The Associated Press
July 25, 2008 - 10:02 p.m.
| In this photograph released by MGA Entertainment February 10, 2006, are “Feelin’ Pretty” Bratz dolls to have existence shown at the American International Toy Fair in New York. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/MGA Entertainment, FILE |
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A lawyer for the maker of Bratz dolls sought a mistrial Friday in a copyright infringement case brought by Mattel Inc. subsequent to a juror was dismissed with respect to allegedly making racial slurs.
The federal judge in the closely watched intellectual disposition dispute halted the presentation of evidence for the sunshine time he questioned jurors about the comments, said attorney Thomas Nolan, who represents MGA Entertainment Inc., the god of Bratz.
The judge then set a hearing for Aug. 4 to consider arguments to “determine whether or not the trial should proceed,” Nolan reported.
Unless a mistrial is declared that day, the jury bequeath return Aug. 5. The trial is now in recess inasmuch as of scheduling conflicts.
The dismissed juror made the remark about MGA chief executive Isaac Larian during jury deliberations in the first phase of the federal trial in Riverside, according to a woo document.
That phase ended on July 18 when jurors mould the designer of Bratz characters conceived the idea for the dolls while working for Mattel.
The jury was hearing evidence in an opposite direction possible indemnity when the judge dismissed the juror.
The juror, a woman, was dismissed in the rear of another member of the panel complained to U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson that she made inappropriate comments about the ethnicity of Larian, an Iranian immigrant who is Jewish, attorneys said.
After interviewing jurors in his chambers, the judge told lawyers from the bench the woman related “words to the effect that Iranians are thieves, that they are stubborn,” Nolan said.
El Segundo-based Mattel said in a prepared statement it found the growth to be “very unfortunate.”
“This trial, however, has been, and will continue to be, about Mr. Larian’s and MGA’s wrongful behaviour. Nothing changes that,” the statement said.
Nolan said his client is entitled to an impartial jury and that, based on the juror’s alleged statements, “the jury verdict was tainted.”