Mistrial Declared in John Travolta Extortion Case

After nearly four weeks in a courtroom, a Bahamian judge declared a surprise mistrial late Wednesday in the John Travolta extortion trial, leaving the actor and his attorneys mystified and upset.

Senior Supreme Court Judge Anita Allen declared a mistrial because of juror misconduct following an announcement from a local politician that one of the defendants had been acquitted – before the jurors came back with their verdict. Allen ordered a retrial, but did it remains unclear when, if ever, the case will be retried.

"This came out of the clear blue; this was so weird," Mike Ossi, one of Travolta’s Florida lawyers stated.

First Hint of Trouble

Ossi, an entertainment lawyer who was also a prosecution witness, says the first hint of trouble came when a police officer heard on TV that one of the defendants – a onetime Bahamian senator named Pleasant Bridgewater – had been acquitted.

"The police officer said, 'It looks like Pleasant got off,' " Ossi said.

News of Bridgewater’s so-called acquittal was on TV two hours before the foreman told the judge the nine-member jury was having difficulty reaching a verdict, Ossis said.

Bridgewater (who resigned her position as a senator with the Progressive Liberal Party in the wake of the scandal) and paramedic Tarino Lightbourn were charged with conspiring to extort $25 million from Travolta. The prosecution sought to prove they demanded money in exchange for not releasing information to the press in connection with his 16-year-old son's death last January. Jett Travolta died on January 2nd, following a seizure in the family vacation home on Grand Bahama island.

Travolta on the Stand

The paramedic claimed to have a medical document that Travolta signed, requesting his son be driven to the airport so he could fly the boy for treatment in Florida rather than go to the local hospital in Freeport. One of the more compelling moments of the trial occurred when Travolta stoically told the jury he did not read the document he signed because, "Time was of the essence."

At another point, he testified about helping a nanny perform CPR on his son.

"My son was autistic and he suffered from seizure disorder every five to 10 days," Travolta, 55, told the court. "He would suffer a seizure that would last 45 seconds to a minute, and sleep for 12 hours."

Lightbourn had kept the original form because it had the signature of a famous actor, another Travolta Florida attorney, Michael McDermott, testified. The paramedic ultimately enlisted the help of Bridgewater to sell the document, with the senator telling McDermott the document showed "Mr. Travolta either intentionally killed his child or was negligent, and that this document is evidence that Mr. Travolta tried to flee the jurisdiction with his child’s dead body," McDermott said.

McDermott proved central to the prosecution in that he helped capture the defendants talking about their demands on secretly recorded audio and videotape. On the tapes, the parties discuss various sums of money ranging from thousands of dollars to $25 million.

In one tape. McDermott says to Lightbourn: "You know what we're both doing here is a criminal offense."

Lightbourn nods and says: "Yes."

His attorney, Bridgewater, listening in on speakerphone, says nothing.

Slow to Decide

Despite this compelling evidence, the jury, which began deliberations around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, moved ponderously. Around 10:30 p.m., the jury told the judge they were having difficulty reaching a verdict. Judge Allen instructed them to try to resolve their differences. But 10 minutes later, the judge called a mistrial.

"John [Travolta] was upset," Ossi says. "He wants to know more."

It's believed one of the jurors called a politician in Freeport and told him Bridgewater had been acquitted, Ossi said. That call would have taken place at the same time the jury was deliberating.

A mistrial came as no surprise to some court observers who predicted politics played a role throughout the trial. Bridgewater had been a rising star within the PLP when she was arrested in January. One of the prosecution's main witnesses, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, is a PLP senator and Travolta's Bahamian attorney. Gibson's involvement in the case caused a great rift in the party.

Prominent members of the PLP came out in force to support Bridgewater during the trial.

Accused Paramedic Convinced John Travolta 'Intentionally Killed' Son, Jett

The paramedic accused of attempting to extort $25 million from John Travolta was convinced the actor had "intentionally killed" his teenage son, according to the star's attorney.

Tarino Lightbourne and his lawyer, former Bahamian Senator Pleasant Bridgewater, are on trial in Nassau facing charges of conspiracy to extort millions from the grieving actor following Jett's death from a fatal seizure in January.

Travolta's attorney Michael McDermott took the stand on Thursday to testify and revealed the details of the bribery plot the defendants approached him with.

At the centre of the case is a Refusal of Treatment/Transportation form, which releases the medics from liability, that the actor had signed after requesting the paramedics drive the family to the airport. The actor initially believed it would be faster to fly Jett to a hospital in Florida, but subsequently changed his mind.

McDermott described how he received a phone call from Bridgewater on 12 January - 10 days after Jett died - threatening to release the document to the media if Travolta refused to meet their demands for cash.

According to McDermott, Bridgewater told him, "It's my client's contention that Mr. Travolta either intentionally killed his child or was negligent, and this document is firm evidence that he illegally tried to flee the jurisdiction with a dead body."

She allegedly admitted Lightbourne had kept the form because it was "signed by a celebrity", before going on to propose a "substantial" amount of money to keep the form out of the public eye.

Bridgewater allegedly told the star's attorney, "The documents can be Mr. Travolta's or it can be the world's."

Responding to Bridgewater's bribe, McDermott recalled, "I said, 'You are playing a very dangerous game lady... We are going to the police. You're going to be in big trouble.'"

Lightbourne's lawyer replied, "My client has already taken that into consideration and, frankly, he doesn't care."

The pair has pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.

John Travolta Cross-Examined in Extortion Case

A subdued John Travolta returned to the stand Wednesday in the ongoing trial in the Bahamas involving an alleged extortion plot following the January death of his 16-year-old son Jett.

Dressed in a charcoal gray suit and accompanied by wife Kelly Preston, the actor, 55, entered a Nassau courtroom in the morning to continue testimony in the case, in which prosecutors have accused former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater and paramedic Tarino Lightbourn of plotting to extort $25 million from Travolta in return for not making public a document relating to Jett's treatment. The pair have pleaded not guilty.

During direct examination, Travolta testified that he had first heard about the alleged extortion attempt from Ronald Zupancic, a friend and employee of the actor. "[Zupancic] was upset. He said that there was a threat and a demand of money that Mr. McDermott, my attorney, had alerted him to with a release paper that I had signed in the Bahamas," said Travolta.

"I spoke to my attorney, and he needed to investigate the matter. I gave him permission to go to the authorities based on the information he gave me," Travolta also said.

Quietly nervous and at times clasping his hands together, the star told prosecutor Bernard Turner that a demand was made for a sum of $25 million in regard to the document, which released the paramedics from liability for not transporting the patient to a hospital. (Later that morning, the decision was made to take Jett to the hospital.)

Turner then asked what would happen if Travolta did not meet their demands.

"If it were not met, then certain stories connected to that document would be sold to the press," replied Travolta. "They were stories that implied that the death of my son was intentional – that I was culpable in some way."

Vouch for Accuracy

Cross-examination followed, with attorney Murrio Ducille – who is representing Bridgewater – asking Travolta if he knew the former Bahamian senator.

"Do I know her? No," replied Travolta, who added that Bridgewater did not issue a direct demand or threat to him.

"So you acted based on what you were told by Mr. Zupancic?" asked Ducille.

"Yes," replied Travolta.

"So you really could not vouch for the accuracy of what he told you?" asked Ducille.

"No," replied Travolta.

A similar cross-examination of Travolta by Lightbourn's attorney then followed, in which Travolta acknowledged that "no direct demand" had been made to him for the $25 million but that he believed his advisors and that the information they had given him had been truthful.

At one point, Judge Anita Allen spoke up, asking Travolta, "Can you say categorically that what was said to you is what was said?"

"Categorically?" responded Travolta. "No."

Key Evidence Destroyed in Travolta Case?

On January 19th, Pleasant Bridgewater, who had been a Bahamian senator and well-respected member of the Progressive Liberal Party at the time, met with John Travolta's attorney to iron out payment for a document regarding medical treatment for the actor's son on the day he died.

Three days later, Bridgewater was under arrest for extortion and, according to a police report, admitted to the Bahamian authorities that she had destroyed a copy of the document in question – a "Refusal of Treatment/Transportation" form her client, paramedic Tarino Lightbourn, had insisted Travolta sign when he sought to have his son taken to an airstrip rather than a hospital on January 2nd.

What happened to the original – a key piece of evidence in the case of the two people who allegedly attempted to extort $25 million from Travolta shortly after his son's death – is the latest revelation in the case. The trial is now underway in the Bahamas. Travolta himself has already testified in court, recounting how he raced to save Jett, 16, last January.

Police Find the Candle

The nature of the document became so incendiary to Bridgewater that she allegedly set a match to her copy. According to a report written by Sgt. Deborah Thompson of the Central Detective Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the police searched Bridgewater's law office in Freeport on Jan. 22, looking for the refusal form, but Bridgewater told them "she had already destroyed it," Thompson wrote in a Jan. 30 report. When asked what she had done with it, the report added, "she replied that she only had a copy, but after she noticed that the incident was about to explode, she used a candle at her home and lit the document on fire and flush(ed) the ashes in the toilet bowl at her residence."

The police later found the candle she used while searching her home.

"Whilst at her residence, she directed officers to a white candle in a glass, which when examined had what appeared to be ashes in it," Thompson added in her report.

Lightbourn was caught on a secretly recorded video stating he had the original document. On Jan. 20, Travolta's attorney, Michael McDermott, allowed police to secretly videotape his negotiations with the paramedic over payment for the document. McDermott had also secretly recorded his meeting with Bridgewater on Jan. 19.

Police were later unsuccessful in retrieving the original document, and Lightbourn says he doesn't know where it is.

John Travolta Testifies About Son's Death

In calm testimony Wednesday, John Travolta described in Bahamian court how he helped a nanny perform CPR on his 16-year-old son Jett, who died earlier this year.

"Jeff [Kathrein], the other nanny, was doing some compressions. I was doing the breathing," said the actor, whose son was in the downstairs bedroom of their condo in Old Bahamas Bay.

In the extortion trial that started this week, the prosecution alleges that paramedic Tarino Lightbourn – one of the first people to arrive on the scene last Jan. 2 when Jett Travolta died after suffering a seizure at his family's house – and his attorney, former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, conspired to extort $25 million from Travolta in return for not making public a document relating to Jett's treatment. The pair have pleaded not guilty.

Travolta's Testimony

The actor stood before the court during his testimony, which is standard practice in the British system. At times he leaned forward on a podium when he spoke. He testified that his son had a history of seizures and – for the first time – publicly said that his son suffered from autism.

"My son was autistic and he suffered from seizure disorder every 5 to 10 days," Travolta told the court. "He would suffer a seizure that would last 45 seconds to a minute and sleep for 12 hours."

On the morning of his son's death, Travolta said he was awakened by nanny Eli Wheaton. "He was pounding on the door upstairs where we were sleeping," said the actor, who then quickly ran downstairs to find people already trying to save his son.

"I took the place of the woman who was doing CPR. She was an employee of Old Bahama Bay who I recognized as such," he said.

Efforts to Save Jett

After a brief recess, Travolta continued his testimony Wednesday on efforts to save his son. "We continued the CPR and my wife was holding my son's head at this point," he said, wiping his head as he spoke."

A defibrillator was used until paramedics arrived about 40 minutes later, he said. Jett was then put on a gurney. "I spoke with the ambulance driver and asked him if he would take us to the airport," Travolta said. The ambulance driver then gave him a document for release of liability and he signed it.

When the judge asked Travolta if he read the document before signing, the actor said he did not. "Because time was of the essence," he noted.

Travolta arrived hand-in-hand with his wife Kelly Preston in the courtroom Wednesday, soft-spoken and calm during his testimony. Both were described as "graceful" by a courtroom observer, who added that the couple did not get teary-eyed.

Case Against Paramedic and Attorney

On Tuesday morning, prosecutors made their opening statement to the nine-member jury. The first trial witness, police inspector Andrew Wells, testified that after Jett was placed in an ambulance that day, Lightbourn said that Travolta wanted his son taken directly to the airport instead of to a hospital.

Wells testified that Travolta signed a form that released the paramedics from liability for not transporting the patient to a hospital.

At some point that morning, the decision was made to take Jett to the hospital. Nonetheless, prosecutors allege that Lightbourn and Bridgewater threatened to release private information – including the signed release form – unless Travolta paid them $25 million.

Emotional Stakes High for John Travolta at Extortion Trial

As a court in the Bahamas convened Tuesday morning in the extortion case involving the January death of John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston's 16-year-old son, Jett, the grieving father had to summon all his strength to attend.

A friend of the actor's said that Travolta, 55, "had to dig deep" in order to return to the Bahamas and testify. "Going back was hard for him," says the friend. "The memories were too painful."

Still, says the friend, some good is expected to come out of the court proceedings. Referring to Travolta and Preston, the friend said, "This is something that has been hanging over their heads, so going and dealing with this matter will help them move on. This is going to be closure for them."

The prosecution alleges that paramedic Tarino Lightbourn – one of the first people to arrive on the scene on Jan. 2 when Jett Travolta suffered a seizure at his family's house in the Bahamas – and his attorney, former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, conspired to extort $25 million from Travolta in return for not making public a document relating to Jett's treatment. The pair have pleaded not guilty.

On the witness stand Tuesday morning, Lightbourn's partner, paramedic Derrex Rolle, established, for the first time publicly, that Jett Travolta was unresponsive by the time the paramedics arrived and said "there was no sign of life" when they examined him.

"Jett was lying down on his back," Rolle testified. "And there was no sign of life. He was not responding. I checked him for carotid pulse. I checked ABC – air, breathing, circulation."

Asked by the prosecutor, "Was he breathing?," Rolle responded, "No sir."

Bahamas Police Probe Travolta Extortion Allegation

Bahamas authorities are investigating a suspected extortion attempt against actor John Travolta, whose son died there this month, and a senator was under arrest, although no charges had been filed, police said on Friday.

Police Commissioner Reginald Ferguson said his officers were investigating an extortion complaint by Travolta.

Police would not elaborate on the nature of the allegation.

Media reports said it was a threat to sell pictures of Jett Travolta's body if the actor refused to pay for them himself.

Jett Travolta, 16, died on January 2 of a seizure disorder after being found unconscious at his family's home in the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island.

Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater was arrested but no charges had been filed in the case, police said. Under Bahamian law, police can hold someone for 48 hours without charges.

Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Marvin Dames also said a medical worker wanted for questioning had appeared voluntarily before investigators, accompanied by a lawyer.

Member of Parliament Obie Wilchcombe, a former minister of tourism and a friend of the Travolta family, was being questioned at police headquarters in Freeport, where Bridgewater was under arrest, Dames said.

"Mr. Wilchcombe is one of those persons we need to talk to see whether he is able to help with our investigations," Dames said. "He was taken in but I don't want to suggest he was taken in and would be charged. Our investigations are fluid and so, as we go forward, there are persons of interest we need to see and talk to."

Bridgewater, a Freeport attorney, is a former member of the Bahamian parliament who was defeated in the 2007 general election. She was later appointed to the Senate.

Jett Travolta was found unconscious in a bathroom at his family's home after suffering a seizure. His father and paramedics tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead after being rushed by ambulance to a Freeport hospital. The teenager had a history of seizures.

The boy's body was cremated in the Bahamas and his ashes were returned to Florida, where Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, held a memorial service at their home near Ocala.

Source: Reuters.com

Private Memorial Service Held for Jett Travolta

Friends and family of John Travolta held a private memorial service on Thursday for the actor's son, Jett, whose sudden death last week brought an outpouring of grief from fans.

The service took place at the Ocala, Florida home of Travolta and his actress wife, Kelly Preston. Security staff outside the residence kept the media at bay and details were scarce.

The sudden death of Jett Travolta, 16, who passed away after a seizure six days ago while on vacation in the Bahamas, triggered a wave of condolences from fans of John Travolta, the popular star of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Pulp Fiction."

On Thursday, actor Tom Cruise discussed the family's loss. Like Travolta and Preston, Cruise is a member of the Church of Scientology.

"It's horrific," Cruise said in an interview for "The View" television show, which taped on Thursday. "It's just horrific. Here you have a man, both of them doting parents, they're wonderful people and..." His voice trailed off before finishing the sentence.

At the time of his death, a statement issued by the family said Jett had a history of seizures, but prior to that Travolta and Preston had said that their son suffered from the little-known Kawasaki syndrome when he was a toddler.
Friends said he had developmental disabilities that meant he was not heard speaking.

"I observed that (Jett) was significantly mentally handicapped," actress Anne Archer, a friend of Travolta, was quoted as telling People magazine in its Friday edition.

"But it was very apparent with the two of them that they treated him as if he was a completely normal child. ... It was a kind of sweet exchange where (John) was just happy with anything that Jett offered," Archer said.

Jett's remains were cremated in the Bahamas and his memorial was expected to follow guidelines of Scientology. Believers think that, while there is no heaven or hell, individuals live on as immortal spiritual beings.

The death has sparked controversy over whether the couple's Scientology beliefs affected the management of their son's condition. But on "The View," Cruise denied Scientology discouraged the seeking of medical care.

"That's just not true. It's actually false. They say 'Get your physical, get your medication, get your physical illnesses handled,'" Cruise said.

Source: Reuters

John Travolta's Teenage Son Dies

John Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett has died while vacationing with his parents in the Bahamas. Reuters reports that Jett suffered a seizure at the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island. A spokeswoman for the local police said Jett banged his head on a bathtub Friday morning, January 2nd. TMZ broke the story this afternoon and Rand Memorial Hospital confirmed the death.

"At this point, we know that John Travolta and Kelly Preston's only son, Jett, had a seizure at around 10 AM this morning," the family's attorney Michael Ossi told CNN. "All attempts to revive him were unsuccessful."

The Travolta family has long denied rumors that Jett suffered from autism, claiming that the boy instead had Kawasaki Syndrome, an inflammatory disorder of the artery walls which often leads to heart disease. Jett, who had a history of seizures, was the eldest child of Travolta and Preston. The couple also have a daughter, Ella Blue, who is 8.