Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2. As you indicated earlier today, just minutes after the most recent
setting hearing and day we were last in the courtroom on
February 26th, Mr. Gimelstob posted the following entry on his
Facebook and Instagram pages:
6. Relationship
a. I first met Mr. Gimelstob in September 2008 at a mutual
friend’s wedding in New York.
b. I had not spoken with him in more than five years – but on
May 2nd of last year he called me six times, and also texted
me asking me to call him. I didn’t answer his calls, and I
didn’t return his text. I didn’t like him, and I wanted
absolutely nothing to do with him.
c. Eight days later, on May 10th, I was having dinner with my
wife at a restaurant and when we walked in I saw a woman
named Kris Royce who was a parent at my kids school – and
who is also Mr. Gimelstob’s divorce lawyer. I went over to
say hello to her, and when I did somebody I didn’t see
sitting next to her tapped me on the shoulder and
aggressively said, “What’s the matter – you don’t fucking
call me back?”
d. I was surprised to see Mr. Gimelstob there – he was
extremely agitated and angry when he saw me. He
aggressively asked why I didn’t call him back, and I
shrugged. Then he got in my face and aggressively said,
“You’re either with the Gimelstobs or Sinnotts.” By this he
was referring to the family of Cary Sinnott, with whom Mr.
Gimelstob is getting divorced.
e. When I shrugged again with my hands by my shoulders –
meaning I had nothing to say to him – he put his hand in my
face and said “I’m going to fucking kick your ass and kill
you.”
f. When I asked him if he had really just threatened me in front
of his attorney, he said he had and said, “I’m rich and she’s
the best attorney in the world and will get me out of
anything.”
7. Halloween Attack
a. Nearly six months after threatening to kick my ass and kill
me, Madison and I took our two-year old daughter Carter
trick or treating for her first Halloween.
b. We were excited and Carter was excited. Carter had picked
out a pilot outfit with her name on it and we had prepped
her about Halloween and how she was going to get a lot of
candy that night. We went to a local street called
Homewood in Brentwood – it’s one of those safe Halloween
neighborhood family destination spots, around a mile long,
and is blocked off to traffic because thousands of people
trick-or-treat there each year.
c. We met up with other families with their two-year olds, and
after around an hour, Madison and I left our friends and
their toddlers and headed to our car to keep Carter on her
sleep schedule.
d. At 6:20 pm, I was pushing Carter in her stroller when I was
hit with a sudden, tremendous force from behind. I never
saw the ambush coming or had any warning it was about to
come – I went flying to the ground face-first – unable to
brace myself – while a very heavy body pounced and landed
on top of me.
e. It hurt like hell and I was in complete shock.
f. I tried moving but my arms and legs were pinned to the
ground, and almost immediately the person who ambushed
me started punching the back of my head while screaming
over and over again “You fucked with my family” and “I’m
going to fucking kill you.”
g. The person was screaming it at the top of his lungs filled
with rage – and I had no clue who it was.
h. I don’t know much about physical assaults, but I
immediately thought of two things:
i. First, that my attacker had the wrong person; and
ii. Second, that the attack would end quickly.
i. I was wrong on both.
j. I was pinned to the ground – and couldn’t move – and was
in total shock – and as soon as the blows to my skull began,
I started screaming “HELP!” and then “CALL THE POLICE!”
k. But the punches kept coming, with tremendous force, and
my attacker kept yelling “I’m going to fucking kill you!” over
and over again.
l. It was beyond petrifying – I have never been so scared in my
entire life. As the attack continued with no letup in sight, I
thought my skull was going to crack open, and I wondered
how many more punches I could take.
m. I tried moving many times as I screamed but was unable to
move my arms or my legs because my attacker continued
punching and beating the back of my head repeatedly –
and I was trying my best to cover my head with my hands to
protect it.
n. With my head pushed into the ground, I turned and
screamed again for help. I was also shouting
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” over and over from the pain –
which you have seen on the video my wife took at the start
of the attack. But when I turned my head to scream, it
exposed my face.
o. And when that happened, my attacker’s devastating and
brutal punches went from the top and back of my skull to
the sides of my face – including my cheeks, forehead and
ears – as well as my back.
p. Early this morning, as a factor in deciding Mr. Gimelstob’s
punishment, you stated that the attack was short. I
respectfully disagree Your Honor – the attack lasted three
minutes.
q. During that time, I was punched at least 50 times – but
when you count it out – 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . the actual
number was likely over 100.
r. As the attack continued, I wondered if my skull was going to
crack open – or if he would punch the back of my neck –
and wondered if I was going to be paralyzed – or if I would
die – and if I died would my two-year daughter and wife
who were only a few feet away witness me being beat to
death.
s. As his fist continued pounding into my head, I became
dizzy, and thought I may pass out, and I thought of the San
Francisco Giants fan who was beaten after a Dodgers game
and was paralyzed for the rest of his life. I thought about a
friend from the summer before who was sucker-punched,
blacked out, hit his head on a sidewalk without breaking his
fall – and DIED.
t. I worried about my three teenage kids, and whether I was
going to see them again, and whether I was going to see
my family back in Detroit – my mom had just turned 75 –
and my grandmother was going to turn 100 in two days.
u. Finally, as I was about to pass out, I heard some commotion
and yelling and people screaming at my attacker, and then
felt a small struggle. I realized that people had finally
stepped in to pull my attacker off of me, who was still saying
“I’m going to fucking kill you” while he pointed at me with
eyes of a crazed lunatic.
v. Witnesses told me that it took three people to finally pull
Mr. Gimelstob off of me, including a much older man who
risked injury to himself by doing so.
w. But apparently the three-minute attack by this psychopath
wasn’t enough. These three people who had pulled Mr.
Gimelstob away had to keeping holding him back – he was
trying to break free and come back after me and was still
yelling “I’m going to fucking kill you!”
m. Carter woke up the next morning in her crib and started her
morning by saying, “Daddy Daddy, help help, ouch ouch,
police police” while making punching motions. She’s two
years old. She could see my bruises all week, said “daddy’s
hurt” and wanted to hug me every chance she could. The
“daddy’s hurt” comments lasted for a while – she would
point to my swollen ears and say, “daddy’s ear hurts,” and
would point to “daddy’s big boo-boo” – the bruise on my
leg that was there for more than six weeks.
n. My 15-year old son cried himself to sleep the night of the
attack, which has had a profound effect on him. He hasn’t
slept well since the attack. The attack and image of his dad
being savagely beaten and being helpless – and then
seeing my injuries and my body – has left him angry and
depressed. He asks me every few days what’s happening,
and he – like my daughters – remain petrified of him. Since
the attack, his schoolwork and grades have suffered
signficantly.
o. My twin 17-year old girls Arianna and Bianca started bawling
when they saw me the day after the attack. They also
couldn’t sleep well – they were very upset for several weeks,
and have also discussed the attack with therapists. They are
completely traumatized about the attack – and have asked
me not to discuss with it with them because it’s too painful,
because it makes them very sad, and because they remain
fearful of him.
p. And as far as I’m concerned, this attack has been one of the
worst – if not THE worst thing – that has ever happened to
me – physically and emotionally.
i. I have had a concussion which has lasted four and a
half months – and which still hasn’t gone completely
away.
ii. I get frequent headaches that often leave my head
pounding for many hours a day – which it did nearly
every day for the first month after the attack.
iii. I’m forgetful
1. When I went to see my doctor nine weeks ago, I
couldn’t remember what building his office was
in even though I’ve been seeing him for many
years.
2. Six weeks ago, I forgot the code to the gate
where I’ve lived for 20 years.
3. Four weeks ago, I forgot the sum of 6 x 7.
4. My doctor has said this will go away – but I’m
anxious about it and worry that it won’t.
iv. For more than a month after the attack, my scalp had
open wounds – making it incredibly painful to it
extremely painful to shower.
v. My ears were swollen, incredibly sore, and had open
wounds on the cartilage, making it impossible to sleep
on my sides which is the normal way I sleep – and
which also contributed to making showering incredibly
painful.
vi. My cheek was badly bruised, making sleep even
harder.
vii. My calf had a very dark and painful bruise for more
than six weeks.
viii. Four and a half months later, my right shoulder is still
incredibly sore, requiring an MRI and physical therapy.
I still don’t have free range of motion – my arm hurts
when I move it above a certain height.
ix. I’ve been to therapy to deal with the effects of being
the victim of a brutal attack.
1. I’ve been very sad.
2. I’ve been depressed.
3. I’ve had PTSD – I have relived the attack several
hundred times - sometimes several times a day –
and I still have terrible dreams about it.
x. Even though my scalp and bruises have healed, I
haven’t slept well since the attack.
1. It’s left me anxious about whether he may attack
me again.
2. It’s left me anxious about the pain and effects it
has caused my kids.
3. It’s left me anxious about the irreparable
damage he’s done to my wife.
4. I’ve been anxious about the many lies that Mr.
Gimelstob has told in the aftermath of the attack
– including that it never happened – causing me
further pain.
5. Not only this, he’s been slandering me in public
with many more of his absurd lies.
6. I’ve been anxious because he has a very long
history of prior attacks – five attacks in four
years. Many have been reported – he’s denied
all of those as well – intimidating people from
involving the police.
7. Because he keeps getting away with assaulting
people – I’m anxious that will come back and kill
me like he’s promised to do.
xi. The attack has also affected me at work.
1. It’s affected my ability to focus.
2. It’s affected my performance there.
3. It’s affected my work ethic – I often have to leave
work early.
4. His slanderous lies have affected my reputation –
I’ve had more than 50 people ask me about the
“fight” that Mr. Gimelstob told everybody had
occurred.
u. To try protect all of us, I filed a TRO the day after my attack,
and the judge immediately granted it. I then hired a
process server to serve Mr. Gimelstob, but our anxiety and
fear grew when Mr. Gimelstob evaded service three times
while his car was parked outside of his house and Austin
Ruth answered the intercom. Then the Sheriff’s Department
attempted service three more times, and he evaded those
attempts as well. As a courtesy, I had an attorney friend
reach out to his divorce attorney Kris Royce – and also to
Sean Holley – to accept service on his behalf – and both
refused. That’s eight attempts to serve him in a month –
and he evaded all of them.
v. Adding to our fears was the fact that Mr. Gimelstob knew
where I lived – he had been to my house once six years
before – and in case he forgot my address it was in my TRO
filing. We all thought that only a complete psychopath
would ambush and violently attack a man pushing his
daughter in a stroller on Halloween in front of many other
people – and we wondered what else he was capable of.
w. As you know, when you file a TRO the form asks for Mr.
Gimelstob’s home address, and that’s when I learned that
Mr. Gimelstob lives one street over and only several
hundred yards away from my ex-wife’s house where my kids
spend half of their time. This meant that my kids were not
only frightened to leave my house, but they were really
terrified to leave my ex-wife’s house.
x. My kids, Madison, and I all thought the same thing: this was
a guy who tried to kill me, had not succeeded, and was
intentionally evading authorities so the TRO would not be
effective – which we interpreted that he may come back and
finish what he had started.
y. That was bad enough – but what made things even worse
was when people read the many stories about the attack in
various newspapers and reached out to me to tell me that
the Halloween assault was not an isolated incident – and
that Mr. Gimelstob had committed at least four other violent
assaults and threats in the previous four years.
10. I read – as did my terrified kids – a TRO that in early 2016 his
wife Cary Sinnott gave details that Mr. Gimelstob had stalked her,
bugged her bedroom, assaulted her physically, assaulted her
emotionally, and had tried to run her over with his car while their
child sat in the backseat.
11. I was told that Mr. Gimelstob had threatened a friend of Cary’s
named Kris Thabit in March of 2017 at a restaurant, and then in an
eerily similar manner to Mr. Gimelstob’s assault on me – saw him
again six months later, followed him out of a restaurant, pulled his
phone of out his pocket, and punched him. The next day, worried
about his jobs at the Tennis Channel and ATP, Mr. Gimelstob filed
an optics-based TRO saying that Kris Thabit had followed him out
of the restaurant. There’s video footage that shows the opposite,
meaning Mr. Gimelstob had committed perjury.
12. I was told that in September 2017, Mr. Gimelstob was playing
in a paddle tennis tournament in Venice, and after arguing a line
call, Mr. Gimelstob called his opponent a “faggot” and a “girl,”
jumped over the net, and started to attack and choke his
opponent before being restrained by three people – including
Austin Doerner, the number one paddle tennis player in the
world.
a. Similar to his denials in my attack, and in the Kris Thabit
attack, Mr. Gimelstob has also repeatedly denied this attack
happened.
b. One of the witnesses to the attack told me to reach out to a
man named Rich Humphries who had filmed most of this
incident, and Mr. Humphries confirmed that he indeed had
a video and that Mr. Gimelstob has tried to buy the video
from him twice.
c. Mr. Humphries also promised to destroy the video if he’s
subpoenaed because he was terrified of Mr. Gimelstob
before the Halloween attack – and he fears for his life if his
video would help send Mr. Gimelstob to prison.
13. Finally, I was also told that on September 27, 2017, Mr. Gimelstob
threatened a woman named Mia Feil – following her out of their
children’s preschool, and with Mr. Gimelstob’s son at his side, he
screamed, “Tell your fucking husband I will break his neck if he
ever writes another affidavit in my divorce.” Ms. Feil filed a police
report with the LAPD, but then declined to pursue this matter
because she was – and remains – extremely terrified of Mr.
Gimelstob.
14. Including the attack on me, that’s five assaults in four years – all of
which Mr. Gimelstob denies every took place. He may not have
an official criminal record – but he very likely would if people were
not terrified that he would come after them again.
15. Once we learned of these assaults, Madison and I and the kids
spent a lot of time discussing whether we should hire private 24-
hour security for everybody in our family. I talked with security
consultants and former law enforcement officials about this, and
they all told me that anybody who’s crazy enough to attack a man
on Halloween and try to kill him while he was pushing his baby in
a stroller would be very difficult to defend against.
16. We didn’t hire private security, but it’s more than four months
later and my kids regularly ask me about him when they go out
and what they should do if they see him.
18. As Your Honor considers the plea deal discussed this morning,
I hope the court considers the sincerity of Mr. Gimelstob’s sudden
admission of responsibility after strenuously denying it from the
moment the attack occurred.
19. In considering Mr. Gimelstob’s sentence, I have a specific
request for the court:
a. I would ask that Your Honor put Mr. Gimelstob on felony
probation for three years and report to a probation officer
during that time.
b. I’m am making this request for several reasons:
i. his very long history of violence – five previous attacks
that he has denied and refused to take any
responsibility for – despite trying to buy a video of
one of them;
ii. my injuries and lasting concussion;
iii. my kids fear that he could harm them – particularly
given their everyday proximity to them;
iv. the severe emotional and physical trauma my wife has
suffered;
v. and whether he has the capacity or ability to comport
what is being required w him