Bravo Jen Shah.
The trial for “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah is starting soon and her defense team is taking steps to prepare for it. The latest move made by Shah saw her attorneys file a request to keep any footage of RHOSLC out of her trial.
Shah, 48, has been a cast member on RHOSLC since its premiere in November 2020 and continues to appear on the show, which is set to conclude its second season shortly. In March 2021, Shah was arrested and in a press release following Shah’s arrest, authorities said she was “charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing through which [she] victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55… and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.” It added:
Jennifer Shah… and Stuart Smith, who is portrayed as Shah’s ‘first assistant,’ allegedly generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam. In actual reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money.
Shah has pleaded not guilty to the charges and her trial is set to begin on March 22 in New York City. This week, Page Six reported that her legal team filed a request to keep RHOSLC clips out of the courtroom.
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Documents Obtained by the Publication Showed Shah’s Legal Team Opposing the Use of the Bravo Footage
Page Six obtained court documents filed prior to Shah’s trial and reported that the reality star’s legal team argued that “The defense opposes the use in evidence of any clips from the RHOSLC.” Her attorneys said the footage “would have to fall under one of the exceptions to the hearsay rule of evidence, as they are, by definition, out-of-court statements.”
Shah’s legal team also argued in its filing, “There is no circumstance under which a clip of Jen Shah from her appearance on the RHOSLC should be used in court as these clips do not have any of the indicia of reliability,” People reported.
It also added that the court documents state, “The women and their lives are both real and fake and it is impossible to tell where reality ends and fantasy and outright deception and fakery begins,” and argued that clips of the Bravo show are “highly edited and crafted through post-production.”
Her team also stated that any portrayal of Shah on the show could be unreliable as she is “playing that character on a show that has been highly curated and edited to satisfy its dramatic requirements” and she was motivated to “exaggerate wealth and drama,” Page Six wrote.
Shah’s Legal Team Also Requested That Jurors Are Asked About Her Time on RHOSLC During the Selection Process
According to Page Six, it appears that Shah’s legal team also wants to make sure that potential jurors are asked about their knowledge of her time on the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
It reported that Shah’s team has requested for jurors to fill out a detailed questionnaire asking if they have seen any episodes of the show, belong to fan groups or have read about Shah’s time on RHOSLC in the news.
In addition to these questions, the questionnaire also asks potential jurors if they believe that the housewives in the Bravo franchise are “rich” and “actually real.” Another question asks potential jurors if they saw ABC News special “The Housewife and the Shah Shocker.”
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