owens: I'm I'm sorry you said Dr Higley or Dr Makhoul? I'm can I, like, take a minute? (Owens voice breaks and Judge Mata breaks for ten minutes.)
Laura Owens claims on the stand that perjury and lying under oath is just a "minor thing." #MinorPerjury pic.twitter.com/vEA4DVtHZz
— Megan Fox (@MeganFoxWriter) June 14, 2024
Owens’ claim that lying under oath is just a “minor thing” is what made the gallery snicker. (That and a song I wrote with Suno AI called “Minor Purgery” that most told me afterward they started humming in their heads.) Most people don’t see perjury as minor. However, our justice system is reluctant to prosecute anyone for perjury, which lends itself to criticism that perhaps perjury is minor since people are rarely held accountable.
In America, perjury is used as a political weapon in Washington, D.C., against politicians and their enemies, but rarely is anyone outside of the D.C. swamp ever charged under perjury laws. Echard’s lawyers have asked Judge Mata to refer Owens to the prosecutor for perjury and evidence tampering on top of sanctions and attorney fees.
Owens’s former victims of the same scam, Michael Maraccini and Gregory Gillespie, were in the courtroom and on the witness list but the defense ran out of time and neither were able to tell their stories. Owens also claimed she was pregnant with twins with both men and dragged them to court alleging domestic violence and obtained restraining orders against them, which continue to harm them to this day.
Speaking to Dave Neal, Maraccini said, "I would never have come forward without the support of everybody. I was terrified for years of her, and everybody's support is the reason I came forward." Maraccini's laptop, which was sent to an expert paid for by community donations, provided more evidence of Owens' false claims including faking cancer as well as pregnancies.
Echard put out a statement on Instagram thanking his supporters and the media who dared to cover this uncomfortable story. PJ Media will bring you the verdict when Judge Mata releases it in the next few weeks.
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