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Frank Dux v.
Jean Claude Van Damme
Judge disallows key plaintiff evidence as testimony in Van Damme trial draws to a close
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 4 (Court TV) -- After a series of damaging testimony from Jean-Claude Van Damme's witnesses, Frank Dux's case was further weakened by Judge James Kaddo's ruling that the plaintiff would not be able to present Universal Pictures' records of the gross earnings of "The Quest."
Dux claims that Van Damme failed to live up to an oral agreement to pay him 2.5 percent of the gross revenue (gross points) from "The Kumite." Dux also signed a separate deal to write the script for "The Kumite," but the movie was never made because its production company went bankrupt. When Van Damme subsequently starred in a similar movie, "The Quest," Dux neither received the screenwriting credits nor the money he felt was owed him. Dux decided to sue.
But Judge Kaddo's ruling will make it difficult for Dux to argue for substantial monetary damages. Universal Pictures was the domestic distributor for "The Quest." Judge Kaddo disallowed Universal Pictures' gross receipts spreadsheet for "The Quest" because he did not feel that plaintiff attorney Steven Kramer had laid a proper foundation for the evidence. The judge did allow Kramer to call Ted Ragsac, a representative of Universal Pictures, to testify about the movie's gross receipts to enable him to estimate the monetary damages allegedly owed Dux.
However, Van Damme's attorney, Martin Singer, challenged Ragsac's ability to explain Universal's gross receipts because Ragsac is a lawyer, not an accountant. When Ragsac admitted that he had no personal knowledge of "The Quest's" earnings, Judge Kaddo disallowed his testimony.
During his rebuttal case, Kramer focused on refuting allegations that Dux lied on the stand about his oral agreement with Van Damme. Dux testified that the only hard evidence of his alleged agreement with Van Damme was destroyed during a 1994 earthquake. However, former neighbor Kim Owens later said that Dux's apartment did not suffer extensive damage, casting doubt on the existence of the agreement.
Kramer called Dux's friend, Lucas Foster, who testified that Dux stayed at his house for a night or two after an earthquake damaged his home in 1994. Foster's testimony was meant to impeach Owens, who also said that Dux did not move out of his apartment for five days after the earthquake.
But when Singer asked Foster whether Dux's apartment building had collapsed, he answered, "No." Another friend of Dux, Steven Williams, contradicted Dux's previous testimony that the earthquake made his big-screen television fly through his living room wall.
However, Williams did support Dux's claims that he had used his martial arts skills to shatter bullet-proof glass. Van Damme's defense claimed that Dux had really shattered Plexiglass. Williams insisted the glass was real and that Dux suffered real cuts from the stunts.
Closing arguments are expected on Thursday.
Reported by Court TV's Bryan Lavietes
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