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<\/p>\nJoe Exotic
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Joe Exotic, with limo waiting outside prison, fails to get a pardon
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Joe Exotic has hired a legal team that once worked the missing-husband case of his key rival, Carole Baskin — and they plan to use unaired footage from “Tiger King” to push for a new trial.<\/p>\n
Disappointed after failing to get a pardon from President Donald Trump, the reality star — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — confirmed Tuesday that he had hired Phillips & Hunt.<\/p>\n
The firm previously represented the family of Don Lewis, the missing husband of Baskin, who Maldonado-Passage has repeatedly said fed her ex to tigers at her Big Cat Rescue in 1997. The case is still open.<\/p>\n
Baskin is also the reason he is in prison, serving 22 years in federal prison for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot against her.<\/p>\n
“We are honored to announce that Joe has retained our firm,” his new attorney, John Phillips, said Tuesday in a video shared by the official Joe Exotic Twitter page.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to seek a new trial, and justice in the criminal and civil courts,” Philips said after flying to visit Maldonado-Passage at Fort Worth\u2019s Federal Medical Center.<\/p>\n
“Because we are committed to justice — and committed to Joe,” Philips said, insisting in a separate tweet, “This isn’t about tigers, television or tomfoolery, it’s about justice and evidence.”<\/p>\n
Phillips told the Associated Press that his motion for a new trial would rely on footage — both aired and unaired — from “Tiger King” that was not presented during his initial trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became familiar with all things \u2018Tiger King.’ For sure, I know there is material in there that will help him out,” Phillips said, without teasing possible revelations.<\/p>\n
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The Jacksonville, Florida, lawyer said he was used to high-profile cases, having previously represented former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman in a public brawl with Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn’t our first rodeo, so to speak,\u201d he told the AP.<\/p>\n