THE BALLOON MAN

Jurors reject circus family's shiva lawsuit claims

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus CEO Kenneth Feld speaks to reporters outside District Court in Washington, Tuesday, May 24, 2011. After a bitter assault trial between members of the American family behind the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus ended with jurors deciding that neither side proved its case. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bitter assault case between members of the family behind the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus ended Tuesday with jurors deciding that neither side proved its case.
The jury rejected Karen Feld's $110 million claim that her brother, circus CEO Kenneth Feld, had his security guards assault her at a memorial service for their late aunt. They also rejected Kenneth Feld's counterclaim that his sister trespassed at the 2007 shiva by shouting anti-Semitic obscenities that disrupted the service.
Karen Feld, a 63-year-old Washington resident, said she has a history of brain injuries that cause seizures. She testified she couldn't control what she was saying when she went into one of her episodes at the penthouse apartment where her aunt's memorial service was held and where she lived with her brother as a youth. She said her brother's guards harmed her by dragging her out of the service and she eventually needed to have a tumor removed because of their assault and battery.
But the jurors did not agree after a two-week trial in which three security guards contradicted her version of events.
Kenneth Feld, a 62-year-old resident of Tampa, Fla., smiled broadly and hugged his lawyers in response to the verdict. He said afterward he was happy with the outcome, but he felt it was a shame their feud had to go so far.
"It never should have come to this," Kenneth Feld told reporters on the courthouse steps, his first comments to the media in the case. "There's no way I ever wanted this to be in the courtroom."read more at:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hem4rFXGMRR-F7HTFnQJPVa3tkeQ?docId=84fa12c40b61433a8b802dd53a8fd299