Williams sisters lawsuit goes to jury
(AP)Updated: 2006-12-21 09:43
Richard Williams later testified he was lying, and both sisters have said they knew nothing of the deal and would never have agreed to play in the match.
"It is inconceivable that Venus and Serena Williams ... did not know what was going on," Romano told jurors, adding that Richard Williams "perpetrated a fraud."
Cunningham countered that there is no evidence that proves Venus and Serena knew about the deal.
"The evidence is clear that Carol Clarke and Keith Rhodes never had one conversation with Venus or Serena Williams about the Battle of the Sexes," he said. "I submit to you that Richard Williams' word is not the word of Venus and Serena Williams."
Throughout the trial, jurors were shown tax returns that indicate Richard Williams was paid management fees, bolstering the plaintiffs' contention that he had authority to sign contracts for his daughters.
However, attorneys for the sisters and their father claim the payments were mischaracterized for tax purposes and that Richard Williams was paid merely for coaching services.
A plaintiffs' witness who had served as a Williams family business adviser testified previously that in 1999 he produced a document that outlined protocol for doing business with the tennis stars. The document, shown to jurors, states that no one is to speak directly to the women without first going through their father.
Richard Williams first acknowledged signing the document, but later, under oath, insisted he had never seen it. Richard Williams also denied signing other contracts that appeared to have his signature, including one that committed his daughters to appear in public service ads.
The promoters claim the tournament could have made about $45 million, of which 80 percent was to go to Richard Williams' company.
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