Davis ripped in court
James Island native claims A&E violated verbal deal
Davis
In a matter of 20 minutes, an attorney for cable television network A&E began deconstructing the small-town James Island persona that Richard C. Davis sought to project, casting him instead as a shrewd businessman who knew exactly what he was getting himself into.
Davis claims A&E violated a verbal agreement to split any revenue after expenses from the "Flip This House" TV show that documented Davis' risk-taking real estate business, Trademark Properties Inc. Davis' testimony took nearly all of Wednesday, the second day in the jury trial in U.S. District Court.
Court began late, with a few jurors delayed by a fuel spill in North Charleston. Then it moved at a snail's pace as Davis revealed seemingly irrelevant details, including the shape of a table at a business meeting, in answering questions posed by his attorney, Frank Cisa.
Judge C. Weston Houck intervened several times.
"The way we do this is the lawyer asks a question and the witness answers it," Houck said. "He doesn't make a speech."
Davis asserted he was never paid for his efforts toward "Flip This House," which often demanded 80 hours of his time per week. He also was never reimbursed for an estimated $92,000 in expenses, he said.
He testified that he was told the first episode drew nearly 1 million viewers with no promotion outside of A&E.
But when Davis asked for rough cuts of the show or a copy of a contract from a third-party production company, he encountered roadblocks, he said. By then the person with whom he said he made the verbal agreement for the 50-50 revenue split no longer worked for A&E.
That man, Charles Norlander, called Davis "Crazy Richard" in an e-mail to an A&E representative and offered to speak with Davis after Davis threatened to shut down the show.
"Knowing his ego, he probably really believes that you wouldn't/couldn't do the show without him," Norlander wrote.
In court documents, A&E disclosed that the show generated about $13.7 million in revenue and $5.9 million in expenses its first season; $9.3 million in revenue and $4.6 million in expenses its second season; and $11.8 million in revenue and $9.9 million in expenses its third season.
A&E attorney Jeremy Feigelson began his cross-examination of Davis at about 5 p.m., first attempting to show discrepancies in Davis' timeline for negotiations with TLC, the cable network that later showcased his firm. Then Feigelson showed a letter Trademark Properties sent to potential investors to illustrate what Davis believed he stood to gain from "Flip This House" while he was involved in the show. The letter said the "national audience associated with the program will accelerate Trademark's growth."
Shortly afterward, Davis spilled water on his binder of court exhibits and Houck called a recess until today.
Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.
E-mail this story 
Printer-friendly version
Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Comments
This article has 9 comment(s)
Posted by ashleyatwork on November 6, 2008 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That shows not still on is it? What ever happened to the girl I think her name was Ginger who always was carting around a white dog? Did the housing slump affect his ability to "flip" or is he still doing it?
Posted by CedarPosts on November 6, 2008 at 3:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Asheley, whatcha think? Why do you think Davis is in court? I sure hope the PnC is not printing this trash, what a waste of newprint if it is.
Posted by coolfreaknbeans on November 6, 2008 at 3:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh he is still doing it alright....Oh you meant house flipping. LMAO
Posted by leroy_jenkins on November 6, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember the one episode in which he's selling these apt/condo conversions? He painted the front door of his unit bright red---against the regulations of the complex. He said "F*** 'em. I'll just pay the fine b/c I'll make more money on the red door." Well Davis, you can't make your own rules all the time moron. He lost his shirt in the market and now he's scrambling for $.
Posted by ontheroad on November 6, 2008 at 6:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think the man "lost his shirt" in the market nor do I think he is scrambling for money. He filed the lawsuit over 2 years ago so todays market failures had nothing to do with seeking compensation for a program he created. BTW,
if he had really cheated so many people, I would think that those people would be lining up to file lawsuits against his company. So where are they? Stop judging the man because he has been successful in life.
Posted by tallblonde on November 6, 2008 at 7:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Interesting that the people A&E signed up to do "Flip This House" after Richard aren't exactly stellar.....Sam Leccima of Atlanta (large, African American guy usually smoking a cigar) turned out to be a shady character:
"Leccima, 36 presented himself as a successful real estate investor during the 2006 season of the cable show, which depicted him buying, refurbishing and reselling Atlanta area homes for profits of $77,000 and more. But Leccima doesn't have a real estate license - it was revoked by the Georgia Real Estate Commission in 2005, with the panel ruling he "does not bear a good reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, integrity and competence". Now he's under investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State's office for securities fraud." FOXNews.com
.........and then there is Armando Montelongo - the Texas Hispanic guy now juggling foreclosures on multiple properties and civil court activity. "It appears that Armando Montelongo experienced difficulty with some recent financing from VCH Funding Corporation. Montelongo's company, Mandoman Management, Inc., fought off August 7, 2007 foreclosures on four separate properties by obtaining a temporary restraining order, allowing Montelongo the time necessary to line up alternate financing. The restraining orders ended on August 21, 2007. The cases now indicate that they have been terminated. Neither Montelongo's attorney nor VCH Funding have returned calls requesting comment.
Additionally, public records searches have uncovered additional foreclosures and civil cases:
http://www.flipthislawsuit.com/2007/10/1...
Posted by bfrank2 on November 6, 2008 at 10:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I saw this individual on an episode where he worked on a house without a permit. During the whole episode he used profanity and made a big issue of how he should be allowed to do as he pleases. He made derogatory comments about the code enforcement officer as well as the city and/or county on camera. This may make good television to some but I feel that he is a disgrace to the community.
Posted by charlestonroots on November 6, 2008 at 11:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
lol. Could this be a case of what comes around goes around?
Posted by leroy_jenkins on November 12, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ontheroad----everyone has the right to be sucessful....go for it. But when one breaks the law(building code enforcement) and thumbs their nose at it---ON CAMERA none the less---then Davis deserves to have comments posted about him.