Prospective jurors in the retrial of a lawsuit filed by a tenant who was forced to flee from a 2009 fire at a West Hollywood apartment building owned by Donald Sterling recalled with vivid memories Monday the billionaire’s racially charged comments that surfaced in secret recordings in 2014.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell and attorneys for both the real estate mogul and actress Robyn Cohen questioned a diverse section of men and women who answered a jury questionnaire saying they had reservations about serving on a panel in a case involving the former Clippers owner. Each of those persons was questioned individually.
Sterling’s remarks about blacks surfaced in secret recordings made of him when he was in the company of a former female companion, V. Stiviano. Sterling is heard criticizing Stiviano for associating with blacks in public and warning her not to attend Clippers games with them. The conversation stemmed from Sterling’s unhappiness with Stiviano for having her photo taken with former Lakers great Magic Johnson.
Most of the jurors interviewed said they obtained their information about Sterling’s comments through the media.
“I feel that the man was a racist,” a middle-aged black man said. “I’ve been affected by racism myself.”
The juror also criticized Sterling for his treatment of former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor and said he believed racism was at the root of it because Baylor was black. Baylor, who sued the Clippers for age discrimination and lost, departed from the team in 2008 after 22 years at the helm.
“I think every individual deserves a fair trial, but in this situation, I don’t think I can be fair,” the juror said.
He said he would likely feel more favorable about Cohen’s side of the case — she says she lost most of her personal property in the Sept. 28, 2009, fire and maintains that the building had an inadequate fire detection system — even though he does not know her.
The man also said he was aware of allegations by tenants concerning apartment buildings owned by Sterling.
“To me, he’s the perfect definition of a slumlord,” the man said.
In December 2012, the first jury found Sterling liable to Cohen for breach of contract, breach of the warranty of habitability and intentional infliction of emotional distress and awarded her $2.3 million in compensatory damages. The panel also found that Sterling and his employees at the West Hollywood property, located at at 888 West Knoll Drive, acted with malice toward Cohen, triggering a punitive damages phase of the trial in which she was awarded an additional $15 million.
In 2013, Judge William MacLaughlin, who presided over the first trial, ordered a retrial on all issues, stating in a 19-page decision that there was insufficient evidence to show that Sterling deliberately caused emotional distress to Cohen before or after the fire. The emotional distress claim is no longer part of Cohen’s case.
Another prospective juror, a middle-aged white woman, called Sterling a “racist” and said she has strong views about Sterling.
“I have an opinion that he is not a good person,” the woman said. “It was all over the news about what happened.”
The juror works at Cal State Los Angeles, where Sterling is an alumnus, and said that the school had to give back a donation he made because of his comments about blacks.
However, the woman said she could be impartial if chosen to serve on the jury.
A middle-aged Latina who said her best friend is black said she was disturbed by what was reported about Sterling’s comments.
“I just find him to be quite a bit racist,” she said. “There is so much hate in this world already.”
Sitting about 30 feet from Sterling’s wife, Shelly, the woman said she also found it objectionable that the billionaire had a relationship with Stiviano, who she referred to as his “mistress.”
A young Latino man questioned said he would “most likely be biased” if picked.
“I don’t think it would be fair to him for me to be in this trial,” he said.
The juror said he once had his photo taken with Sterling when he still owned the Clippers and before the racism allegations surfaced.
A middle-aged Latino who called himself “a huge sports fan” said he was disturbed by media accounts of Sterling’s “handling of people of color” and reports that the former team owner did not talk with some of his players.
“It didn’t sit well with me,” he said.
However, he said that on the positive side, he had heard about Sterling’s financial donations to schools.
A middle-aged white man was blunt about his feelings.
“I’m not fond of Mr. Sterling,” he said.
If it took place in 2014, why isn’t Cohen suing the ex-Mrs. Sterling? She’s the one, with her parents small holding of rental properties, was able to get Donald Sterling into their billion dollar rental business. They have a big history of rental problems regarding ethnicity. In the 90s their properties in Korea Town were under scrutiny.
What a horribly, tricky situation has taken over Ms. Cohen’s life. Once you get wrapped up in such a legal morass, the likelihood of justice diminishes. Following partial success in a complicated a fraud case, the hot shot attorney wanted to back out after the first easy settlement money. Even though the case was handed to him on a silver platter and success likely in an eventual landmark case, he wanted easy money. Finding another attorney to replace him would have been difficult but not impossible but I was exhausted from the intense, lengthy personal investigation. Said attorney had put… Read more »