A judge said Thursday he will not put limits on the cross-examination Sumner Redstone’s lawyers can conduct to explore any misconduct by the woman petitioning to be reinstated as the media mogul’s health care director.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cowan, who will preside over the non-jury trial that begins Friday, said he needs to hear about Manuela Herzer’s actions in the months leading up to when Redstone ousted her from his home last fall.
“The court needs to find out if Ms. Herzer was dishonest to Mr. Redstone,” Cowan said.
Herzer’s lawyer, Pierce O’Donnell, said he believes Redstone was “brainwashed” into allowing those around him to evict Herzer. The trial will determine whether Redstone, who’s 92, was subjected to undue influence.
Herzer’s attorneys maintain Redstone lacks mental capacity to make decisions on his own, but his lawyers dispute that claim and insist that he knew what he was doing when he removed the woman from his home.
Cowan also urged both sides to cut down on the time they expect various witnesses to testify, including two doctors who examined Redstone, who recently stepped down as chairman of both Viacom and CBS.
O’Donnell said the trial’s first witness will be Redstone, who was deposed Thursday. His deposition will be presented by video to Cowan, but the judge said he will close the courtroom to maintain some privacy for Redstone considering his current appearance and demeanor.
However, Cowan said transcripts of Redstone’s testimony will be available to the media after the video is concluded.
O’Donnell told the court that the deposition, which consisted of 15 minutes of questioning by both sides at Redstone’s home, went smoothly.
“Good, I was concerned about that,” Cowan replied.
The judge previously said he wanted to avoid having Redstone experience stress from coming to court to testify.
Friday’s witnesses also will include Redstone’s granddaughter, Keryn.
O’Donnell said Redstone and Herzer were not intimate and that she lived in another dwelling on his property. He said Redstone’s health was her main concern.
Herzer contends she oversaw Redstone’s daily care until she was evicted from his house Oct. 12 in a confrontation with his driver, who told her, “Mr. Redstone doesn’t want you here.” She is seeking to be reinstated to make Redstone’s health care decisions.
A Redstone health care directive created last October will be the focus of the first part of the trial, with a possible second phase dealing with a second directive created last month.
— Wire reports