Nov. 12, 2010: Shelly Sterling sits with her husband, Donald Sterling, right, during the Los Angeles Clippers' NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Los Angeles. (AP/Mark J. Terrill, File)
LOS ANGELES – A jurisdictional issue has delayed the start of a Los Angeles County Superior Court trial over whether the estranged wife of Donald Sterling has the authority to sell the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The trial was to have begun Monday morning but attorneys for Donald Sterling filed a motion seeking to move the case to federal court.
The Superior Court judge agreed the case must await a decision by a federal judge on the motion.
Parties have been told to return to court at 11 a.m. PDT.
Shelly Sterling negotiated the team's sale after doctors examined her 80-year-old husband and declared him mentally incapacitated, ousting him as a trustee of the family trust that owns the Clippers.
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