Dodgers divorce continues in the courtroom

08/30/2010

Los Angeles Dodgers owner, Frank McCourt, has taken to the witness stand in his acrimonious divorce proceedings from his wife Jamie.

Observers believe the embattled businessman did not help his case during his time on the stand, refusing to give ready answers to routine queries and showing little recollection for details of meetings, phone calls and documents.

One of Jamie's lawyers, David Boies, scoffed at Mr McCourt during questioning, chuckling, "And these are the easy questions," as he left the Los Angeles court room.

Boies, who has represented other high-profile clients including Al Gore and George Steinbrenner, is seeking to have the McCourts' 2004 marital property agreement invalidated. An annulment of the agreement would see the Dodgers, which they claim is community property, split evenly between the couple.

Jamie's lawyers say she did not fully understand the 2004 agreement and, more importantly, a key portion of the agreement was switched after it was signed and notarized. It shows that three of the six original signed copies of the deal exclude the Dodgers from Frank's separate property, making it community property.

Frank's team is being led by Steve Susman, who said the switch was a clerical error by longtime McCourt attorney, Larry Silverstein, which was subsequently discovered and corrected.

Proceedings are on-going.