Free Order - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

1 2 3 4 5 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Meadowlark Lemon, a married man, ) ) Plaintiff/Counterdefendant, ) ) vs. ) ) Harlem Globetrotters International, Inc., ) an Arizona corporation; Harlem ) Globetrotters International Foundation, ) Inc., an Arizona corporation; Mannie L. ) Jackson and Catherine Jackson, husband ) and wife; FUBU the Collection, L.L.C., a) New York limited liability company, ) ) Defendants/Counterclaimant. ) ) _________________________________ ) No. CV-04-299-PHX-DGC No. CV-04-1023-PHX-DGC (Consolidated Cases) ORDER

At the close of the trial day on February 6, 2007, the Court held a conference with the parties concerning jury instructions. The conference was held on the record. During this conference, and in response to motions made at the close of the Plaintiff's case, the Court entered the following orders: 1. The Court granted judgment in favor of Defendant Catherine Jackson.

Defendants had asserted that Mrs. Jackson and her husband, Defendant Mannie Jackson, are residents of Nevada, a non-community-property state. As a result of this assertion, the Court did not include any jury instruction regarding Mrs. Jackson's potential liability, and Plaintiff did not object.

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2.

The Court entered judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff's claim for

emotional distress damages. Plaintiff did not propose an instruction on such damages, the Court did not include such an instruction in its final proposed instructions, and Plaintiff did not object. 3. The Court declined to instruct the jury on Plaintiff's arguments that his player

contracts were extinguished in the bankruptcy because they were executory, were extinguished in the bankruptcy for other reasons, or are unenforceable because they are unconscionable. The Court noted on the record that its research had suggested that unconscionability was a question for the Court, not the jury. Plaintiff stated that he would conduct research and raise the issue again if he found any law suggesting that it was a question for the jury. Plaintiff did not raise the question again. The Court likewise explained that whether the contracts were executory and extinguished in the bankruptcy appeared to be subjects beyond the ken of the jury and therefore did not include instructions on these issues in the final proposed jury instructions. Plaintiff did not object to the omission of such instructions. 4. The Court denied Defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law. The

Court concluded that Plaintiff had presented sufficient evidence for his claim of violation of the right of publicity to go to the jury. 5. The Court took under advisement Defendants' request for judgment on the issue

of punitive damages. On the morning of February 7, 2007, the Court granted Defendant GTFM, LLC's motion with respect to punitive damages. The Court concluded that Plaintiff had not presented evidence from which a jury could find that Defendant GTFM acted with the mental state necessary for punitive damages under Arizona law. 6. The Court denied Defendants Harlem Globetrotter International, Inc. and Mannie

Jackson's motion for judgment on punitive damages.

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DATED this 8th day of February, 2007.

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