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Former the fashion retailer chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his British partner that they are finished and in grave danger if he was declared competent to stand trial on human trafficking charges this autumn, a federal court in NY has learned.

The recordings were included in more than 100 recorded calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy fitness to stand trial session this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys argue that he is battling dementia and late onset of the disease and is not competent to face trial alongside his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors say their doctors concluded his mental state has stabilized and that the conversations demonstrate he is remarkably preoccupied on being declared unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries is heard saying he is praying for a good outcome, describing being deemed competent as a catastrophe, and says to a medical professional: you must rule me incompetent, the Central Islip court learned.

Court Process and Health Testimony

The recordings were taped the previous year while he was being treated for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could recover competency.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed not competent in May but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was fit for trial after his hospital stay.

The prosecution told the judge Jeffries frequently complained about life in jail and was heard describing to Smith how terrible incarceration was, stating: which is why we have to succeed.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with running a worldwide sex trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

They have denied the allegations, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an investigation that revealed the group had been at the heart of a elaborate network scouting men for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after considering the statements of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in proceedings this week.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

Several defence experts, testify that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate conduct, which is part of a range of symptoms.

Instances involve Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also recorded in minute detail on approximately 20 recorded calls talking about his travel itinerary for the next few months, even though having been on restricted movement since 2024.

"I can't go on trips without you," Jeffries was recorded telling Smith from incarceration.

The prosecution argue this indicates his understanding that he would go free if he was found incompetent and the charges were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses have a different view, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the charges.

"He lacked the expected affect that I would expect someone to have who is facing such grave allegations," testified one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his manner throughout the assessment... was almost like we were having a chat at his country club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Opposing Psychiatric Diagnoses

Reports indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline commenced in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his history showed he continued drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was discovered in his underclothes, unable to move, in a neighbour's garden.

Doctors from a prison hospital stated that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over four months in prison.

They contend his cognitive abilities did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more able mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for competency," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the hearing, was reported to be cheerful and rather charismatic during evaluations in prison, and was deliberately testing the limits, sometimes using disrespectful language.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and said his performance on tests may have improved since 2023 from borderline or impaired to normal because of sobriety and improved medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Prompt Concerns

Central to assessing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial