Tom Sandoval demanded the judge presiding over the bombshell lawsuit brought by Rachel Leviss be replaced due to a potential prejudice.
According to court documents, obtained by RadarOnline.com, on April 9, Sandoval’s lawyer Matthew J. Geragos filed a ‘Peremptory Challenge’ and asked that the judge assigned to the lawsuit be removed and replaced with another.
The filing said that The judicial officer named above [Honorable Anne Richardson], before whom the trial of, or a hearing in, this case is pending, or to whom it has been assigned, is prejudiced against the party (or his or her attorney) or the interest of the party (or his or her attorney,) so the declarant cannot, or believes that he or she cannot, have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before the judicial officer.”
At a recent hearing, Judge Richardson removed herself from the case and appointed Judge Crowley to take over.
In her lawsuit, Leviss accused Sandoval of recording her sexually explicit FaceTime calls without her consent. At the time, Sandoval was with his longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix.
Leviss claimed Madix found the FaceTime recordings on Sandoval’s phone and sent them around to their Vanderpump Rules co-stars. Leviss claimed Madix was aware of the scandal BEFORE it hit the media.
In the shocking lawsuit, Leviss claimed the production company fostered a hostile work environment for her after the affair was exposed.
Leviss sued Sandoval and Madix for alleged revenge porn and demanded unspecified damages.
“This lawsuit is squarely about illegal behavior and those who traffic in it and enable it. Rachel has apologized for her part in an affair. That’s not a crime. Tom and Ariana are alleged here to have engaged in criminal acts. They then doubled down and used those actions to shame, bully, belittle, and intentionally try to destroy Rachel’s mental health,” said Leviss’ powerhouse attorney Mark Geragos.
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“The law makes it clear that recording someone without their consent and distributing that illegal recording is punishable by law; however, doing so while knowingly enticing them to engage in sexual acts deserves the harshest of penalties allowable under the law,” he added.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Sandoval’s female houseguest was recently served with Leviss’ legal papers while outside the Bravo star’s LA home.
On top of the lawsuit with Leviss, Sandoval and Madix are involved in a bitter legal dispute over the $2 million home they purchased in 2019. Madix demanded the pad be put on the market despite Sandoval’s offer to buy out her interest.
In response, Sandoval demanded Madix pay back an alleged $90k loan he provided her.
Madix and Sandoval had been living together for months after the split. She recently moved out after buying a $1.6 million home in the Hollywood Hills.
