Raiders' $1 billion lawsuit may rest on shaky testimony

[The_Philster]

W ith their eyes still apparently focused on Los Angeles, the Raiders have entered the final phase of their case in the Sacramento trial in which they are seeking $1 billion in damages from the Coliseum, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm and Ed DeSilva, chief negotiator on the deal that brought the Raiders back to Oakland.

Both owner Al Davis and chief executive Amy Trask will be testifying during this phase of the trial but, in what could be taken as an indication of their general lack of interest, neither had appeared in the courtroom during the first nine weeks. (Trask was there the day before the trial started, as ground rules were set by the judge.) ...

more (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/12/SP51784.DTL)

[The_Philster]

NOTE: SITTING JURORS IN THIS TRIAL SHOULD NOT READ THIS. IF YOU KNOW A JUROR, PLEASE DO NOT BRING THIS INFORMATION TO THEIR ATTENTION, PER COURT ORDER.
Raiders Chief Executive Amy Trask was on the witness stand for the third day during the Raiders' counterclaim against the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Ed DeSilva and Arthur Andersen.

While under cross examination, Trask's testimony was consistent as further evidence of fraud mounted against the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Ed DeSilva and Arthur Andersen....

more (http://www.raiders.com/newsroom/newsroomNewsDetail.jsp?id=6676)

[The_Philster]

Al Davis' long-awaited testimony in the Raiders' $1.1 billion lawsuit against East Bay officials is nearing.
Attorneys expect the NFL's most controversial owner to take the stand in Sacramento in the next two weeks, and possibly within the next five days.

Davis will be the last major Raiders figure to talk about the team's claim that it was duped into relocating from Los Angeles to Oakland in 1995. The defendants in the case, charged with making false promises of sellout crowds to the Raiders, are the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum board, Dublin businessman and lead negotiator Ed De Silva, and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm....more (http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/football/raiders/story/6901878p-7851535c.html)

[The_Philster]

SACRAMENTO -- The legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders took the witness stand Thursday, swore to tell the truth in his $1 billion lawsuit, then identified himself with the words: "Well, I am connected with professional football.''


Al Davis needed no formal introduction.


Jurors in the trial pitting Davis against the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for allegedly luring him back to town on the false promise of a packed stadium have heard 11 weeks of testimony about the man who built the team into the winningest franchise in sports history....

more (http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0626/1573366.html)

[ryven]

Thanks for keeping us informed

[The_Philster]

That's what I'm here for :up:

[The_Philster]

SACRAMENTO - Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis took the witness stand in the team's $1.1 billion fraud trial Thursday, blithely recounting his colorful career in sports.

Emphasizing his words with cupped hands adorned with two glittering Super Bowl rings, Davis smiled frequently as he took the jury back to the Raiders' early days when he guided the team from obscurity to supremacy and helped craft a merger of rival leagues that created the National Football League as we know it....more (http://www.philly.com/mld/cctimes/news/6186288.htm)

[The_Philster]

Loyalty, false promises brought Davis back to Oakland
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis testified Monday that he moved his team back from Southern California partly for sentimental reasons.

In his $1 billion lawsuit against the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, its lead negotiator and the defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm, Davis said he turned down a better deal in Baltimore because Oakland was the first place he coached.

"I had a strong loyalty toward Oakland, always did and always will," Davis told jurors in Sacramento County Superior Court on his second day of testimony....
more (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2003/06/30/davis_monday_ap/)

[The_Philster]

Walking papers
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- In the moments before signing a deal to bring his team back to Oakland, owner Al Davis testified Tuesday that he was reassured the stadium had been sold out for the 1995 season and would be packed for 15 years to come.

Without that assurance, Davis said he would have walked out of the Oakland Coliseum, leaving behind the stadium officials he had negotiated with over five years and leaving a waiting crowd of reporters wondering what had gone wrong.

In testimony during his $1 billion lawsuit against the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for allegedly luring him back on the false promise of a sold-out stadium, Davis said he would have turned to his other option in Baltimore. ...

more (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2003/07/01/raiders_trial_ap/)

[Dozerdog]

:shakeno:

Still not reading them before posting- it's the same story but links to two different sites...

[The_Philster]

:doh: Fixed ;)

[SoCalRaider]

This is an all purpose link... stories update themselves if you get my drift:

http://news.google.com/news?q=oakland+raiders&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&sa=N&as_qdr=all&scoring=d

[The_Philster]

Defense wraps up 4 months of testimony
Following four months of testimony, jurors are set to begin deciding today whether the Raiders were fraudulently lured back to Oakland by false promises of a sold-out 1995 season, and, if so, whether to award the team nearly $1 billion in damages.

But attorneys for two of the defendants, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Inc. and businessman Ed DeSilva, told the Sacramento County Superior Court jury Tuesday that Raiders officials, including owner Al Davis, had known before they signed the deal that season ticket sales were falling short of public pronouncements.

"Did we con Al Davis? Can that be done by anyone in this world?" attorney James Brosnahan asked in closing arguments. "And if we did, how come he got all the money?" ...

more (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/06/BA231105.DTL)

[The_Philster]

Jury rules Oakland coliseum officials acted negligently
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The Oakland Raiders were awarded $34.2 million by a jury that found Oakland coliseum officials acted negligently when negotiating to bring the team back from Los Angeles.

The team's lawsuit had sought $570 million to $833 million to compensate for low ticket sales and the declining value of the franchise by 2010 when the contract expires.

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, its chief negotiator Ed DeSilva and the now-defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm were accused of intentionally misleading the team....

more (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/nfl/08/26/bc.fbn.raiderstrial.ap/index.html)