$2.5m settlement in Jackson taping case

Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos and his law partner have settled a lawsuit for $2.5 million (Dh9.18 million) against the owner of a defunct charter jet company that secretly recorded the men and Michael Jackson as they flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara for the pop star to turn himself in on child molestation charges. A jury later acquitted Jackson of 14 charges in the case. The amount awarded to Geragos and partner Pat Harris will be difficult to collect because defendant Jeffrey Borer is insolvent, his attorney Lloyd Hirschbaum said. The agreement was reached on Friday, the last court day before a re-trial in the case was scheduled to begin to determine how much Geragos and Harris were owed. Borer attempted to sell the video, which contains no audio, of the flight to media outlets after Jackson's surrender. Geragos, Harris and their attorney Brian Kabateck have argued that the lawyers had an expectation of privacy on the private jet that flew them and Jackson from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara in November 2003. The video, which has never been released, also violated the attorney-client privilege, the attorney said.