Wrongful death case against Hillsborough heiress Tiffany Li settled out of court, lawyers announce

By Ed Walsh

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    HILLSBOROUGH, California (KGO) — The wrongful death case against Hillsborough heiress Tiffany Li has been settled out of court, lawyers announced at a hearing on Wednesday. The complete terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

In 2019, a jury found Li not guilty of killing Green, the father of her two children. The jury deadlocked on the guilt of her codefendant and former boyfriend Kaveh Bayat. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office decided not to retry Bayat and he was released from jail.

The wrongful death case was slated for trial on Jan. 31. At a hearing on Wednesday morning, attorneys for Li and Colleen Cudd announced both sides had agreed to a settlement. Wednesday’s proceeding, which was conducted over Zoom, was supposed to be a preliminary hearing for the pending wrongful death trial but at the start of the hearing San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Danny Chou announced that he had received emails from the attorneys notifying him that they have reached a settlement.

“So I did want to confirm on the record that the case has settled is that right?” Judge Chou asked.

“That is correct,” responded Cudd’s attorney Frank Pitre. “From the plaintiff standpoint, Your Honor, we’re just waiting for the you matters to get worked out dealing with documents but the train is back on track and headed in the right direction.”

A new hearing was scheduled on Feb. 17 to finalize the terms of the settlement with regards to Li and Green’s two children.

After the hearing, Cudd attorney Donald Magilligan told ABC7 News that the attorneys had agreed on a settlement in October for $100,000 for Cudd and $50,000 for Green’s estate. The estate settlement, he said, would be used for compensation for things like burial expenses. Magilligan said the amount that will go to Green and Li’s minor children will not be disclosed for their own protection.

Attorneys in the case had been making final preparations to take the case to trial.

On Dec. 29, Cudd’s attorneys submitted a witness list of 60 people they planned to call to the stand. At the top of the list was Li, whom attorneys estimated would be on the stand for five hours. The plaintiff’s second witness was Olivier Adella, whom they stated would also be on the stand for five hours. Adella was friends with Bayat and Li and worked for them as a personal trainer and bodyguard.

In a deposition taken for the civil case last year, Adella, whom federal authorities later identified as Mustapha Traore, defiantly said he was looking forward to testifying in the civil case.

“And I didn’t kill anybody,” he responded to one of Li’s attorneys. “I got used, I got–I got set up as a fall guy. Your client did the killing. Please take me to trial. Make sure the media is there. Trust me, you are going to love it.”

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