As Leonardo DiCaprio is in danger of finding out, there's no advantage to a home court.
A Los Angeles judge has given the green light for a negligence and trespass lawsuit filed against the actor by two Hollywood Hills neighbors to move forward in court. Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow announced in court Thursday that she was leaning toward denying a motion to strike the case filed by DiCaprio's lawyers.
The case, which has twice been held up after the judge demanded more facts to support the claims, was first filed last May by Ronald and Joan Linclau.
They allege that a basketball court DiCaprio built on his estate back in 2004 destabilized their adjacent plot, notably the wall supporting their swimming pool. They also say that several plants were removed from their premises without their knowledge and that DiCaprio himself refused to acknowledge their requests to halt construction.
The duo are seeking $250,000 in damages in the complaint, which accuses DiCaprio of trespass, nuisance and negligence.
"The court finds that the [changes] to the complaint, while they do not create a pleading of crystalline clarity by any means, do serve to create some additional clarity," Bigelow wrote in her five-page ruling issued late Thursday.
In court, she called the damage done to the Linclaus' property "potentially outrageous" and said enough uncertainties had been cleared up to make a trial likely.
DiCaprio, presumably working under the assumption that the best defense is a good offense, filed a cross complaint in January against the contractor he hired to construct the hoops court.
The actor and his cousin Robert Hrtica, the property's legal owner and a codefendant in the neighbor case, argued that the contractors and landscapers brought in to construct the court, and the outside contractor who built the retaining wall against the Linclaus' property, should be held primarily liable for any damage to the couple's land.
The suit alleges negligence, breach of contract and indemnity.