A judge gave Shelly Sterling a sweeping victory Monday afternoon and cleared the way for Steve Ballmer’s record $2-billion purchase of the Clippers to proceed. In a tentative oral decision, Judge Michael Levanas ruled in Sterling’s favor on all three counts and rejected virtually all of Donald Sterling’s arguments in the probate trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. The ruling included the extraordinary step of granting of Shelly Sterling’s request for an order under section 1310(b) of California’s probate code that allows the sale to be completed regardless of an appellate court’s intervention. “Ballmer paid an amazing price that cannot be explained by the market,” Levanas said. Levanas also ruled that Shelly Sterling acted properly when two doctors declared her husband mentally incapacitated in May under terms of the Sterling Family Trust before she proceeded to agree to sell the Clippers to Ballmer.
The judge endorsed the argument interim Clippers chief executive Richard Parsons made earlier in the trial that the franchise will enter a “death spiral” if Donald Sterling retains ownership. Donald Sterling revoked the trust in June, but Levanas said the court retained jurisdiction over the matter. The judge announced his ruling minutes after closing arguments in the case concluded. The totality of Shelly Sterling’s victory quickly became clear, as Levanas derided the testimony of Donald Sterling’s two witnesses and rejected frequent claims by his lawyers of a “secret plan B” to oust him as Clippers owner. Levanas called Shelly Sterling’s testimony “far and away more credible” than her husband’s and believed that genuine concern for his well-being motivated her arranging the mental exams in May. Shelly Sterling embraced her attorney, Pierce O’Donnell, in the courtroom following the ruling. Donald Sterling did not attend.
