Judge Gears Up for Trial Over Ownership of World's Biggest Emerald Cluster

By City News Service

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge said today he wants a list of witnesses and a summation of anticipated testimony by next month as a three-way court battle heats up over the Bahia Emerald, an 840-pound encrustation of gems valued between $75 million and $372 million.

Ownership of the cluster of emeralds, found in the Brazil's beryl mines in Bahia state in 2001, has come into dispute since it was taken as collateral on a diamond shipment, then supposedly stolen from a vault in El Monte in September 2008.

Starting Oct. 7, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson is set to oversee a nonjury trial concerning the claims of Anthony Thomas.

The judge ordered an updated witness list after Andrew Spielberger -- an attorney for one of the other litigants, Ferrara Morrison Holdings -- complained that Thomas's lawyers want to call about 57 witnesses, about five times more than Spielberger believes is necessary.

"A lot of these people have nothing to do with the Thomas claim,'' Spielberger said.

The third party claiming ownership, or partial ownership of the Bahia Emerald, is Mark Downie, a professional gem buyer.

Downie's lawyer, Steven Haney, also complained that the Thomas witness list is too long. He said many are people with whom Thomas says he spoke long after the key time period 12 years ago, when Thomas says he put a down payment on the emerald.

"He can say he owns the Brooklyn Bridge to 100 people, but it doesn't mean he owns the Brooklyn Bridge,'' Haney said.

The judge said the updated witness list will give everyone an idea about the anticipated testimony.

"That way we all have sort of a handbook,'' Johnson said.

Johnson also recommended that Thomas' attorney, Mark Kearney, consider reducing the number of witnesses. He said that would save Thomas the cost of bringing some of them to Los Angeles, only to find out that their testimony is ruled irrelevant.

The cluster of emeralds embedded in host rock contains an estimated 1.9 million carats of emerald crystal and is being held by sheriff's deputies in El Monte until the case is resolved.

The first lawsuit involving the gem was filed in January 2009.

In April 2011, former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Kronstadt concluded in a 48-page decision -- written after a six-day nonjury trial -- that  Thomas' claim of ownership of the Bahia Emerald was not credible.

After the ruling, Kronstadt was sworn in as a U.S. district judge and was replaced by Johnson. Wishing to hear the case himself and to make an independent ruling, Johnson declared a mistrial and set the stage for a second trial.

FM Holdings -- comprised of Kit Morrison, Todd Armstrong and Jerry Ferrara -- say they paid for a shipment of diamonds and accepted the Bahia Emerald as collateral in case the diamonds were not delivered.

"We stand behind our claim and are confident that we will prevail as the legal and rightful owner of the Bahia Emerald,'' said Ferrara, founder of Global Quest TV and a historical researcher.

Spielberger maintains in his court papers that Thomas admitted he never took possession of the gem and did not follow through with a verbal commitment to bring it from its original home in Brazil to California.

Attorneys for Thomas, however, say he wired $60,000 to the sellers and went to Brazil to pick up the emerald in October 2001. But Thomas decided he could not carry it back with him, so he directed the sellers to ship it to him, according to Thomas' lawyers.

Attorneys for FM Holdings maintained that because the emerald was actually never shipped to Thomas, he has no claim to it.

Thomas, 49, stated in a sworn declaration that upon seeing the emerald for the first time, it looked like a ``block of black schist, with some nine cylindrical green emeralds protruding from the top. I was taken aback by the sheer size of this emerald block.''

Thomas says that after he failed to get the rarity as promised, he resigned himself to the fact it likely was stolen. He said he did not know until September 2008 that it still existed.

After Thomas' rights to the emerald are determined, another trial will take place to settle the claims of Downie and the FM Holdings parties.