Kevin Costner has cleared his name.
After eight days of testimony, a federal jury ruled Thursday that Costner doesn't owe Stephen Baldwin any money, The Associated Press reports. Baldwin, 46, filed a lawsuit against Costner, 57, in December 2010, claiming the actor cheated him and his friend, Spyridon C. Contogouris, out of their shares of an $18 million deal for BP to buy oil-separating devices after the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Baldwin and Contogouris were seeking more than $17 million in damages, but after deliberating for less than two hours, the jury decided to give them nothing.
"My name means more to me than money and that's why we didn't settle," Costner said after the verdict. He thanked the jury and said, "They were really smart, and it was my good luck that they saw the truth of the story.
Costner's oil-separating device was developed by his company Ocean Therapy Solutions, and Baldwin said he and Syridon didn't know about the BP deal when they agreed to sell their shares.
"We're disappointed. We thought we proved rather convincingly that these two guys, Mr. Costner and Mr. Smith, defrauded us," Baldwin's attorney, James Cobb, said. "The jury saw it a different way but we respect the jury's verdict."
