ALL CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST NFL CLUBS IN RAIDERS TRIAL

(4/24/01) Judge Richard Hubbell on Tuesday dismissed all charges brought by the Raiders against the 15 member clubs that had been named as individual defendants in this case. The only remaining defendant is the NFL.

In addition, Raiders senior executive Morris Bradshaw, who testified via deposition today, stated that the Raiders left Los Angeles in 1995 because "…we got a better deal in Oakland." Bradshaw’s testimony completely contradicts the Raiders’ position that the team moved because the league destroyed the Raiders’ deal at Hollywood Park.

Al Davis, who also testified today via deposition despite being present in the courtroom, cited a series of "lies" as the reason the Raiders situation has not worked out so far in Oakland. He stated that "in 1995, the Oakland people lied to the community, they lied to us, they lied to the taxpayers . . . the word ‘PSL’ became a disaster word, almost as bad as some of the bad words that you hear in our society." This testimony further confirmed that the Raiders’ financial problems since the team returned to Oakland were not caused by the NFL.

Davis is also involved in separate litigation against the city of Oakland/County of Alameda over his claims that the city and county are responsible for the Raiders’ poor ticket sales and financial performance since their return in 1995.

The 15 teams that were dismissed as defendants today by Judge Hubbell are: Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York Giants, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tennessee, and Washington.

NFL lead attorney Allen Ruby: "The Raiders have never been able to explain why they singled out these 15 clubs as opposed to any others. With the testimony completed, it was perfectly clear that the Raiders failed to introduce any evidence of wrongful conduct by any of the individual clubs. Today’s dismissal is totally justified."

As a result of the teams being dismissed, the Raiders’ conspiracy claims in this case also were dropped. Motions to dismiss the remaining claims against the NFL were heard this morning and are under consideration by Judge Hubbell.

Jury instructions will be given on Wednesday. Final arguments will be made on Thursday and Friday.