Actress shows comic flair at Austin trial
Sandra Bullock testifies during fifth week of trial about dispute with home builder.
By Claire Osborn AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, September 20, 2004

Actress Sandra Bullock tried to remain serious but couldn't help cracking jokes about her legal fees while testifying Monday as the trial over her dispute with an Austin home builder entered its fifth week.

"You guys are pricey," she said, looking at her lawyers. "It's going to be a good Christmas, isn't it?" The courtroom dissolved into laughter, providing brief relief in the middle of a trial that District Judge Paul Davis expects to conclude by the end of this month.

Bullock has sued home builder Benny Daneshjou, saying that a house he built for her on River Hills Road near Lake Austin required about $4 million in repairs, including fixing problems with framing and water damage. Labor bills on the house were also inflated, her lawyers said.

Currently half of the ceiling in one of the rooms is falling down and a sliding gate that she requested from Daneshjou is broken, Bullock said.

"John is a pretty good carpenter; he's going to be doing some of the repairs," Bullock said, referring to one of her lawyers.

Daneshjou has also sued Bullock, alleging that she owes him money for architectural fees and labor costs, and the former project manager, David Shrum.

Bullock testified Monday that she had paid about $7 million for the home she's never lived in.

She told jurors that she spent only two nights there after construction stopped in 2000 and that she continues to maintain the house, paying for electricity, landscaping, pest control and housecleaning. She said a caretaker lives near the property and watches over it daily.

When the flaws were discovered in the house in 2000, Bullock said, she requested arbitration but Daneshjou turned her down. Bullock's lawyers then sent a letter to Daneshjou in April 2001 requesting $7.9 million for costs and expenses.

Robert MacInnes, one of Daneshjou's lawyers, suggested Monday that Shrum, not Daneshjou, was responsible for catching the alleged mistakes the subcontractors had made while building the house.

Bullock refused to blame Shrum.

"I don't know what Mr. Shrum's duties were to Mr. Daneshjou," she said.

MacInnes also said that during a talk show appearance while the house was being built, Bullock said she was "driving the poor architect crazy."

Bullock said she was just joking when she made the comment but conceded that she had made some changes to the plans during construction.

"I always said if I could go to school and do something other than acting, it might be going to school for architecture," she said.

The experience with her house hasn't soured her on Austin, Bullock said.

"I'm not leaving," she said. "This home is not going to make me leave."