Rich Doctor's Ex Had Greedy Motive in Murder-for-Hire Plot: Bombshell Lawsuit

A popular doctor was gunned down outside. of his Los Angeles area clinic, allegedly targeted by a group of. assassins. And now, one year later, his. ex-wife faces not only murder for higher. charges in criminal court, but also a. wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. And I had the chance to sit down with. the lawyer behind what could be a. multi-million dollar payout for the. doctor's young wife and baby. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. In August of 2024, 61-year-old Hamid.

Mirajai was leaving his office in. Woodland Hills, California at around. 5:30 p.m. when a man suddenly appeared. with a gun and shot him in the back of. the head. Months later, police made a. shocking announcement that they had. arrested Hamid's ex-wife, a Hang Kelk. Authorities believe a hang, who. sometimes is still referred to as a hang. mirai or a hang xarin, orchestrated this. murder plot and hired four alleged. accompllices to help her carry it out.

And by the way, this apparently wasn't. the first time that this group allegedly. targeted Hamid. According to filings and. ongoing court battles between Hamid and. Aang, who got divorced in 2010, AH had. reportedly been harassing her ex for. years, demanding access to more and more. of Hamid's estate. Various lawsuits show. Hamid had accused a Hang of not only. emptying his bank accounts and stealing. property, but also using violent tactics. to harass and intimidate him. Court. documents that were reviewed by the Los.

Angeles Times revealed that there had. allegedly been threats of violence in. their relationship. In fact, in 2018, Hamid testified that a hang had been a. good partner and a family oriented mom. up until about 2008 when she quote. changed. He testified quote she just. snapped. You know, maybe too much. pressure, maybe stress. Her mindset. totally changed. You know, she was just. not a normal wife or mom. She became. just deceitful and dishonest. 2009,

Hamid asked for a restraining order. against a hang, claiming he was in fear. for his life. He alleged that she had. hit him with her fists and it told him, "If I had a knife, I would stab you to. death." Now, as this legal battle. dragged on, a hang filed her own. restraining order against Hamid. This is. according to the LA Times. She wrote in. a court filing, "He threatened to kill. me, split me open to make me squeal like. a pig while brandishing a large bloody. hunting knife. He pushed me, then. grabbed my arm and hand, bruising me. badly." So, as you can see, there were a.

lot of accusations flying around over. the last several years between the. former couple. That's clear. 2022, that's when something changes. Hamid. remarried, asking Gazal Samore to be his. wife. The two had a daughter together. Everything seemed great until August of. 2024 when Hamid was targeted and killed. And now Gazal is suing a hang as well as. the four alleged co-conspirators in a. wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of.

herself, her daughter, and Hamid's. estate. Now, before we dive into the. suit, I do have to quickly go over the. people that are allegedly involved in. this murder plot. Okay, so a hang is of. course believed to have organized. everything and financed this hit. She. faces charges of murder and assault with. a deadly weapon. Evan Hardman is accused. of actually carrying out the shooting at. Warner Plaza Medical Center in Woodland. Hills. So, he's charged with killing. Hamid for financial gain with the. special circumstance of lying in weight. It's an aggravator. And prosecutors say.

Ashley Rose Sweding served as the. getaway driver, taking Hardman to the. clinic and then speeding away after this. alleged hit. She is charged as an. accessory after the fact. And then you. have a third alleged accomplice. This is. Sorala Joued. Reportedly drove Hardman. to Texas after the shooting. There's. also a fourth man, Shawn Randolph. Allegedly helped with the logistical. side of things, including getting his. hands on an apparently untraceable ghost.

gun. Oh, and get this. This is not the. first time that a hang allegedly hired. some of these people to hurt her. husband. Remember I mentioned that? Well, back in May of 2024, this is. months before his death, Hamid was. attacked by two men who beat him with. baseball bats. Prosecutors say Hardman. and Joued were behind that attack as. part of a Hang's allegedly ongoing. campaign of harassment against her ex. and both now face assault with a deadly. weapon charges for that as well. So, here on sidebar, we're always talking.

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promo code sidebar. So now we want to. talk about the lawsuit that Gazal filed. in the Superior Court of Los Angeles. She is suing under four causes of action. in this suit. We have intentional. infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death, survival, and violation. of uniform avoidable transactions act. This lawsuit gives an overview of this. crime and why Gazal believes this. happened. Quote, plaintiffs are informed. and believe and thereon alleged that. over the ensuing years subsequent to. defendant Ahang's divorce from Hamid.

Mirajai, defendant AHang engaged in a. pattern of harassment, intimidation, and. aggression toward Hamid Mirjai driven. largely by avarice and vengeance. A Hang. consistently demanded money from Hamid. Mirjai due to a combination of her own. reckless spending, inability to manage. her finances and outright greed. In the. months leading up to August 23rd, 2024, defendant Ahang began to contrive a. scheme to have her ex-husband Hamid.

Mirjai murdered for the purpose of. financial gain. The lawsuit points to. the fact that Hamid had apparently moved. on with his life. That was a huge. motivator behind this alleged attack. Reading from the complaint, defendant. Ahang was extremely jealous of the fact. that Hamid Mirai had become remarried to. plif Gazal Samore and that the couple. had a child. jealousy on the part of the. defendant, a hang motivated her beyond. simple financial incentives to seek to. destroy plaintiff's lives by killing. their husband and father. And the filing.

calls the crime carried out by this. quote gang of individuals a brutal act. On August 23rd, 2024, at approximately. 5:30 p.m., Hamid Mir Shajai was leaving. the building of his medical practice at. Warner Plaza Medical Center and walking. to his vehicle located in the parking. lot. As he walked towards the vehicle, Hardman, who had been laying in wait for. Hamid Meshai to emerge from the office. in the most brutal and cowardly manner, repeatedly shot Hamid Mirai with a gun. and fled, leaving Hamid Meshai to die in.

the parking lot, which he did. Okay, so. I want to dive into this complaint. I. want to dive into the causes of action. And to do that, let me bring on right. now Alex Guerrero. This is the attorney. who filed this lawsuit on behalf of. Gazal and her daughter. Thank you so. much for coming on. You know, Alex, this. entire story, uh, unfortunately sounds. like it's straight out of a movie. Have. you ever dealt with a case like this. before? >> No. You know, I have to tell you, and. first of all, thank you for for having. me come on this morning. I'm really glad.

to be here. Um, no. This is the first uh. time I've ever dealt with something like. this in my career. Um, I've been an. attorney for about 25 years. You know, it's something that you hear about in, you know, TV or the movies. You never. expect something like this to happen in. real life. >> How is Gazal doing right now? You know, it's one thing to deal with grief, but. this idea of losing a loved one in such. a violent way, and then you have the. criminal case, you have potential civil. case, right? I mean, it's a lot. H how. is Gazal doing?

>> I mean, honestly, she has had a real. difficult time emotionally dealing with. this. Um, you know, it's it's not just. the loss of her husband. You know, they'd only been married a few years. um. their daughter currently is only 18. months old and she was only 6 months old. when this happened. So she's she's being. pulled in so many different directions. You know, she's she's having to deal. with the criminal aspect and cooperating. with the district attorney's office. She's has to deal with the financial. insecurity. um you know, of having her main bread.

winner, her husband, um you know, tragically murdered. Um you know, she's. dealing with the the civil lawsuit. obviously uh and the grief as you just. mentioned. um of losing the love of her. life. >> Yeah, it's awful. It's awful to say the. least. Um from a legal point of view, what impact does the ongoing criminal. case have any on the civil case? >> So, the criminal aspect of it, um. because they've all pled not guilty, uh.

and because the trial has yet to. commence, it it impedes our ability to. do civil discovery on the individual. defendants. And the way that it does. that is because anything that they were. to, you know, for example, if we were to. take the deposition of a hanger show um. and we were to ask her questions that. led to potential criminal consequences, she could assert the fifth amendment. privilege against selfinccrimination in. the civil discovery. um in order to prevent that from that.

evidence from being used against her in. the criminal case. So, would it be. advantageous for you for the criminal. case to be resolved before the civil. case moves forward? >> Typically, yes. Um, for a couple of. reasons. Number one, um, if it's not a. plea of no contest, um, and there is an. actual guilty plea, which a lot of times. prosecutors will ask for if there's. going to be a plea bargain, um, we can. use that in our civil proceedings. Um,

and then sometimes depending on the. court, it will require what's called an. allocution. An allocution is a statement. of wrongdoing where they admit to. certain facts. Those facts are given. under oath and they can be used. definitively in other proceedings such. as a civil action. >> And to be clear also, as our viewers. know, you you might have a uh one result. in a criminal case, let's say even a not. guilty, and that doesn't preclude a. civil case or finding a finding of. liability in a civil case. So, they are. connected in a way, but they are. different. Uh I wanted to go through.

this complaint. Um so the first cause of. action, the first claim is for. intentional infliction of emotional. distress. Can you talk to us how that. applies in this case? >> Sure. Um well, you know, there are. different types of it, but essentially. the the concept behind intentional. infliction of emotional distress um is. that it's an intentional act. It's a. tort. So it's in civil law. not criminal. wherein um a defendant. engages in some sort of outrageous.

conduct designed specifically with the. intent to create emotional distress or. emotional damages um in the in the. plaintiff. And in this case, I it's. clear that um hang miri um in addition. to whatever motivation she had uh was. in, you know, she obviously intended to. kill um her ex-husband um without any. sort of regard to the emotional. ramifications that that could leave for.

um Gazal or the daughter of Ena. >> Do you have to prove that she was. thinking about Gazal and her daughter? Do you have to prove that she was uh you. know this idea of intent that um you. know intended uh to cause emotional. distress or is it just your actions were. so reckless they were so outrageous they. were so shocking that yes we don't have. to prove that you know she was in you. know Gazal was in your mind but that you. really did not regard what the. consequences could be. How does it work?

>> Sure. So so that's a great question. Um, and so we could we can establish either. one. And if a jury infers that it was. either deliberately designed to um. create emotional distress on the part of. the two plaintiffs or if the actions. were so reckless that any reasonable. person would know that emotional. distress would result from these actions. um then we can we can uh prove that. cause of action. >> The next one is wrongful death. So talk.

to us about what wrongful death means. here and all of the um the different uh. charges uh that we're talking about the. funeral expenses the past and future. loss of earnings all the things that are. connected when we talk about wrongful. death. So what is wrongful death in this. scenario and what are you hoping uh to. recover with respect to that? So, so. wrongful death and and wrongful death as. we pled here in this cause of in this. cause of action in this lawsuit was uh.

you know somewhat of a catchall. Um the. intentional conduct we think obviously. this is an intentional case. Um wrongful. death is generally negligence that. results in death and we we pled it just. to sort of cover our bases um because. you know obviously we don't know what. evidence ultimately is going to be um. developed in the criminal case. Um so to. the extent that there was some act or. omission committed by one or more of. these individuals resulting in the.

death. So say for example and this is a. really outrageous hypothetical Mr. um. Evan Hardman who was the trigger man. Say for example, oh he went up to uh the. deedent, he pulled out his gun and then. the gun went off and he wasn't intending. on on pulling the trigger. If something. really crazy like that happened, we. could we could assert that wrongful. death cause of action against him. Um. and it would cover our base in case. there was some, you know, weird.

situation where intentional conduct. wasn't being alleged. Now there's certain parts of this that. are concrete when you talk about bur. burial expenses right you can you map. them out it's clear to understand. there's other parts that feel a little. bit more you know abstra abstract and. you wonder how you can prove it or say. what the loss was like loss of. companionship loss of love and comfort. how do you uh prove that how do you. articulate that for a jury. >> so you know that's a great question too. because it comes up in every single. lawsuit California recognizes two types.

of damages um economic or special. damages and then non-economic or general. damages. You know, special damages are. the concrete things that you have uh. receipts for. So, for example, you know, funeral expenses, flowers, that sort of. thing. Um those are concrete uh special. damages and they're really easy to prove. to a jury. The non-economic damages or. the general damages that you're talking. about, um you know, people generally. have heard of those in terms of pain and. suffering. Um, but the Casey.

instructions, those are the California. jury instructions that are used in civil. cases, um, recognize a lot of other. things besides just pain and suffering, including emotional distress, anxiety, um, loss of enjoyment of life. And so, when you're talking to juries about. trying to quantify those things, obviously there's no fixed um, you know, matrix for that. There's no Kelly blue. book of, you know, you guys were married. x amount of years or you had one per.

daughter versus two daughters. Um, so. you just really have to draw on the. juror's personal experiences and you. develop that through evidence just. showing the quality of the relationship. that they they had. Um, the fact that. they were still relatively relative. newlyweds, the fact that they had a new. daughter. Um, you know, the fact that. that AA, the the 18-month-old, is really. is never going to know her father. um. you know the lost birthdays, the lost. holidays, the lost vacations, the lost. future that they had together. Um we ask.

a jury to sort of independently come up. with how they can value that and and. sometimes a trial will even suggest what. we think it's worth. >> And doesn't that require Gazal to. testify about a lot of this? >> Abs it would. Absolutely. So Gazal would. have to testify. But you know a lot of. times um we find some of the most. powerful testimony not just from the. individual litigant but also from. friends and family members, people who. are at the wedding for example or family. members um who spend holidays with them.

or friends who uh would go out to dinner. with the two of them. >> Now there's another cause of action. It's called survival. It feels a little. bit more complicated. break it break us. down what that is and is this specific. to California law. >> So no survival um actually is a cause of. action that that comes to us all the way. through common law um from England. Um. and I'm pretty sure that it exists in. pretty much every single state in the. United States. But basically this is a.

cause of action in a death situation. that is brought on basically behalf of. the estate for damages that that um. happened between the time of the. incident that caused the death and the. eventual death. So, for example, um if there are if somebody is injured. in an accident, uh but they're not. immediately killed, they survive for. some period of time, maybe they're a. week in the hospital or something like.

that, the pain, the suffering, um and. the special damages that are incurred. during that interim time can be. recovered through a survival action. And. so here, you know, we're not really. clearly sure how long um uh Hamid uh. survived after he was initially shot, but we know it was some period of time. And so typically whenever you have a. death situation, um a survivable cause. of action is is good pleading in. practice. >> No, it makes sense. I understand. Um and.

then you have the final one. It's the. violation of uniform voidable. transactions act. What's that? So that is a statute that we have here. in California that's embodied in um. section 3439 of the civil code. Uh and. basically that enables individuals who. may have a stake in certain assets to. unwind um certain transactions that they. may be doing. So, for example, if. somebody has personal property that's. really expensive, like they own a fleet.

of Ferraris or they have real estate and. they have they have homes and they know. the walls are closing in on them and. they are likely to have a large civil. judgment assessed against them, they may. attempt to hide those assets either by. um transferring them to third parties. like family members or or in this case a. hang mir has some adult children that. that the information we have is that. she's and trying to transfer assets to. So this cause of action was brought to.

um put us in a position to unwind those. transactions so they can't be hidden. You know, a famous example of this sort. of situation is obviously like the OJ. Simpson trial where he was criminally. acquitted, but then he was found liable. for the uh the uh wrongful death of. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Um, and you know, he tried to hide a lot. of his assets and and and keep them from. the creditors. uh uh for years and years and years.

before he passed away. And so this cause. of action is is more designed as a. preventative measure and puts us in a. strong position once this case is. resolved to unwind some of those things. or if we find out about it during. discovery, stop them in their tracks. What make what evidence do you have that. these uh that the hang is moving these. these money or assets to keep it away. from Gazal as opposed to some sort of. benign transaction? What is the evidence. that there's a deliberate hiding of.

assets here? >> So, so first of all, you got to call. into question the fact that she'd be. doing this in the first place from a. jail cell. But but secondly, and you. know, unfortunately, I'm not at liberty. to discuss specific names of friends and. family members who have have been. speaking to us about this. Um, but. suffice it to say, uh, you know, it's a. very it's a very close, uh, connected. community that these folks came from and. so there are a lot of people, uh, fortunately in the community who've been.

cooperating with us. Now, uh, when it. comes to relief, this suit is laying out. multiple demands. General damages, special damages, uh, damages pursuant to. the civil codes, punitive damages, uh, cost of the suit, prejudgment interest, um, any other relief. Um, what is the. next step in this process? Have you. gotten a formal legal response as of. yet? >> So, not yet. Um and so.

so once all the defendants are served. and not all of them have been served, you know, the lawsuit was filed on July. 21st um just this past July 21st. Um we. had a press conference on Monday uh. because Saturday was the one-year. anniversary um unfortunately of this. tragic event. Uh, and so that's when we. we thought it would be good to remind. the public about about this um this. horrible murder for hire plot. Um, but. but the defendants are all in the.

process of being served. Um, once that. is effectuated, and you know, luckily. for us, we know where they are. They're. all in jail, and you can serve somebody. in jail. Um, but once that happens, they. have 30 days in which to file a a legal. response to the complaint. And so. typically that's an answer. Theoretically that could be a demur, a. motion to strike, a motion for judgment. on the pleadings or or something along. that nature. Um, typically that's going. to require legal uh representation.

So we have yet to know whether or not. these defendants are going to have um. legal representation of their own. If. they do not, then we start proceedings. for what's called a request for default. judgment. Um, and so depending on what. plays out is going to kind of depend on. uh what our next move is. >> If anybody has questions about default. judgment, just look at our coverage of. the Alex Jones case. That was a prime. example of that. Uh, Alex Guero, thank.

you so much for taking the time to. explain the legal intricacies of what's. happening here. and we are extending our. uh thoughts and prayers to Gazelle and. her daughter during this incredibly. difficult time. So, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. >> My pleasure. Thank you so much for. having me and I will for sure give my. clients your well wishes. Take care. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll.

speak to you next time. [Music].