Donald Sterling Called His Wife a "Pig" Today in Court
At the end of the third day of the trail that will determine if Shelly Sterling had the right to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, her husband Donald screamed, "Get away from me, you pig!" as she walked past him to leave court.
Wednesday was the second day of testimony from Donald Sterling, who, according to the Los Angeles Times, yelled at opposing counsel, "Make no mistake today, I will never, ever, sell this team. Until I die, I will be suing the NBA."
Donald Sterling got into a number of heated exchanges during his testimony. From the Los Angeles Times:
Sterling and opposing attorney Bert Fields got into a heated exchange almost immediately when Fields asked Sterling if he was retired.
"I have five major corporations and I operate them," Sterling said. "How could I be retired?"
"Do you think a man that has 200 buildings in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego is retired? I'm not retired sir, got it?" he said. "Is that it, are you finished?"
Shelly Sterling testified last and said that she had contacted a doctor to assess her husband for Alzheimer's.
"He's been getting more forgetful. He's slurring his words. He's agitated a lot. He gets mad for no particular reason," she said. "He's just not the same person that he used to be."
Neurologist Meril Platzer, one of the two doctors called to the Sterling's home to check for Alzheimer's symptoms, also testified. Donald Sterling's lawyer worked to paint the doctor as a co-conspirator with Shelly. From USA Today:
The trial had resumed with Dr. Meril Platzer, who was back testifying after not coming to court Tuesday with her entire file of her examination of Donald Sterling in May. Gary Ruttenberg, one of Donald's attorneys, received the file Wednesday and took up more questioning of Platzer.
Ruttenberg grilled Platzer in his attempt to show that Platzer was, as Donald said in testimony Tuesday, a "hired gun" whose sole purpose was to assist Shelly and her lawyers in getting Donald certified as mentally incapacitated and removed as a co-trustee from the Sterling Family Trust. Judge Levanas repeatedly told Ruttenberg, "Let's move on."
And, indeed, Platzer was asked about her memory of a June 9 phone mail from Donald, a hostile message in which he threatened to sue her and called her "a horrible woman." Platzer testified, "I've been over that tape so many times, I don't even want to listen to it any more."
Platzer testified yesterday that Donald Sterling "probably" has Alzheimer's.
[Image via AP]