Digital Extra: The Station Fire

But questions remain about proceeds from a benefit concert tour that were promised to the Station Family Fund.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, March 19, 2005

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

A California judge has tossed out a $10-million slander lawsuit that the lead singer of Great White, Jack Russell, filed against the band's former spokeswoman.

The legal battle is bringing to light a bitter behind-the-scenes dispute about whether Great White was handing over all of the tour proceeds it promised to the Station Family Fund, which helps fire victims and their families.

The band's pyrotechnics ignited a fire that killed 100 people at The Station nightclub in West Warwick on Feb. 20, 2003. And later that year, the band went on a 41-city tour to raise money for the fund.

The suit accused former spokeswoman Charrie L. Foglio of telling people that Russell and band manager Obi Steinman were "stealing" or "embezzling" tour revenue that was supposed to go to the fund. The suit claimed Foglio made those statements to the press and to organizers of the fund after she was fired as the band's publicist and was refused a severance payment.

"The bottom line is she lied about a good man who is trying to help survivors of the fire and families of victims," said Russell's lawyer, Edwin F. McPherson. "She has actually hurt these people who he's trying to help, in addition to hurting Jack."

Foglio said she was the band's co-manager, not its publicist. She said she quit and was not fired. And she said she never said that Russell and Steinman were "stealing" or "embezzling."

AS THE LIAISON between the band and the fund, Foglio said she helped to strike a deal in which the band would take no more than $5,000 per show for expenses and give any additional revenue to the fund. According to court papers, Foglio said fund leaders became concerned that the band wasn't honoring that deal. After checking into it, she said, she concluded that based on the $5,000 expense cap, the band should have given the fund $7,000 more for a series of four shows in August 2003.

In an interview, Foglio emphasized her commitment to the fund, saying, "I worked for KISS and Bon Jovi, and this was the first time in my life I did something to help other people as opposed to just helping a rock star make more money to buy another Hummer."

Foglio, who said she went to law school but never passed the bar exam, represented herself in the lawsuit. "I didn't win -- the truth won," she said. "I feel very vindicated."

Judge Robert L. Hess of California Superior Court in Los Angeles County issued a March 4 order granting Foglio's motion to dismiss Russell's lawsuit. Foglio's motion was based on a California law that protects First Amendment rights to speak freely about public issues by prohibiting so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.

Hess said there was public interest in the tour and in how much of the money raised was going to the fund, and he said Russell faced a high standard in pursuing a slander suit because he is a public figure.

Earlier this week, Russell's lawyers filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider his ruling, saying there's new evidence that a key document submitted by Foglio was "complete forgery." Foglio called that "a complete lie." A hearing is set for April 28.

In his motion to reconsider, Russell's lawyers said Foglio "does not have a single shred of reliable, admissible evidence that the band's expenses were to be controlled at $5,000 per show."

In an interview, McPherson said, "The deal was that all profits from the tour would go to the fund. They'd collect revenue, pay expenses and the rest would go to the fund. And, in fact, the band took pains to make sure expenses were minimal."

In a court statement, Steinman said, "Every week or block of dates were accounted for as a run -- not a show-by-show basis." For the four shows in question in August 2003, the band collected $35,000, paid $26,789 in expenses and sent $8,000 to the fund, he said.

IN AN INTERVIEW, Station Family Fund President Victoria L. Potvin, of West Warwick, said she was not aware of a cap on Great White's expenses. "The band was going to go out and pay their expenses and whatever is left over would go to the fund," she said. "And it would be gratefully accepted."

In a court statement, Potvin said that after hearing Foglio's accusations, she was so disappointed in Russell and Steinman that she intended to resign from the fund. But she said other board members begged her to stay and to talk to Steinman directly.

So on Sept. 13, 2003, Steinman flew to Rhode Island and met with members of the fund's board, according to a Potvin statement.

"Mr. Steinman assured us that neither he nor Mr. Russell had stolen any money whatsoever from the proceeds of the tour," Potvin wrote. "He made available to all of us the agreements with all of the concert venues on the tour, as well as all of the accounting records from the tour. After speaking to Mr. Steinman, we were satisfied that there were no improprieties."

But the fund's former vice president, Jody F. King, had a different take on those events.

In a court statement, King said the fund's secretary thought there was a discrepancy in income from the band, so Foglio "researched the missing money and reported back to the fund and informed me personally that it was missing." He said, "According to the deal struck between Jack Russell and Great White and the Fund, the disbursement during the week of August 7th, 2003, was $7,000 short."

King said Steinman came to Rhode Island "and told us that the missing money was additional expenses and a donation to the victims of the California fires." He said the fund never approved those items, and he said no one in the fund believed Steinman's explanation. But he said the fund "tacitly" accepted it because "we wanted to collect the rest of the money from the tour and then separate ourselves from the band."

In their motion to reconsider, Russell's lawyers said King's statement contained inaccurate and irrelevant information, and they described King as Foglio's "boyfriend." Foglio said King is not her boyfriend and, she said, "That's a typical low blow by the opposing party."

A transcript of a Feb. 16 court hearing shows that Judge Hess castigated both sides for the quality of the material they presented in the case.

"One of the things that you have to establish is the falsity of [Foglio's] statements," the judge told McPherson. "And I would have expected, as part of this, for you to make a far more substantial showing that this was false. All I have is conclusions."

McPherson said, "Your honor, with all due respect, when you have Jack Russell saying, 'I didn't steal.' When you have Obi Steinman saying, 'Neither of us stole,' and then you have Obi Steinman saying 'Not only did Jack Russell not steal, it would have been physically impossible for him to steal' . . . you have uncontroverted proof."

The judge said that even if Russell never touched the tour money, it could be diverted for his use. Noting that Foglio said Russell was in Cancun, Mexico, at one point, the judge said, "If money was taken out to pay for a vacation for him in Cancun, that could be diverted for his benefit."

"We can go through all of the hypotheticals that are possible in the universe," McPherson replied. "I don't think that the anti-SLAPP statute says that we are supposed to do that."

In an interview, McPherson said Russell "certainly did not use money from the Station Family Fund to go to Cancun. The fact is his fiancée took him on a vacation because he needed it. He had been working pretty hard."

The judge also questioned Foglio, asking what evidence she had that Russell had stolen money from the fund. Foglio said, "I don't believe I've ever said Jack stole money."

"Well, what have you said?" Hess asked. "Did you say 'embezzle'?"

"I never even said 'embezzle," Foglio replied. "You know, the fund asked me, they said, 'Charrie, the money doesn't look right.' They asked me three times in three different places during our relationship. . . . I checked it out and reported back and said, 'Do you know what? I'm afraid to tell you, I believe that you are right.' "

Foglio cited a written statement, attributed to tour manager Craig Bradford, that said the band's expenses were limited to $5,000 per show. The document said the band received $35,000 for four shows in August 2003, so based on the expense cap, the fund should have been given $15,000, but it only received $8,000.

Russell's lawyers submitted a statement in which Bradford said, "I never made those statements and I never signed the attached declaration. The signature on the declaration is a complete forgery."

Potvin said she's concerned that the legal battle is detracting from the work of the Station Family Fund, which has raised $706,000, including $85,000 from the Great White tour. "I don't want to be involved, and I don't want the fund involved," Potvin said. "The negative sniping draws attention away from our purpose and only hurts people who work so hard to help."

Digital Extra: Read the court documents related to Great White band member Jack Russell's slander suit at:

http://projo.com/cgi-bin/include.pl/extra/2003/stationfire/russellsuit.htm