Three days before Christmas we noted that Anland North, a limited partnership controlled by Ross Perot Jr. and his Hillwood, was threatening to block some Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks season-ticket holders from parking in their already-paid-for parking spots at the American Airlines Center. The only thing that kept Junior from making good on his I'll-show-you was Judge Martin Lowy, who issued a temporary restraining order till this mess could get sorted out.
Long story short, for those who can't bother to jump back a month: Anland has a long-standing deal with Center Operating Company, which
operates the AAC, to lease parking spaces around the arena. But Anland told COC that a new deal was, ya know, null and void. Just ... because, that's why. To which the COC's attorney -- one Tom Melsheimer, the man who notoriously told Junior to stick the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy where the sun don't shine -- replied: Well, that's just wrong.
Once again, Lowy has sided with Melsheimer and Center Operating Company. The judge signed a temporary injunction a little after noon today that keeps Anland from doing anything, at least not till after the trial, which has now been set for July 9. Because, writes Lowy following a hearing held yesterday, far as he's concerned there is evidence that "tends to support [COC's] claim that an agreement existed" between the AAC's parent company and Anland. Writes Lowy:
The Court further finds that the preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing tends to support Plaintiffs claim that parties did have a meeting of the minds and were proceeding on what both sides understood to be agreements that were merely subject to the formality of execution, rather than that there would be no agreement unless and until there were signatures.Says attorney Brett Johnson of Fish & Richardson, who's handling the case while Melsheimer's in trial in Austin, "The court found there was no credible reason for Mr. Perot's limited partnerships to deny that a deal is in place because the deal actually exists, and the documents proved it. The court heard evidence that the Perot entities accepted tens of thousands dollars from the American Airline Center before changing course only a week before Christmas, claiming that there was no deal. That just made no sense, and the court recognized that."
