Report: Judge rules against Eric Hunter in first court clash
In the first courtroom skirmish in a $3.2 billion family feud, a Greensboro federal judge refused Thursday to grant a restraining order calling on Cree co-founder Neal Hunter to stay away from his older brother Eric Hunter, the other co-founder of the Durham-based semiconductor maker, the Associated Press reported.
In June, Eric Hunter and his wife, Jocelyn, filed a $3.2 billion lawsuit against Cree and Chairman Neal Hunter, alleging the defendants violated federal securities laws and threatened the plaintiffs in an attempt to keep them from reporting the alleged violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Judge Frank Bullock ruled Thursday that Eric Hunter and his legal team failed to prove that Cree or Neal Hunter had threatened Eric Hunter and his family, the AP said. When asked by Eric Hunter's lawyer, Mike Unti, to issue the restraining order anyway, Bullock refused because of the "stigma" that can be attached to someone subject to a court order, the AP reported.
Cree says the lawsuit makes general, unsupported allegations that should be thrown out of court. Bullock said he likely won't rule on whether to dismiss the any or all parts of the case until mid-October.
Eric Hunter was sporting a black eye as he testified slowly for two-and-a-half hours. He said he was heavily medicated to dull the pain caused by a recent beating inflicted by a relative of his wife, the AP reported.
Eric Hunter's initial lawsuit against Cree sparked the filing of a host of class action suits against the company. The SEC has subsequently launched an informal inquiry into Cree.
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a bit more:
Eric Hunter testified haltingly and with a visible black eye for two and a half hours. He said he was heavily medicated due to pain from a recent beating inflicted by his wife's uncle.
"His testimony did not come out clearly today because of his medical condition," Unti said.
Bullock also ruled he would allow Unti's revised versions of his original lawsuit.
The lawyer for Eric Hunter filed five versions, each adding new allegations or defendants, within five weeks of the original lawsuit.
"It's not a new record. It's close to it," Bullock said. "It strikes this court that there was a rush to get this case filed before there was a very thorough investigation" of the allegations.
In one revision, Unti named Charlotte's Bank of America as a defendant and in the last version, the bank's securities division as a defendant. Unti said he was dropping the bank as a defendant.
Bullock said he wouldn't allow further changes to the lawsuit unless Unti is able to show unusual circumstances. |
