K V DCX Continues

WILMINGTON, Delaware; January 30, 2004; The AP reported that the federal judge hearing billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler AG said Friday that the trial will resume in a few weeks and that the automaker will have to pay at least some of Kerkorian's legal fees.

Kerkorian is suing DaimlerChrysler for more than $1 billion, claiming that Daimler-Benz cheated him out of an acquisition fee when it took over Chrysler Corp. and falsely characterized it as a merger. DaimlerChrysler says the merger was one of equals and that Kerkorian only grew disgruntled when his stock price fell.

Judge Joseph Farnan temporarily halted the trial in December after DaimlerChrysler suddenly produced 67 pages of handwritten notes from Gary Valade, Chrysler Corp.'s former chief financial officer.

Kerkorian's attorneys asked Farnan to end the trial and rule in their favor, but Farnan agreed to resume the trial after a court investigation found a copying error was to blame and DaimlerChrysler didn't act in bad faith.

Farnan told attorneys Friday that he will resume the trial on either Feb. 9-10 or March 11-12, according to a transcript of his discussion provided by the U.S. District Court. The date will be determined early next week.

Farnan said DaimlerChrysler should have to pay at least some of Kerkorian's legal fees because of the delay, but he said he would decide later how much was owed. Kerkorian's attorneys want DaimlerChrysler to pay all of Kerkorian's fees after Dec. 16.

Farnan said Valade should be allowed to testify with no restrictions on what he can discuss. Kerkorian's attorneys had asked that he be barred from discussing the notes except in response to their questions.

Farnan also said he will recall DaimlerChrysler CEO Juergen Schrempp and former Chrysler president Thomas Stallkamp to the stand for an unlimited amount of time. DaimlerChrysler had sought to limit the time that the two men would have to testify. Both testified for the first time in December before Valade's notes were produced.

But Farnan warned Kerkorian's attorneys not to rehash issues that already have been covered.

"I think we all want to get to the end of the trial," he said.