By Stone Martindale Apr 28, 2007, 2:16 GMT
NBC and "Will & Grace" creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan have settled a lawsuit that alleged NBC creatively accounted the two writers due share of the profits by "cooking the books" according to the Hollywood Reporter and TMZ.com.
Debra Messing - Will and Grace star © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi
In a stunning twist, the judge tossed the verdict and fired the jury foreman moments before the verdict was to be read:
"Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Warren Ettinger was confronted with a mistrial motion filed by NBC's legal team, alleging [jury foreman Dean] Hartwell's misconduct in concealing a "bias" during voir dire.
NBC claims in the motion that it discovered Hartwell's corporation-critical Web site, the night before the verdict was to be read. The jury had been deliberating since April 16.
The announcement that deliberations would have to begin all over was greeted with disbelief by the jurors, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
After a three-month trial, the jury deliberated. Just before the verdict was read, NBC lawyers stood up and said they discovered new information about the foreman, that he had a website which revealed he allegedly hated big corporations.
The judge ended up kicking the foreman off the jury and ordered jurors to go back in the jury room and deliberate all over again with an alternate juror.
Despite all the court room drama, NBC settled. Sources tell TMZ, "Mutchnick and Kohan got "a s**tload" of money."
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