U.S. Dept of Justice, David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon and James Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE/KSC

United States District Court, District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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HEARING ON MOTIONS FOR ABATEMENT, DAMAGES, ETC.

DATE: Non Hearing, per Theresa Lam, 2-12-7

JUDGE: David A. Ezra, per Theresa Lam, 2-12-7

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

BARRON HILTON

Barron Hilton is an American heir and chairman of the Hilton Hotel chain. He was born in Dallas, Texas, the second son of Conrad N. Hilton and Mary A. Barron. His father founded Hilton Hotels. Barron also became president of the Carte Blanche credit card firm, was owner of a $6,000,000 orange juice company, head of a business leasing jets and an investor in a Texas oil company.

In 1960, Barron founded the San Diego Chargers American League football team. He assumed the presidency of the Hilton Hotel chain in 1966. In 1970, he was responsible for getting Hilton Hotels into the gambling business. He was also the co-founder and president of the American Football League (AFL).

When Barron’s father died in 1979, he left the bulk of his estate to the Roman Catholic Church and other charities, and almost nothing to his children. Barron contested the will because of his lifelong career of working to build the hotel company and won his lawsuit in 1988. His sister, Francesca, lost her case though and received nothing. In the Forbes 400, which lists the 400 Richest Americans, Barron Hilton’s worth in 2005 is $1 billion. Barron Hilton’s son, Rick, is the father of the celebrity sisters Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.

The Hilton Hotel chain has numerous financial connections with parties in this case. They were a major client of Hawaiian Insurance & Guaranty Co. (HIG), while I was employed there. At that time, HIG was a subsidiary of C. Brewer & Company. Some of my co-employees at HIG included Patty Woolaway (wife of Art Woolaway and mother of Dee Jay Mailer, CEO of Kamehameha Schools); Mark Polivka (now president of Bishop Museum); and Ron Poepoe (now an employee of Marsh & McLennan and an officer of P&C Insurance Co.) The Hawaiian Insurance Companies later became a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI), along with sister company, American Savings Bank (one of the creditors in the instant case).

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August 29, 2004

Stratford Journal; An Encore Effort to Bring
Shakespeare Back to Stratford

By ALISON LEIGH COWAN, New York Times

Long before Indian-sponsored casinos became the biggest reason people traveled to Connecticut, the state's biggest draws were Mystic Seaport and Shakespeare, as performed here.

From its perch overlooking the Housatonic River and the Long Island Sound, the Shakespeare theater in Stratford offered world-class productions in a grand setting. Schoolchildren came by the busload to see their first serious play and experience small pleasures like a garden featuring 81 plants mentioned in Shakespeare's work. Wealthy patrons came by yacht. Wandering minstrels serenaded the crowd, and picnic blankets were as inescapable as coolers at a tailgate party.

But the theater's finances were always shaky, even when Katharine Hepburn and James Earl Jones were filling all 1,500 seats, and the place has been dark for 15 years.

The Stratford Festival Theater Inc., has controlled the theater since 1995. It received money from the state, including a $500,000 grant and a $1.5 million loan guarantee, to restore the theater in 1999, but it ran out of money before the work was done....

Now, renovation is at a standstill and theater supporters are pinning their hopes on Connecticut's new governor, M. Jodi Rell, asking her to invoke the state's legal right to seize the property. Many believe that unless the state acts, and then sets aside $5 million to $7 million for restoration, there is little chance of bringing Shakespeare back here any time soon. The town is angling to gain control of the property if the state seizes it, but officials are having trouble persuading the state to give it to the town free of liens and with few restrictions on future use....

Despite the star-studded productions, the theater nearly always lost money. Joseph Verner Reed, a businessman and diplomat who supported the arts, covered the deficits until his death in 1973. Unable to pay its bills after that, it went dark once, reopened and then filed for bankruptcy protection in 1982.

To keep the bank from foreclosing in 1983, the state used about $1 million in funds dedicated to the preservation of open space. That turned the theater into a public park under the stewardship of the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Save for a brief last-gasp season in 1989, the theater has been under wraps ever since.

But there are memories and mementos. Lucille Nichols, historian for the theater, has assembled a multivolume history of the theater from old programs, photographs and other artifacts. State Senator George Gunther of Stratford said state officials told him not to expect much financial support from the state, given his opposition to former Gov. John G. Rowland's dashed efforts to lure the Patriots to Hartford with the promise of a new football stadium.

But officials with the state's economic development office pointed out the state's contribution in 1999, during the second of Governor Rowland's three terms.

''People might question us putting more money into something that has not been working,'' said Richard J. LoPresti, director of the state's office of business and industry development. ''Thus far, there's been no return on our investment.''

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Barron Hilton is expected to testify regarding his business, financial, political and personal relationships with Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama, John Waihee, Ben Cayetano, James B. Nicholson, Arnold Morgado, Ron Rewald, Lamar Hunt, the Kansas City Chiefs, George W. Bush, Marsh & McLennan, Goldman Sachs, Robert Rubin, Henry Paulson, James Baker III, William Simon, Dan Case, Steve Case, Suzanne Case, Ed Case, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Peter Savio, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Kahala Hilton Hotel, Turtle Bay Hilton, Hilton Waikaloa Village, Maui County Planning Commission, Faye Kurren, Tesoro Oil Co., The Nature Conservancy, Chevron-Texaco, Aloha Petroleum, Henry Kissinger, Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Kylell “Dusty” Foggo, Brent Wilkes, Chris Hemmeter, Mark Hemmeter, Diane Plotts, Judith Neustadter Fuqua, C. Brewer & Co., Robert Katz, Hawaiian Insurance Companies, Paris Hilton, George Ariyoshi, Blackstone Group, James Nicholson, David C. Farmer, June Jones, Governor John G. Rowland, Governor Linda Lingle, Joseph Verner Reed, Jr., and other entities to be named upon discovery.