Elon Musk has requested that a judge order the relocation of an upcoming shareholder case trial from San Francisco due to his worries that the jury may be biased against him.
Musk asks the judge to move the trial to West Texas in a Friday filing because of the "local negativity" in the Bay Area that surrounds him and his enterprises, The Verge writes.
The Filings Argue That The Media Coverage Of The Lawsuit Has Made Matters Worse
Musk is accused of manipulating Tesla's shares in a shareholder class action suit that sprang from his now-infamous 2018 tweet that says he had the "funding secured" to take Tesla private.
In the weeks that followed the tweet, Tesla's stock saw extraordinary highs and lows, which led to a $40 million fine from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The purpose of the impending trial is to determine if Musk's tweet from 2018 had an impact on Tesla's stock price, and if the company and its CEO should be held accountable for alleged damages.
As a result of recent local media attention, the jury pool in the District is more inclined to have preconceived notions that are unfavorable to Musk's usage of Twitter, the filings claimed.
According to Musk's lawyers, potential jurors who, as a result of this coverage, have negative ideas about Musk's usage of and connection with Twitter generally will not be able to separate this general bias from the case.
It further asserts that local officials frequently "encourage" rallies against Musk and his San Francisco headquarters, which furthers this "prejudice" and leads to an unfair trial.
Because of that the CEO and his band of defenders are worried that these biases will make the jury unable to reach an impartial evaluation, The Guardian reports.
Tesla's stock trading was temporarily suspended, and after the tweets, shares were extremely volatile for weeks, according to CNBC.
In 2020, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX transferred his home to Texas, and in 2021, his electric vehicle business moved its headquarters to Austin.
It can be remembered that the case's federal judge, Edward Chen, decided last year that Musk intentionally misrepresented his intentions to take Tesla private on Twitter.
Read More: Tesla Alleged To Have Violated Labor Laws; NLRB Files New Complaint
Musk's Recent Controversial Twitter Layoffs Also Became A Concern
The filing claims that Musk's botched takeover of Twitter already produced significant bias among people affected by the job layoffs, in addition to blaming "inflammatory" local media coverage.
Additionally, attorneys for Tesla and Musk contend that since assuming control of Twitter, a social media platform based in San Francisco, the CEO has received a lot of unfavorable attention in California.
Since the acquisition occurred, Musk has named himself CEO of Twitter and fired and laid off thousands of workers in a haphazard manner.
In the past, Musk and his counsel have maintained that his remarks about a potential takeover of Tesla in 2018 did not break the law, CNBC details.
The CEO of Tesla has asserted time and time again that he struck a handshake agreement to take Tesla private at $420 per share with investors from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
However,iIt was implied by text texts found during a different trial in 2022 that Saudi PIF investors had not entirely committed to funding a Tesla deal.
Related Article: Tesla To Slow Down Production At Shanghai Plant In January
