The Live Nation trial restarts with a 'velvet hammer'

"After a chaotic week following the Justice Department's mid-trial settlement with Live Nation-Ticketmaster, the antitrust trial picked back up surprisingly smoothly on Monday - this time, with dozens of states leading the case. This isn't the outcome the states originally wanted. Out of concerns about being able to effectively take over the case and fear that the jury would be prejudiced by the shakeup, they requested a mistrial."

"An irritated Judge Arun Subramanian seemed likely to deny the request, and once the states figured out how to retain the DOJ's expert witness and were able to quickly hire up, they withdrew their mistrial motion. After the new faces were introduced, the trial restarted from roughly where it left off more than a week ago, with testimony that included how Live Nation deployed its "velvet hammer" against rivals."

"Subramanian welcomed the jurors back from their "spring break" and asked if they had read or encountered any news about the case when they were out, which is forbidden by the jury instructions. He reminded the jurors that the US had resolved its claims, as had a handful of states, but the rest were proceeding to trial. Jurors shouldn't make any inferences from the fact those parties are no longer in the case."

Following a chaotic week after the Justice Department settled its antitrust claims against Live Nation-Ticketmaster mid-trial, the case resumed with dozens of states taking over the prosecution. States initially sought a mistrial due to concerns about effectively managing the case and potential jury prejudice from the settlement, but Judge Arun Subramanian appeared likely to deny this request. The states withdrew their mistrial motion after securing the DOJ's expert witness and hiring additional legal staff. The trial restarted with testimony about Live Nation's competitive tactics, including its "velvet hammer" strategy against rivals. The judge instructed jurors not to draw inferences from the DOJ's settlement or other parties' departures from the case.

Read at The Verge