Jury rejects suits by circus family

May 25, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A bitter assault case between members of the family behind the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus ended yesterday with jurors deciding that neither side proved its case.

The jury rejected Karen Feld’s $110 million claim that her brother, circus chief executive Kenneth Feld, had his guards assault her at a service for their late aunt. They also rejected Kenneth Feld’s counterclaim that his sister trespassed at the 2007 shiva by shouting anti-Semitic obscenities that disrupted the service.

Karen Feld, a 63-year-old Washington resident, said she has a history of brain injuries that cause seizures. She testified she couldn’t control what she was saying when she went into one of her episodes at her aunt’s memorial service. She said her brother’s guards harmed her by dragging her out of the service.

But the jurors did not agree after a two-week trial.

Kenneth Feld, 62, said afterward he was happy with the outcome, but he felt it was a shame their feud had to go so far. The case is the culmination of decades of estrangement between the Feld siblings, the only children of former circus owner Irvin Feld.