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Strategies & Market Trends : Groundhog Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jcky who wrote (3789)	5/8/2002 5:00:41 PM
From: Alan Smithee	Respond to of 6346

No mental evaluation for Love, judge rules By John Zebrowski Seattle Times staff reporter Courtney Love, the widow of rock star Kurt Cobain, will not have to submit to a mental evaluation in her fight against the remaining members of Nirvana for control of the band, a King County Superior Court judge ruled yesterday. The ruling by Judge Robert Alsdorf found that Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, who with Cobain sold millions of records as Nirvana, didn't prove there were grounds to force Love to undergo a lengthy psychiatric evaluation. Alsdorf wrote that to require such an exam would "serve no purpose other than to contribute a circus-like atmosphere to the trial." But while Love's attorney declared the ruling a victory for her, the other side was also claiming significant gains in the battle over control of the legacy of Seattle's biggest-selling rock band. The motion to compel Love to sit for an exam comes nearly a year into her dispute with Grohl and Novoselic. Last June, Love sued them to halt a long-awaited box-set of Nirvana music that included an unreleased track called "You Know You're Right." Both sides say the song, thought to be the last Nirvana recording before Cobain's 1994 suicide, was a guaranteed hit. They agree on little else. At the center of the lawsuit is who will control Nirvana, L.L.C., the company formed in 1997 to manage the band's business interests. Grohl and Novoselic contend Love is holding up the release of highly anticipated Nirvana music, not only the new track but also different versions of old favorites. Love, they argue, has hurt Nirvana's legacy. But it is Grohl and Novoselic who Love contends are harming the band. O. Yale Lewis, Love's attorney, said she wants to dissolve the partnership because the other two never include her in decisions. In last year's complaint, Love said another reason to break up Nirvana, L.L.C., and grant sole control to her is that she was "emotionally overwrought and distraught" when she signed the agreement to form the partnership. Lewis said Love has since declared she wasn't incompetent at the time. But the earlier claim prompted Novoselic and Grohl to file the motion asking for a psychiatric evaluation. In rejecting the request, Alsdorf wrote that Grohl and Novoselic "have cited no mental incapacity. Defendants have cited a business disagreement as to which reasonable minds could differ." Lewis said the motion was meant only to harass Love. "I suspect their whole strategy is to make things so unpleasant for her she'll go away," he said. "But I doubt she's ever given up anything in her life." Kelly Corr, attorney for Grohl and Novoselic, said that although the judge rejected the request for an evaluation, he greatly limited Love's ability to gain control of the band. Once he agreed that she no longer claims to have been incapacitated in 1997, the requirements for splitting up the partnership became much harder to meet. "I think the judge has boxed her in," Corr said. A trial is scheduled for September. archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com