Apparently unfamiliar with the purpose of punitive damages, Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer told a federal jury in Washington, DC that making the former New York mayor pay millions to two Fulton County election workers he’s been found liable of defaming would amount to a “death penalty,” the Daily Beast reports.
Joseph Sibley, Giuliani’s attorney, told the jury the $15- to $48 million award sought by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss is excessive. “If you award them what they are asking for, it will be the end of Mr. Giuliani,” he claimed. Regardless of the money awarded to the Georgia mother and daughter, it will be part of a long list of civil damages, penalties, and criminal fines Giuliani can expect. Giuliani is rumored to already be significantly in debt and recently had to put his prized Manhattan apartment on the market. (The apartment is still on the market at $6.1 million, a reduction of its $6.5 million initial asking price in August.)