Kevin Costner has escaped a multi-million-dollar fine after a court dismissed Stephen Baldwin's claims that he was duped into prematurely selling shares of a company that went on to bag a $52million contract.
A New Orleans jury rejected claims that Costner deceived Baldwin into selling shares of his stock in a company that became hugely profitable selling oil cleanup equipment in the wake of the BP spill.
The verdict was delivered after less than two hours of deliberation.
Real life drama: Kevin Costner and Stephen Baldwin arriving at Federal Court in New Orleans last week
The suit alleged that Costner, best known for his performances in Field of Dreams and The Bodyguard, cheated Baldwin and Contogouris out of their share of a deal under which BP bought 32 oil and water separation devices that were developed by a company owned by Costner.
The deal was struck after the Macondo well blew out in April 2010, spewing more than 4million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in the largest accidental oil spill in history.
According to the suit, Baldwin and Contogouris claim they were not told about the deal with BP before they agreed to sell their shares in a company that had been set up to market Costner's extraction devices.
As a result, they charge they were duped out of a portion of an $18million deposit from BP for the devices.
Battle: Costner was just vindicated by the jury
Dismissed: Baldwin's claims were thrown out by the jury
Costner told reporters of his relief at winning the case, and continued to deny all wrongdoing.
'My name means more to me than money,' the actor, wearing a tan striped blazer and sunglasses, told reporters after the ruling by the eight-person jury.
'That's why we wanted to get to the truth of this,' said Costner, who won Oscars for best picture and best director for Dances With Wolves.
He concluded by praising the jury for 'doing their best to understand everything' in a complex case.
'They were really smart, and it was my good luck that they saw the truth of the story,' he said.
The plaintiffs' attorney James Cobb had repeatedly accused Costner and Smith of lying about the nature of his communication with BP executives before they sealed the deal.'The bigger celebrity won,' Cobb said after the verdict.
'We thought that we proved that Kevin Costner... made misrepresentations about the status of the company,' he added. 'The jury did not.'
A better day: Stephen's brother Alec and his fiancee Hilaria Thomas attended the Harvey Broadway Opening Night Performance at Roundabout Theatre Company's Studio 54
Jurors heard eight days of testimony before they began deliberating.
Costner and Baldwin were ordered by U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman to attend each day of the trial, which they heeded. The judge thanked them at the end of the trial.
'I know that being here throughout the trial has been a great challenge for them,' Feldman said.
Costner testified that he never saw Baldwin contribute anything to their company's efforts to persuade BP to use the centrifuges.
Baldwin testified that no one asked him to invest any capital or lobby BP but said he used his celebrity to market and promote the centrifuges while he also worked on a documentary about the nation's worst offshore oil spill.
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