Oct. 17, 2012, 10:09am PT Delays continue in Dish-AMC trial Judge adjourns court to address legal issues
By Jill Goldsmith Variety.com http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118060876?refCatId=14 A judge in the Dish-AMC trial sent the jury home and adjourned court until Monday to address legal issues in the case that need his attention and at least one Wall Streeter predicted a possible mistrial if delays continue. The courtroom was packed Wednesday morning to hear testimony by Dish chairman Charlie Ergen, which will move to Monday when the trial resumes and he could face some tough questions under cross. Dish is facing three separate audits to determine if it destroyed evidence and investigators are trolling corporate hard drives and the hard drive of programming VP Carolyn Crawford for audit reports and subscriber data. Dish has already been sanctioned for destruction of evidence. Finding of additional wrongdoing could further hurt its case. Thomas Clapps, a legal analyst for Susquehanna Financial who has followed the trial since it began September 19 said there could be more delays as Dish would appeal an adverse finding and the court would need time to assess any new evidence. "As a result of all the sideshows at trial concerning Dish's document destruction and misconduct, there is an increased risk of a mistrial," Clapps wrote Wednesday. Judge Richard Lowe of New York State Supreme Court in lower Manhattan said this week he hadn't been aware that Crawford had been attending trial proceedings daily, which could taint her upcoming testimony. Also, several jurors have conflicts late this month with only two alternates to fill in. It's a mistrial if more than two jurors can't serve the entire length of the trial. AMC Networks' former parent Cablevision sued Dish for dropping a suite of high-definition channels called Voom in 2007 only two years into a 15-year carriage agreement. Dish said it had the right because Cablevision hadn't fulfilled its contractual obligation to invest in Voom programming. Cablevision is asking for $2.4 billion damages but that could rise if Dish is found to have understated its number high-def subscribers. A settlement, which including a new carriage deal for AMC Networks on Dish, still seems the most likely outcome. _______________________________________________ Please be sure to include a URL to the article. Reply to the sender with a "Thank you" if you like this post. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
