(March 28, 2001) – According to testimony by Raiders chief executive Amy Trask on Wednesday, the Raiders never signed any commitments with Hollywood Park for the proposed stadium project in 1995. Trask also testified that Oakland was being used as a "stalking horse" in the Raiders negotiations with Hollywood Park. Trask will return to the stand Thursday during the Raiders vs. NFL trial in State Superior Court in Los Angeles.

Trask testified that the Raiders had extensive negotiations with Oakland officials during the same period that the club was involved in discussions with Hollywood Park. She admitted that the deal terms under negotiation with Oakland from the fall of 1994 through the spring of 1995 were based upon deal sheets negotiated in 1990, when the Raiders originally announced plans to relocate back to Oakland from Los Angeles. Trask also admitted that the deal the Raiders ultimately chose in Oakland included $63.9 million in "non-recourse" loans and representations of "sell outs" by Oakland officials. Trask said that the Raiders also were talking to numerous other cities at the same time.

Earlier Wednesday, Trask testified that on June 10, 1995 Davis told her to join him at a "meeting" later that day at Hollywood Park. However, on the way to the meeting, she heard a radio report about a press conference scheduled for that day at Hollywood Park. Present at the meeting were Hollywood Park officials, the Hollywood Park Board of Directors, the Mayor of Inglewood and others. It was the first time all parties had been assembled. Nevertheless, Trask denied knowing why there were television trucks outside Hollywood Park when she arrived.

The radio report heard by Trask and the appearance of the TV trucks corroborate testimony given last week by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Tagliabue stated that Al Davis had notified him in a June 9, 1995 phone call that an agreement with Hollywood Park (and the Raiders) had been reached and that there would be a June 10 press conference at the racetrack to announce the deal. However, the press conference was cancelled and no deal was consummated.

Trask’s direct questioning has been handled by Raiders general counsel Jeff Birren.

The Raiders claim that the NFL in 1995 interfered with the team's opportunity to build a stadium at Hollywood Park near Los Angeles. The Raiders also assert that they "own" the Los Angeles market and the NFL may not place a team there without paying the Raiders for doing so.

However, evidence so far in the trial has shown that Commissioner Tagliabue and the other NFL clubs worked hard to help — not hinder — the Raiders with their stadium proposal at Hollywood Park. The evidence also has supported the NFL rules which state that the right to place a team in Los Angeles, or any other city, is a collective right of all member clubs, not just the Raiders.

Under California law, a verdict requires a minimum three-quarters vote of the jury, which is made up of eight men and four women. The trial is expected to continue for another 2-4 weeks.