Trial Games?

Still standing by her man: The real reason the Bellaire socialite is suing herhusband's mistress

Yvonne Stern
Photo by Dave Rossman
Yvonne Stern with husband Jeffrey Stern outside court last year
Michelle Gaiser

It's just another curveball in the bizarre case of the attempted murder of Bellaire socialite Yvonne Stern.

With Stern's husband Jeffrey going on trial in April for two charges of solicitation of capital murder for his alleged role in the three separate attempts on his wife's life in 2010, the Sterns are continuing to present a united front, arguing that Jeffrey had no role in the plot.

Yvonne Stern's attorney Chip Lewis insists the suit is wholly her idea.

Instead Yvonne Stern has filed a lawsuit against Jeffrey's former mistress, Michelle Gaiser, who has already pled guilty to solicitation of murder in exchange for a 25-year sentence and her testimony against Stern and the hit men that pulled the trigger(s). In the suit, Stern requests damages for her medical costs after being shot in the stomach in addition to damages for pain and suffering and emotional distress.

The suit claims that Gaiser was "operating under an unfounded delusion that if she killed Mrs. Stern, she would then 'live happily ever-after' with Mrs. Stern's husband," and that her decision to hire a series of hit men was Gaiser "acting-out on her fantasy."

As Texas Monthly's Skip Hollandsworth points out, it's unlikely that Stern will ever recover a monetary award from Gaiser, considering the latter will be in prison for the foreseeable future. Instead, lawyers for Gaiser told Brian Rogers of the Houston Chronicle that the lawsuit is a "back door" for Jeffrey Stern's attorneys to find out what Gaiser knows and will be testifying about in advance of his trial, though Yvonne Stern's attorney Chip Lewis insists the suit is wholly her idea.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”