Rehearing set in KOCE case

The battle over KOCE-TV will return to the courtroom in November, the

Fourth District Court of Appeals in Santa Ana announced this week.

In July, both the Coast Community College District and the Daystar

Television Network filed petitions for rehearings in the case. The

district asked the court to reconsider its June 23 decision to

nullify the sale of the public broadcasting station to the KOCE-TV

Foundation, whereas Daystar demanded that the court award it

immediate ownership of the station.

When the appellate court accepted both petitions in July, it was

not clear whether it would call for a new courtroom session or simply

issue a new opinion. This week, the court decided on the former.

“The matter is going back on calendar, so everything will be

reconsidered,” said deputy clerk Rachel Hahn.

She said the court date was currently slotted for the week of Nov.

16.

Two years ago, the college district put KOCE-TV up for sale to

help boost its academic budget. The district named the foundation, a

group of community members formed in 1978 to support the station, the

highest responsible bidder after it offered $8 million in cash and

$24 million to be paid over 30 years.

Daystar, a Christian television network which had also bid on the

station, filed a lawsuit against the district claiming that its

$25-million offer, all in cash, made it the highest responsible

bidder. In June, the appellate court ruled in Daystar’s favor and

ordered the district to negate the sale to the foundation.

Complicating the matter is the fact that the Federal

Communications Commission has already transferred the station’s

license to the foundation, and that the district has spent much of

the $8-million down payment. The June decision stopped short of

ordering an immediate transfer of the license to Daystar, leading the

Christian network to petition the court again.

Milford Dahl, the attorney for the college district, was not

available for comment, and two attorneys for Daystar did not return

calls Friday.