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Frank Dux v.
Jean Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme found not liable in breach of contract suit
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 9 (Court TV) -- The jury found Jean-Claude Van Damme not liable his battle with martial arts expert and former friend Frank Dux over an alleged breach of contract.
Dux claimed 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. Van Damme subsequently starred in a similar movie for Universal Pictures, "The Quest." When Dux neither received the screenwriting credits from the Writers Guild of America nor the money he felt was owed him, he decided to sue.
Two days of damaging testimony from Van Damme's witnesses and Judge James Kaddo's refusal to admit records of the "The Quest's" domestic and foreign gross earnings weakened Dux's case. On Nov. 4, Judge James Kaddo ruled that plaintiff attorney Steven Kramer had not laid a proper foundation to present the evidence from Universal Pictures and did not have a qualified expert to testify about the movie's gross receipts. His ruling effectively crippled Dux's ability to argue for substantial monetary damages.
Watch highlights from the trial.
Van Damme's attorney, Martin Singer, focused his closings on the two witnesses who attacked arguably the most important aspect of Dux's case -- his veracity. Dux testified that Van Damme wrote an outline and made an audiotape of their alleged agreement. But, Dux said, both items were lost when an earthquake leveled his apartment in 1994.
However, on Nov. 2, Dux's former neighbor, Kim Owens, testified that the earthquake did not cause serious structural damage to the apartment building. Owens used photos to show that the building's balconies had not crumbled as Dux had claimed. This testimony damaged Dux's credibility and suggested that his agreement with Van Damme, specifically his written proof of a contract, may not have existed.
Watch the verdict and Frank Dux's reaction.
(2:37)
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Richard Alexander, Dux's friend for 20 years, testified that the plaintiff's feat of breaking bullet-proof glass with a single punch was a hoax. According to Alexander, the bullet-proof glass was really Plexiglas that Dux had found. Alexander also described another allegedly staged stunt in which Dux shattered a candied glass bottle that appeared to be real glass. This "long-time friend" called Dux a liar who "tries to get something for nothing."
Dux's attorney Steven Kramer, tried to discredit Owens and Alexander by accusing them of having grudges against his client. While Alexander denied Kramer's repeated accusations that he stole a car he was supposed to purchase from Dux, he admitted once filing an unsuccessful suit against the plaintiff. In his closings, Singer called Dux's allegations against Alexander, "outrageous."
To undermine Owens, Dux returned to the stand to tell told the jury that she neglected to fix a leaky pipe that eventually damaged his car, causing their apparent rift. In addition, Dux admitted that he was wrong when he said three tons of concrete balconies fell from his building during the earthquake. He said that he thought the earthquake moved his television and left large cracks in his walls. However, Dux conceded he was not sure what happened because it was dark, and he was disoriented.
During trial, Van Damme repeatedly denied promising gross points to Dux and insisted "The Kumite" and "The Quest" were two different movies. He also denied conspiring to prevent Dux from receiving his due credit and being the producer of "The Quest." Kramer implied that as a producer, Van Damme may have been able to make the alleged deal with Dux.
Van Damme's testimony was undermined by Dux witnesses who said that he was a producer of "The Quest." Two plaintiff witnesses, Frank Mattioli and Sheldon Lettich, said that they thought there was an understanding between Van Damme and Dux. Lettich, an uncredited screenwriter for "The Quest," and Mattioli also testified that the movie was a derivative of "The Kumite."
Van Damme countered that testimony with Adam Rodman, a screenwriter and former member of the board of directors for the Writers Guild of America. Rodman testified that the Writers Guild gives preference to the author of the original script. According to Rodman, if a third of the original script remains intact, then the original writer is given screenwriting credit. Since the Writers Guild ruled that Dux would receive only "story by" credits for "The Quest," Rodman's testimony suggested that the movie contained very little of the plaintiff's original screenplay for "The Kumite."
Van Damme was not in court to hear the verdict. He is currently filming another movie.
-Bryan Robinson
Reported by Court TV's Bryan Lavietes
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