--- title: "Elon Musk’s Lawyers Says San Francisco Hates Him Too Much for a Fair Trial" description: "Elon Musk's lawyers are trying to get an impending securities fraud trial moved from San Francisco to Texas since most prospective jurors hate his guts." date: "2023-01-15" modified: "2023-01-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-lawyers-san-francisco" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk’s Lawyers Says San Francisco Hates Him Too Much for a Fair Trial ![Elon Musk's lawyers are trying to get an impending securities fraud trial moved from San Francisco to Texas since most prospective jurors hate his guts.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Unpopular Demand Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become astonishingly unpopular on the West Coast following his disastrous takeover of Twitter, an acquisition rife with [mismanagement](), [unpaid bills](), and [mass layoffs](). It's a fact that Musk's legal representation is painfully aware of. In fact, in new filings, his lawyers are actually trying to leverage that fact to get an impending securities fraud trial moved from San Francisco to Texas — making the unflattering argument that 82 percent of prospective jurors there hate his guts, [*Bloomberg* reports](). The news underlines just how much Musk's reputation has taken a hit in recent months following his bungled acquisition of the social media company, something that has [enraged Tesla investors even further](). ## Local Negativity Investors sued Musk for infamously [promising back in 2018]() that he was planning to take the EV maker private with "funding secured," which later turned out to be "indisputably false," they claim, while costing them billions of dollars. But since Musk has made a mess of his acquisition of Twitter, which is based out of San Francisco, Musk's lawyers are worried potential jurors will "hold ill-will toward Mr. Musk" and will not be "afraid to declare it proudly and vividly to the court," according to filings reviewed by *Bloomberg*. The Tesla investors' lawyers, however, argue this is nonsense, and won't result in any biases that could sway a jury's opinion. "The potential for bias arising out of Musk’s management of Twitter is non-existent," they said in a statement obtained by *Bloomberg*. Whether a judge will allow Musk's trial to be moved to Texas, where he likely holds a far more favorable standing, remains to be seen. But it's still a surprising illustration of just how unpopular Musk has become as of late — which doesn't bode well for his chances in court. **READ MORE:** [82% of San Francisco’s would-be jurors dislike Elon Musk with a ‘passion,’ his lawyers say]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk Unfollows the Mother of His Children, and His Own Brother, on Twitter]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()