John Travolta testified Wednesday that a Bahamas paramedic threatened to sell stories to the news media suggesting the movie star was at fault in the death of his 16-year-old son.
Travolta said paramedic Tarino Lightbourne, who is now on trial for extortion, demanded $25 million.
If he did not pay, Travolta told the jury, Lightbourne indicated he would use against him a document that the actor initially signed refusing to have his son Jett sent to a local hospital. The document cleared Lightbourne of any liability.
"They were stories that would imply that the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable in some way," Travolta said.
Travolta was testifying in the second week of the trial of Lightbourne and Pleasant Bridgewater, a former Bahamas senator who allegedly negotiated with the actor's lawyers for the medic. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Travolta testified last week that he signed the document because he initially wanted his son flown to Florida for treatment. But Jett, who had suffered a seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island, was taken to a local hospital, where he died on Jan. 2.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
