- The jury in the Kleiman vs Wright case has asked for clarification on how to award the plaintiff
- The jury asked for details on the Bitcoin/IP award split, how much money was in W&K, and how to define unjust enrichment
- Wright could be on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars
The jury in the Kleiman vs Wright case has asked for more clarification on how to allocate any potential award to the plaintiff, Ira Kleiman. During its second day of deliberations, the jury asked the judge to clarify some points on its ruling, including how much value was still tied up in W&K, whether they should split any bitcoin and intellectual property award, and exactly what constitutes unjust enrichment. These clarifications suggest that Wright is in a heap of trouble and that he will lose on at least one of the charges central to the case.
Jury Asks For Clarification on Financial Award
The jury in the Kleiman vs Wright case has the unenviable task of answering 25 questions based around the accusations of Ira Kleiman. These include whether they believe Wright and Dave Kleiman were involved in a partnership that included Bitcoin mining between 2009 and 2011, whether Wright unfairly took bitcoin and IP out of the shared partnership and awarded it to himself, and whether Wright made statements he knew to be false for material gain.
The jury must also set an amount to be awarded to Ira Kleiman if they find in his favor on any of those matters, which could be a hefty amount considering the value of the IP tied up in W&K (and since moved on) to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
It seems that the jury is having trouble with a few of the details surrounding these issues, with court reporter Carolina Bolado yesterday reporting that they had asked for clarification on a number of factors:
They specifically want the definition of the word “conferred” as it applies to unjust enrichment.
— Carolina Bolado (@CarolinaBolado) November 29, 2021
One more: Many of us do not feel comfortable adjucating (sp) an amount.
— Carolina Bolado (@CarolinaBolado) November 29, 2021
Kleiman vs Wright Could See Verdict Today
The fact that the questions all relate to how to accurately award any money owed to Kleiman does not look good for Wright, who could be on the hook for around a trillion dollars given legal costs and the fact that civil cases of this nature see damages trebled as a matter of course.
What was also notable was the fact that some of the jurors were “uncomfortable” adjudicating an amount, which is hardly surprising given that they could be taking Wright for hundreds of billions of dollars.
The jury will reconvene today for a third day of deliberations, although they seem to be getting closer to a decision.
