{"id":14743,"date":"2014-06-12T15:23:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T07:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=14743"},"modified":"2025-01-13T10:41:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T15:41:29","slug":"trial-set-for-july-to-determine-if-donald-sterling-was-properly-ousted-from-clippers-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/06\/12\/trial-set-for-july-to-determine-if-donald-sterling-was-properly-ousted-from-clippers-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial set for July to determine if Donald Sterling was properly ousted from Clippers trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stiviano<\/a><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES\u2014A trial will be held next month to determine whether Donald Sterling, who opposes his estranged wife\u2019s planned sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, was properly removed as an administrator for the family trust that owns the team.<\/p>\n

A probate court judge in Los Angeles Wednesday denied Shelly Sterling\u2019s urgent request to confirm her authority as sole administrator of The Sterling Family Trust so that she can unilaterally proceed with a $2 billion sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Instead, the judge agreed to an expedited hearing because of looming sales deadlines.<\/p>\n

The development is the latest in a legal tug-of-war following the NBA\u2019s decision to ban Donald Sterling for life after racist remarks to a girlfriend were recorded and publicized. Donald Sterling is fighting the decision and suing the league for $1 billion.<\/p>\n

The league has contended the comments were bad for business and damaged both the Clippers and the NBA.<\/p>\n

The four-day trial was granted exceptionally quickly and will begin July 7.<\/p>\n

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The deadline for the sale is July 15, which also is the date the NBA\u2019s owners hope to vote on whether they will approve the sale.<\/p>\n

Court filings Wednesday indicated the NBA has set a hard deadline of Sept. 15. If the sale isn\u2019t completed then, the league will undertake proceedings to seize and sell the team on its own.<\/p>\n

Donald Sterling\u2019s lawyer, Bobby Samini, left the courthouse without comment after a clerk announced the trial schedule. Neither Sterling was present.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to resolve this as quickly as possible,\u201d NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told The Associated Press on Wednesday in Miami at an NBA Cares event.<\/p>\n

The crux of the case will centre on the question of whether the 80-year-old Donald Sterling is mentally competent to be a co-trustee of The Sterling Family Trust, which gives him the authority to determine the team\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

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According to the trust\u2019s terms, he can be ruled \u201cmentally incapacitated\u201d after being evaluated by two doctors, said Pierce O\u2019Donnell, Shelly Sterling\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n

Shelly Sterling activated that clause in negotiating what would be a record-breaking deal with Ballmer as sole trustee. But Donald Sterling challenged the removal in a letter sent Monday to his wife\u2019s attorney said \u201cany attempt to remove me as a Trustee of the Sterling Trust is invalid and illegal. Furthermore, any assertion that I am \u2018incapacitated\u2019… is false and without merit.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to court documents, two doctors examined Donald Sterling in May and concluded that he suffers from \u201cmild cognitive impairment consistent with early Alzheimer\u2019s Disease\u201d or some other forms of brain disease after examining brain scans and having him undergo other tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion he is substantially unable to manage his finances and resist fraud and undue influence, and is no longer competent to act as trustee of his trust,\u201d concluded Dr. James E. Spar, who is affiliated with the division of geriatric psychiatry at UCLA.<\/p>\n

Sterling voluntarily went to the doctors at the request of his wife, according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details publicly.<\/p>\n

A third doctor reviewed the two doctors\u2019 findings as well as Sterling\u2019s brain scans and concurred with their conclusions that he \u201clacks the capacity to function as trustee.<\/p>\n

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\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Sterling\u2019s attorney, Maxwell Blecher, contested the doctors\u2019 findings in remarks Tuesday to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody at his age level on a brain scan would probably show some impairment. But that doesn\u2019t mean you forget where your car keys are and you\u2019re incompetent,\u201d Blecher said. \u201cThere isn\u2019t the slightest evidence he\u2019s incapable of managing his affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Sterling said in a statement that he\u2019s not just fighting for the Clippers but taking a stand against the NBA, which he called \u201ca band of hypocrites and bullies\u201d and \u201cdespicable monsters\u201d who want \u201cto take away our privacy rights and freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019ve said previously, if Donald chooses to litigate against us, so be it,\u201d Silver said. \u201cSo it\u2019s going to take longer than we had hoped for this transaction to close, but it\u2019ll get done ultimately. It\u2019s just a question of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballmer\u2019s attorney, Adam Streisand, said he was pleased with the trial schedule and \u201cconfident that after the trial the court is going to bless this transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBA\u2019s general counsel, Rick Buchanan, warned in a court papers that if the judge didn\u2019t confirm Shelly Sterling\u2019s sole trusteeship and if her deal with Ballmer \u201cis not promptly consummated, there will be substantial harm\u201d to the Clippers, the NBA and even The Sterling Family Trust\u2014the last of which would be responsible for the NBA\u2019s costs related to the legal proceedings that result.<\/p>\n

Buchanan said a recent independent survey of more than 500 Clippers fans found the majority would be less likely to support the team if Donald Sterling remained its owner. Buchanan said thousands of NBA fans worldwide have contacted the league directly or via social media to say they\u2019re hurt or embarrassed by his views and aren\u2019t sure they\u2019ll continue supporting the league and its teams. He also cited NBA player worries about the impact for the team with the upcoming NBA draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Sterling\u2019s continued ownership is damaging the Clippers\u2019 and NBA\u2019s relationships with existing and potential business partners and licenses,\u201d Buchanan wrote. He said nearly all of the Clippers\u2019 local sponsors have terminated or suspended their relationships with the team, including Adidas, Commerce Casino and Hotel, Red Bull, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Virgin America and Mercedes.<\/p>\n

Shelly Sterling\u2019s court bid aims to have a judge confirm her authority as sole trustee to ensure the Ballmer sale moves forward.<\/p>\n

Blecher said that a representative for Donald Sterling would be at any hearing, and that the next step is to have other doctors evaluate Donald Sterling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt at the end of the day the court is not going to say he\u2019s incompetent,\u201d Blecher said. \u201cThat\u2019s a very high burden in the probate court\u2014otherwise people would get their sisters and wife and brother-in-laws and everybody declared incompetent.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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