Partial Victory for Raiders

In a partial victory for the Raiders that got them some money but probably not enough to gain leverage against Oakland, a Sacramento Superior Court jury awarded the team $34.2 million Tuesday, finding that Oakland officials had acted negligently when bringing the team back from Los Angeles in 1995.

The jury, which deliberated for more than two weeks, denied the Raiders’ claims that they were defrauded in the deal, saying that Oakland Coliseum officials had made false representations about ticket sales, but had not done so intentionally, as the Raiders alleged.

“The word is, tell the truth,” Raider attorney Roger Dreyer said. “And if you don’t tell the truth, you’re going to be held accountable.”

Both sides claimed victory -- and said they would appeal.

The trial lasted almost three months, not counting 13 days of jury deliberation, and included 45 witnesses and more than 600 pieces of evidence. The Raiders said the verdict proved they were lied to. Attorneys for the defendants -- the Oakland Coliseum, its chief negotiator Ed DeSilva and the now-defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm -- pointed out that their clients were exonerated of fraud and cleared of liability.

“Al Davis has been claiming fraud for five years to anyone who will listen,” Oakland attorney James Brosnahan said, referring to the Raider owner. “The only thing they got was negligent misrepresentations.”

Dreyer, who was disappointed by the amount of the award, said the ruling was a “vindication and validation” for the Raiders.

“The jury has determined that the Raiders were lied to, that the public was lied to and that they were deceived by the representatives for the Coliseum,” he said.

Raider executive Bruce Allen viewed Tuesday’s verdict as “absolutely” a victory.

“All the great legal experts will give you answers that mean nothing,” he said. “However, any time a jury votes, 12-0, to award somebody $34 million, that means they believe one side over the other.”

On the hook for damages is the Oakland Coliseum Corp., which, Brosnahan said, last released a financial statement three years ago and reported assets in the range of $1 million.

“The Raiders are looking at an empty pocket,” he said.

If that’s the case, Dreyer said, the Raiders will go after the assets of individual Oakland Coliseum board members.

“We’re not the least bit concerned about getting that judgment paid,” Dreyer said.

Brosnahan and others have said the Raiders were angling for a huge award in part to force cash-strapped Oakland to let them out of their Coliseum lease, which runs through the 2010 season. That would help clear the way for the Raiders to move back to Los Angeles, where the team is already suing the NFL over the rights to the nation’s second-largest market.

Some legal experts believe the Raiders would need an award in the neighborhood of $200 million to persuade Oakland to do away with the current lease. Others, such as L.A. attorney Tony Capozzola, think Tuesday’s verdict is enough to do so.

“They can definitely use this victory as a strong negotiating point,” said Capozzola, who has had legal dealings with the Raiders and Oakland.

“My reaction is, they have an excellent chance of immediately terminating their lease. They can either extend [their current lease] on favorable terms and conditions, or go with another city.”

Dreyer said, however, the idea that the Raiders want to force Oakland to renegotiate is merely a scare tactic devised to generate bad feelings about the team.

“The Raiders honor their leases, always have,” Dreyer said. “And we have a lease, and we’re going to be in Oakland until 2010. That’s the bottom line.”

The Raiders lost their lawsuit against the NFL over rights to the L.A. market, but the verdict was overturned because of juror misconduct. The retrial has not been scheduled. An NFL spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday’s verdict.

Notably, NFL franchises that are suing the league -- as the Raiders are -- are ineligible for the league’s G-3 loan, a $150-million cornerstone to virtually every L.A. football stadium proposal.

Asked to assess the verdict, L.A. City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said it was “substantial” for the Raiders but added that he didn’t expect the case to end anytime soon.

“The Raiders and its owners are famous for being litigious,” he said. “They’re often engaged in long and drawn-out legal disputes that move from one appellate court to another. And this could go on for years.”

Davis, who spent a week on the witness stand in Sacramento, said a lack of sellouts would cost the Raiders $728 million and reduce the value of the franchise $380 million by 2015. He testified that the Raiders would have been far more valuable had he moved them from Los Angeles to Baltimore -- a city he claimed was wooing him -- instead of back to Oakland. He also said he’d strongly considered a proposal for a new stadium at Hollywood Park, but the final choice came down to Oakland or Baltimore, where the Cleveland Browns relocated shortly thereafter.

Oakland Coliseum attorneys said the Raiders conveniently ignored their poor performance on the field as a reason they failed to sell out the Coliseum. The Raiders, whose ticket prices were among the highest in the NFL, missed the playoffs from 1994 through ’99.