Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom can (almost) put the trial over their $15 million Montecito house behind them.
According to legal documents obtained by Us Weekly on Wednesday, November 8, the court did “not find” Carl Westcott “credible or persuasive” in the case against Perry, 38, because he “presented no persuasive evidence that he lacked capacity” to enter into a real estate contract. The tentative ruling is expected to become official in 10 days.
The second phase of the trial is scheduled for February 2024, where Perry will testify about her alleged losses. The judge will subsequently determine whether damages are owed.
“The juryless proceedings began on September 28,” the paperwork stated. “The bench trial will be heard in two phases. During the first round of arguments, the judge will decide if Westcott was in fact incapacitated when he agreed to sell the home to Perry and Bloom; the second will see the judge determine whether damages are owed.”
Perry and the actor, 46, were embroiled in a lawsuit against Westcott, who sold the couple the house in July 2020. The businessman, 84, claimed in legal documents obtained by Us that “he lacked the mental capacity to understand the nature and probable consequences of the contract” for health reasons that included being on painkillers for back surgery that transpired days before the sale.
Westcott, who was diagnosed with the genetic brain disorder Huntington’s disease in 2015, later “email[ed] Berkshire Hathaway, in its capacity as the dual agent for seller and buyer, [stating] that he did not want to sell his home.” That same day, Perry and Bloom informed Westcott in a letter “how much they liked the home and wanted to purchase it as their new home,” but Westcott replied “that he is in the final few years of his life and he cannot sell his home.”
Perry and Bloom — who have been engaged since February 2019 and welcomed daughter Daisy in August 2020 — subsequently took legal action, with Westcott receiving a letter from a lawyer that stated the pair were “not willing to walk away from purchasing Mr. Westcott’s home and he is obligated to complete the sale.”
Three years later, the non-jury trial began in September. Despite Westcott’s claims that he was not of sound mind when he decided to sell the house, Perry and Bloom’s attorney alleged in opening statements that Westcott was “more than rational” at the time. Perry was ordered by a judge to testify in the trial since she was seeking more than $5 million in damages due to loss of potential rental income and for the cost of maintaining her and Bloom’s other rental properties.
Westcott purchased the house at the center of the legal battle for $11.25 million in May 2020. Westcott’s real estate agent Cristal Clarke testified that he originally considered selling the home to Maria Shriver for $13.5 million, but the day before his back surgery, he rescinded his counter offer after Clarke assured him she could get him more money. Perry, who had viewed the residence prior to Westcott buying it, offered him $4 million over the price he paid shortly after.
The 9,285-square-foot home is located in the Montecito neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California. The 1930s mansion, which sits on 2.5 acres of property, has nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a gym, a wine cellar, an infinity pool and a three-bedroom guesthouse.
