Bid for New Klein-Davis Trial Charges Jury Bias

Attorneys for Al Davis and the Los Angeles Raiders on Friday charged jury misconduct and filed a motion in Superior Court for a new trial, asking that $10 million in damages recently awarded to former San Diego Chargers owner Eugene Klein be set aside.

Using a declaration filed by alternate juror Stacey Thomas, Davis’ attorneys are attempting to show that several jurors were biased against Davis during the controversial three-month trial in San Diego County Superior Court, in which Klein sued Davis for prosecutorial misconduct.

The jury awarded Klein $5 million in compensatory damages in December and an additional $5 million in punitive damages a month later. Former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, who represented Davis, said that Klein, 66, was favored by a hometown jury and called the punitive verdict “the result of local prejudice and passion.”

Thomas, 27, said that, a week after the jury awarded Klein compensatory damages, she called Davis to tell him that he had been victimized by “prejudiced and biased statements” by jurors. She said that she also wanted to tell Davis about the “basic unfairness and injustice in the verdict.”

Thomas did not get to talk to Davis, discussing the matter instead with his secretary, Beverly Swanson, who “elicited all the information I knew about the misconduct,” Thomas said.

Klein, a millionaire businessman who sold the Chargers in 1984, sued Davis after charging that the general managing partner of the Raiders had maliciously singled him out as a defendant in the Raiders’ 1981 antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.

The Raiders won the suit, gaining the right to move from Oakland to Los Angeles before the 1982 season. Klein claimed that the stress of being named a defendant contributed to a heart attack that he suffered on the witness stand during the trial in May, 1982.

According to Thomas’ affidavit, some jurors openly expressed their contempt for the Raiders during the trial and deliberations. The four-page document says that one juror said that he had heard that Davis had ties to the Mafia.

Before jurors began deliberating in the compensatory damage phase of the trial, jurors talked about buying presents for Judge Gilbert Harelson, and jurors Leonard Watson and Mike Philips said that deliberations would not take long “because everybody feels the same way,” Thomas said.

At one point during the deliberations, jurors asked Harelson if he could order Klein to give any damages awarded to him to charity. During the trial, Klein independently called a local radio talk show to say that he would donate the money to charity, keeping only enough to pay his legal fees.

Thomas said that she heard Klein’s comments on the radio and informed another juror. According to the affidavit, other jurors were reading newspaper reports and listening to television accounts of the trial despite admonishments from the judge.

In addition, Thomas said that, throughout the trial, she frequently heard jurors make derogatory comments about Davis and his attorneys, “while Mr. Klein’s attorneys were usually admired and praised.”

Thomas’ declaration was filed by Sid Novack, who is identified in the document as her attorney. However, the case became more muddled Friday when Thomas told The Times she “never legally retained” Novack.

“Me and Sid don’t have the same views on this thing,” Thomas said.

Novack told The Times that Davis and the Raiders had “engaged in misconduct” since he began representing Thomas. Specifically, Novack said that Davis has called Thomas directly on several occasions “in an attempt to have her lean toward favoring him” since she gave her declaration on Feb. 3.

“But it’s not unusual. I would expect that from Al Davis,” said Novack.

However, Thomas defended Davis.

“He hasn’t done anything improper. Mr. Davis has been nothing but nice; real nice and concerned,” said Thomas.

Novack said that Thomas acted out of a genuine concern over what she saw as prejudicial conduct by the jury.

“The thing that turned her off was that she saw certain perceived biases that led to the verdict that favored Klein,” said Novack.

Raiders’ attorney Jeff Birren said that he and Davis have been in contact with Thomas since she signed her declaration. But Birren defended his and Davis’ actions on grounds that “after a trial is over both sides are free to call on any jurors.”

“There was never an effort undertaken to get Stacey on our side,” said Birren. “After this declaration was taken, Mr. Davis called her up to profusely thank her for the courage she had shown and for standing up for what she thought was right.”

Thomas told The Times that Birren had called her Friday to warn her that a reporter had obtained her declaration and would probably be asking her questions.

Klein and his attorneys could not be reached for comment. A hearing on the motion for a new trial is scheduled for April 8.