SALT LAKE CITY — Massachusetts criminal defense attorney Edward Molari recently said that Olivia Jade Giannulli may be forced to testify in the college admissions scandal against her parents, The Mercury News reports.
The Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer told Hollywood Life that she may face questions about her own possible complicity in the case.
Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulliallegedly paid William “Rick” Singer $500,000 so Olivia Jade and her sister Isabella would be admitted to USC as crew athletes, according to my reporting for the Deseret News.
“If the government has evidence establishing probable cause that the children committed a crime, bringing charges against the children is entirely within the government’s discretion,” Molari told Hollywood Life. “That also means that if the government wants a child to testify against their parent, the government can force them to do so, whether they want to or not.”
Molari said it could be problematic if Loughlin or Giannulli asked their daughters to stay quiet and they do so while being inside the courtroom.
“A child doesn’t have the right to withhold confidential communications made by a parent if asked about them in court,” Molari explained. “They also have no right to decline to testify against a parent if subpoenaed to testify.”
As I wrote, Olivia Jade reportedly knew that her parents were trying to get her into USC and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
“Olivia fully knew what her parents did to get her into USC, but didn’t think there was anything wrong with it,” the source told Us Weekly. “She didn’t get into any other California schools.”
Multiple reports from the last week also suggest that Olivia Jade likely knew what was happening, according to The Mercury News.
“Whether or not Olivia Jade knew that her parents’ alleged activities were illegal, she had to have known her parents were going to extraordinary lengths to secure her a spot at the selective college,” these reports suggest, according to The Mercury News.