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Ex- the fashion retailer chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his UK-based partner that they'd be finished and in grave danger if he was deemed able to face trial on sex trafficking allegations this autumn, a US district court has heard.

The taped conversations were among over 100 recorded calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day legal competency hearing this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers assert that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is incapable to face trial alongside his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors contend their health professionals determined his condition has gotten better and that the recordings demonstrate he is extremely fixated on being declared incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries states he is praying for a favorable ruling, characterizing being ruled able as a disaster, and tells a medical professional: you better declare me unfit, the Central Islip court heard.

Judicial Process and Medical Testimony

The conversations were taped last year while he was being treated for four months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could restore his faculties.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed legally unfit last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was competent for proceedings after his treatment period.

The prosecution advised the court Jeffries repeatedly griped about prison conditions and was recorded describing to Smith how horrible incarceration was, remarking: that's why we got to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged middleman James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with operating a worldwide human trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which could result in a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their detentions came after an exposé that revealed the trio had been at the heart of a complex scheme recruiting young men for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the evidence of multiple specialists - experts, psychiatrists and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were questioned in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Behaviour

Several medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a head injury, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behavior, which is part of a range of cognitive symptoms.

Examples involve Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a insult, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was badly made, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also taped in great detail on about 20 jail conversations discussing his trips abroad for the near future, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

"I don't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard telling Smith from prison.

Prosecutors suggest this demonstrates his recognition that he would go free if he was declared incompetent and the case were dismissed.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses disagree, saying it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the charges.

"I didn't see the appropriate reaction that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such serious charges," stated one expert who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner during the examination... was similar to we were having lunch at his club. There was no sense of anxiety."

Diverging Psychiatric Assessments

Reports indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline started in 2013, when imaging showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a major impact on his health.

After the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was able after observing him over four months in the facility.

They assert his cognitive abilities did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the patients that we assess for fitness," said one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a suit and tie in the courtroom, was reported to be lighthearted and fairly personable during interactions in the facility, and was deliberately pushing boundaries, at times using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his testing scores may have improved since 2023 from low or deficient to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and more consistent management of prescriptions during his evaluation.

109 Prison Calls Present Questions

Central to assessing fitness is whether Jeffries comprehends the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial