Posted Sep 29th 2009 12:05PM by TMZ Staff
Sort of a stunning development a few minutes ago in the John Travolta extortion trial.
One of the key players who was involved with the secret taping of conversations between Travolta's lawyers and Pleasant Bridgewater just told the court -- although he was in the room next door listening to the conversations, he never heard anyone demand money in return for keeping documents secret.
The testimony is in conflict with the actual tapes, so what Detective Inspector Sean Saunders said in court is a mystery.
The judge just cleared the courtroom.
UPDATE: They're on a lunch break now.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: bahamas, extortion, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, secret video, SecretVideo
Posted Sep 24th 2009 1:00AM by TMZ Staff
Secret police videos have captured the alleged extortionists in the John Travolta case in deep conflict ... with one defendant accusing the other of trying to settle way too cheap -- this according to law enforcement sources.
As we first reported yesterday, authorities have at least two videos of paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and attorney Pleasant Bridgewater demanding millions of dollars from John Travolta's lawyers, in return for not making a document public.
Our sources say Bridgewater is caught on tape demanding many millions of dollars, but another video shows Lightbourne outraged that Bridgewater demanded what he considered such a paltry sum. His demand was exponentially higher than hers, law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
We're told the videos show them haggling over money -- and although it's been reported the pair allegedly demanded $25 million, we're told they finally agreed to $15 mil.
We're also told lawyers for Bridgewater and Lightbourne will make a motion today to suppress the videos, on grounds they were illegally recorded.
And there's a sticky problem -- we're told one of the key Bahamian cops in the video sting was seriously injured "under suspicious circumstances" and is unable to testify.
Travolta has not finished testifying. We're told he has left the Bahamas and will return next week to complete his testimony.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta, Exclusives
Tags: bahamas, extortion, extortion plot, ExtortionPlot, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, millions, money, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, secret video, SecretVideo, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, testimony, video
