Everything you need to know about the New Orleans staged wrecks trial

Two prominent New Orleans attorneys are standing trial in a wide-ranging federal staged wrecks scheme.Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are both accused of staging car accidents to fraudulently collect insurance money.Motta, a former stuntwoman-turned-plaintiff's lawyer, and Giles, a principal at the King Firm, are charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.Below is everything you need to know about the case, as well as updates from court. Jury selection: A jury has been selected in a wide-ranging staged wrecks trial in New Orleans.Jury selection was held over the course of two days. A total of 12 jurors were selected, as well as six alternates.Click here for more information. Opening Statements: Defense attorneys gave their opening statements by arguing that the accused lawyers had no knowledge of any staged crashes. Rick Simmons, representing The King Firm, told jurors the case was really about clients deceiving their lawyers, not attorneys participating in fraud. He said the firm's cases came through advertising and reputation, and insisted the firm conducted proper due diligence when suspicious claims came to light. Simmons also argued that individuals accused of staging wrecks, including Damian Labeaud and Ryan Harris, operated independently and had no connection to the firm.Former Judge Lynda Van Davis, representing attorney Giles, also argued there was no evidence that Giles agreed to participate in a conspiracy. She pointed out that the indictment describes roles such as slammers, recruiters and passengers but does not list lawyers as part of the scheme. Davis told jurors to "follow the money," claiming prosecutors could not show payments tying Giles to staged accidents. She also stressed that Giles had no involvement with key figures in the scheme and took appropriate action when concerns were raised within the firm.Attorney Sean Toomey, representing Motta and her firm, portrayed Motta as a young and inexperienced lawyer who unknowingly became involved because of her relationship with fiancé Sean Alfortish. Toomey said Motta was a single mother trying to run a new law practice and believed her referrals were legitimate. He claimed Alfortish secretly paid people to stage wrecks without her knowledge and argued that while Motta may have been naïve and made poor personal decisions, she was not a criminal.Federal prosecutor Brian Klebba presented a sharply different narrative, describing the case as a greed-driven insurance fraud scheme. He alleged that attorneys Motta and Giles knowingly participated in staging collisions with 18-wheelers to secure large settlements. Klebba said the lawyers paid recruiters to organize crashes and created a steady stream of cases that resulted in millions of dollars in payouts. Read more from their opening statements here. Major federal witness testifies: Danny Keating, a former attorney who pleaded guilty for his role in the staged wrecks scheme, testified that he participated in the operation from 2017 to 2020. He said he was introduced to slammer Damian Labeaud by attorney Jason Giles and that the scheme was explained during a meeting on the Westbank. Keating admitted he became involved while dealing with financial strain from a divorce and custody battle. He testified that he knowingly helped stage accidents, filed fraudulent lawsuits, and participated in at least 100–120 crashes, keeping large amounts of cash at home to pay people involved. Keating said payments were often made in cash or disguised through checks labeled as "client advances" or "advertising."Keating also described how the group used coded language when communicating about the scheme, including terms like "bread" and "fish" for money and clients, and "spoiled product" for unfavorable police reports. He testified that cash payments were sometimes wrapped in newspaper and delivered to Labeaud after staged crashes. Keating told jurors that some cases originated from Giles' office and that settlements exceeded $1 million. During cross-examination, he said Giles was a respected attorney and that he himself sought Giles as representation for his own personal injury case. He also said he had not known Labeaud before 2017 and understood the accidents were staged before working with him. Keating said he is testifying truthfully without any promise regarding sentencing and faces up to five years in prison.More from his testimony here.