Bratz juror dismissed, MGA seeks mistrial

July 26 12:05:01 PM, Yahoo News

Reuters - A juror in the copyright infringement trial over Bratz dolls was dismissed on Friday for making an ethnic slur against MGA Entertainment Inc Chief Executive Isaac Larian, causing MGA to seek a mistrial and casting doubt on the outcome of the case brought by Mattel Inc .

Mattel had prevailed in the first phase of trial, winning the rights to dozens of original Bratz drawings and sculpts, and was seeking damages of more than $1 billion.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson dismissed the female juror from the federal case in Riverside, California after another panelist complained about remarks she had made during deliberations over the drawings about Larian, an Iranian Jew who immigrated to the United States as a teenager.

Larson suspended the proceedings and set an August 4 hearing to determine whether the case should continue or end in a mistrial.

MGA attorney Thomas Nolan said the female juror told the rest of the 10-member panel during deliberations over which company owns the drawings that her husband, an attorney, had "a number of Iranian clients and they are stubborn and are known to be thieves."

Larian, who has attended nearly every day of the two-month trial, broke down after hearing about the comment, Nolan said.

"I moved today for a mistrial arguing that Mr Larian and MGA are entitled in the federal system to a unanimous verdict of all jurors and that all jurors must be impartial and not have hidden prejudices," Nolan said.

Mattel said in a statement that it found "this development to be very unfortunate."

"This trial, however, has been and will continue to be about Mr Larian's and MGA's wrongful behavior. Nothing changes that," the statement said.

Mattel won a near total victory over MGA in the first phase of the trial when the jury last week validated its claims to most of the concept drawings and models upon which the designs for the first four Bratz dolls were based.

The jury found that Bratz creator Carter Bryant made most of the drawings and models at issue while he was under contract to Mattel as a Barbie designer, and that MGA obtained them illegally.

This week, the panel was hearing evidence about whether the Bratz dolls and accessories made and sold by MGA since 2001 violate Mattel's copyright on the drawings and sculpts.

Mattel was seeking more than $1 billion in damages in connection with the alleged infringement.

Shares of Mattel fell 3.9 percent, or 81 cents, on Friday to $20.00 in after-hours trade.

(Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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