Testimony postponed in Jenni Rivera suit to avoid death anniversary

A judge agreed Monday to postpone testimony in a lawsuit filed by the former manager of the late singer Jenni Rivera to spare Rivera’s family from being in court on the anniversary of the entertainer’s Dec. 9, 2012, death in the crash of a private jet.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos agreed to put off testimony in Gabriel Vazquez’s appeal of a ruling that he pay Rivera’s estate $750,000. That hearing was set for Dec. 8, the day before the anniversary of Rivera’s death.

Vazquez wants Palazuelos to overrule a decision by state Labor Commissioner’s office, which found that he booked concerts without having the proper license.

In court papers filed jointly by attorneys on Wednesday, they stated that Dolores Rivera, the singer’s sister and the trustee of the family trust, “does not want to engage in trial on the anniversary of Ms. Rivera’s death.”

Vazquez now lives in Guadalajara, Mexico, and attorneys for the Rivera family have not taken his deposition, according to court papers.

Palazuelos scheduled a hearing Jan. 5 to set a new date to begin taking testimony.

Killed in a Dec. 9, 2012, crash of a 1969-model, U.S.-registered Learjet in the mountains of northern Mexico alongside Rivera were her publicist, Arturo Rivera; makeup artist Jacobo Yebale; hairstylist Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez; and Mario Macias Pacheco, her attorney. The two pilots also died.

Vazquez is appealing an August 2013 finding by an attorney for the state Labor Commissioner’s Office that the verbal contract he and Rivera entered in 2001 for him to book performances for her in the United States and Mexico was void because he was not licensed as a talent agent under the state Labor Code. He was ordered to pay $746,764 to the Rivera family trust.

Vazquez worked with Rivera for 10 years.

Rivera was still alive when the Labor Commissioner’s Office heard her petition for review of Vazquez’s expenses and she testified during the proceedings.

Rivera, 43, dominated the banda style of regional Mexican music popular in California and northwestern Mexico. She was one of the biggest stars on Mexico television and was popular on regional Mexican stations in California.

Rivera was born in Long Beach and buried there.