Coliseum Suit Shaky

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green recently threw out seven claims against Rotella and Go Ventures’ Reza Gerami, another electronic dance music promoter named in the suit.

The complaint had accused the promoters of participating in a financial scheme in which former Coliseum GM Pat Lynch and former events manager Todd DeStefano diverted revenue from the state-owned venue through side deals with the EDM companies.

But during a July 10 hearing, Green said he was “skeptical” of the Commission’s efforts to pursue claims against the men including civil conspiracy, fraud, unfair business practices and accounting, according to Law360. “I don’t see a shared intent to do a civil wrong in this case,” he said. “I just think it’s a square peg in a round hole.”

Green gave the commission a July 31 deadline to amend its complaint but Insomniac lawyer Gary Kaufman argued Green should dismiss all seven claims without allowing any amendments, Law360 reported.

“They’ve had almost two years and five pleadings to make their case make sense and it doesn’t make sense,” Kaufman said. “After two years, there’s not even an inference that Mr. Lynch had anything at all to do with our deal.” Lynch, DeStefano, Rotella and Gerami were also implicated last year in a 29-count criminal indictment that charged the group with conspiracy, embezzlement, bribery and conflict of interest.

Lynch pleaded guilty to a single criminal count of conflict of interest at the time. DeStefano is still awaiting trial, as is Rotella, whose case reconvenes July 29.