Today the Beverly Hills Courier published the latest breaking news about the ongoing legal action brought by collector Richard LaPointe against MJJ Productions, Julien’s Auctions, and others. According to the news story, the “jury today rejected a lawsuit in which a collector of celebrity memorabilia maintained that a Los Angeles auction house broke a contract to sell him 14 items that belonged to Michael Jackson“, following 30 minutes of deliberation.
The full article can be found at www.bhcourier.com (“Judge Rules in Favor of Julien’s Auction House in Jackson Memorabilia Suit“):
According to the latest Beverly Hills Courier article, LaPoint sought $306,600 in damages, which was criticized by Julien’s Auctions’ attorney, Miles Feldman, who noted that the Plaintiff’s bids at the time they were canceled only amounted to $6,200. He further stated that the verdict is “a complete vindication of my clients“.
In a separate release, Darren Julien, President of Julien’s Auctions, said:
It is opportunists like Mr. Richard LaPointe and his attorney Nicholas Hornberger that fill up our courts and the valuable time of our judges with frivolous and malicious lawsuits against individuals and companies who work hard to make an honest living. Our reputation stands on its own and we have every intention to pursue Mr. LaPointe and Mr. Nicholas Hornberger for malicious prosecution and all court and attorney costs.
Julien’s Auctions will continue to utilize every effort within our legal system to protect the business but most importantly those partners and clients who know and trust us. We are happy that justice does indeed prevail in the end.
LaPointe’s attorney, Nicholas Hornberger, said that his client is considering an appeal.
As reported a few weeks ago, Michael Jackson’s estate agreed to a settlement prior to trial, agreeing to sell LaPointe 64 of the 80+ items under dispute, which were pulled from public auction in 2009 when the entire sale was canceled following a settlement between MJJ Productions and Julien’s Auctions in their own legal dispute.
As reported in past Original Prop Blog articles, LaPointe’s lawsuit was filed late 2009. He was one of the bidders in the “Collection of Michael Jackson” auction, who claimed to have placed online bids prior to the auction being canceled following the settlement between MJJ Productions and Julien’s Auction House in the prior lawsuit between the two parties who are now co-defendants in LaPointe’s complaint.
Richard Lapointe filed suit against Julien’s Auctions and Darren Julien (along with several aliases), MJJ Productions, Tohme R. Tohme (President of MJJ Productions), Administrators of the Estate of Michael Jackson, and 100 unnamed defendants.
Past Original Prop Blog articles published on this and related matters can be found via the link below:
Jason DeBord