Lawyers for Broad Respond to Attack

Capping two days of high-profile testimony by Eli Broad, attorneys for the billionaire home builder fended off as “misleading” the characterizations made earlier in court that he had given inconsistent testimony about a partnership deal that went sour.

Broad’s veracity has become a point of contention during a trial in which his company, SunAmerica, is accusing former partner Jeffrey M. Gault of breach of contract.

SunAmerica sued Gault for allegedly concealing information about two real estate ventures in 1994, when he was working for the firm scouting potential investments. Gault acknowledged that he knew about the properties--one the Buena Park Mall in Orange County--but said they were not ripe for investment until after SunAmerica released him from his scouting obligations in October 1994.

Broad first took the stand Wednesday and faced a brief but intense cross-examination by Gault’s attorneys, who attacked his detailed testimony about several business conversations with Gault between 1990 and 1994. They produced portions of a deposition Broad gave last year in which he purportedly claimed he couldn’t recall any such conversations.

But SunAmerica counsel Michael L. Cypers launched his counterattack Thursday by accusing Gault’s attorneys of taking Broad’s testimony out of context.

Cypers said the defense failed to give a “full and fair picture” of Broad’s deposition by picking and choosing lines from more than 1,800 pages of transcript.

To drive the point home, Cypers played excerpts from the October 1998 videotaped testimony on a large projection screen. The tape, in fact, showed Broad giving a thorough account of the conversations--including the use of key phrases such as “deal flow” and “investment opportunity.”

Although far afield from the lawsuit’s main points, the battle over Broad’s integrity reflects the differing strategies employed by the two sides. SunAmerica attorneys say the case, which has dragged on for four years, centers on a straightforward question of contracts. Broad’s testimony underscores his obligation to SunAmerica shareholders, they say.

Gault’s attorneys, however, say the litigation reflects a grudge that Broad has against their client. They say SunAmerica is trying to grind Gault down so he will relinquish his estimated $30-million share in hotels he still owns with SunAmerica.

Broad has completed his testimony but can be recalled. The trial is expected to last several weeks.