PRESS ROOM: Federal RICO Lawsuit by Serial Vexatious Litigant Against Johnny Depp Lawyer and Hollywood PI Collapses

For Immediate Release

Honolulu, HI — A Hawaii state court has formally declared Christina Taft a vexatious litigant after finding a pattern of frivolous discovery tactics, including an attempt to subpoena the private phone records of a non-party in an unrelated contract dispute.

The ruling came during proceedings in Taft v. Thomas, a $1,200 breach-of-contract lawsuit Taft filed against her former business manager.

Paul Barresi

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During the July 2025 hearing, Judge Annalisa M. Bernard Lee examined a subpoena Taft had issued seeking twelve months of phone records and text logs belonging to Angela Gail Meader, who was not a party to the Hawaii case.

“So, upon reviewing of the subpoena duces tecum, the court did not understand why you were requesting phone documents from a person by the name of Angela Gail Meader,” Judge Annalisa M. Bernard Lee stated from the bench.

Judge Bernard Lee continued, “I don’t understand how an alleged harassment case against Mr. [[Paul] Barresi has anything to do with Ms. Meader’s phone records and how that has anything to do with the fact that you’re allegedly suing Mr. Thomas for breach of contract.”

Taft responded during the hearing, “Because his contract was to reach out about my U.S. district case in Central California, which is still ongoing. We were reaching out to reporters regarding ARDA safety and Barresi’s documented harms to witnesses.”

Judge Bernard Lee rejected that explanation, stating, “It appears to the court that what you’re doing is you’re using the legal system in an unrelated case to get another person’s confidential personal information through their phone records.”

“There appears to be a pattern, and the pattern is frivolous discovery tactics,” Judge Bernard Lee concluded.

Christina Taft

The court also addressed a 26-page filing Taft had signed under Rule 11.

“There is no such thing as HRCP Rule 45C3A. It does not exist, ma’am,” Judge Bernard Lee stated. Following the argument, the court ruled:

“You have not shown the court good cause that you should not be deemed a vexatious litigant,” Judge Bernard Lee said. “I am finding that you are a vexatious litigant under 634J subsection three, and I’m also going to enter a pre-filing order prohibiting you from filing any new litigation in the courts of this state on your own behalf without first obtaining leave of the presiding court.”

The court imposed a $100 monetary sanction for citing legal authority “that does not exist” and entered a pre-filing order requiring Taft to obtain judicial approval before filing any new lawsuits in Hawaii.

The Hawaii proceeding unfolded against the backdrop of Taft’s federal lawsuit filed in September 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In that case, Taft accused Adam Waldman, former attorney for actor Johnny Depp, and Los Angeles private investigator Paul Barresi of orchestrating what she described as a criminal enterprise tied to the 2022 Amber Heard–Johnny Depp defamation trial.

Taft alleged civil conspiracy, witness intimidation, and violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

She described Waldman as leading a “criminal cabal” and claimed Barresi was hired to intimidate and manipulate witnesses.

The allegations were explosive. Legal observers say the evidence was not.

Despite the dramatic accusations, the federal case remained pending for nearly two years before U.S. Magistrate Judge David T. Bristow.

Barresi, a famous Hollywood private investigator, retained Martin Singer, co-founder of Lavely & Singer and one of the most prominent reputation attorneys in Hollywood. Singer has represented A-list actors, recording artists, studios, professional athletes, and major corporations in high-profile defamation and privacy matters.

In a July 2025 motion to dismiss, Lavely & Singer described Taft’s complaint as “a rambling document comprised of unintelligible and absurd allegations.” The motion further argued that the lawsuit was “based on the delusions of a woman who is undoubtedly obsessed with Defendant and who has weaponized this Court to serve her agenda.”

Central to Taft’s federal allegations was Angela Meader, who had served as a witness. Singer’s motion noted that Meader was referenced 384 times in Taft’s complaint and that Taft had sought to obtain her personal phone records.

Video of the Hawaii hearing—including the judge’s reprimand and vexatious litigant designation—circulated widely on social media and YouTube.

Shortly after the video became public, Taft voluntarily dismissed her federal RICO lawsuit.

The federal case is now closed. Angela Meader remains a non-party, and Barresi remains in place.

And the Hawaii court’s ruling stands. “There appears to be a pattern,” Judge Annalisa M. Bernard Lee said. “And the pattern is frivolous discovery tactics.”