A Washington, D.C. superior court has dismissed a $100 million lawsuit against John Kent Cooke, a Bermuda resident and former president of the Washington Redskins National Football League team.

According to The Washington Post, Judge Jan Zeldon threw out the suit, brought on by the New York real estate developer Howard Milstein, earlier this month.

Mr. Milstein alleged that Mr. Cooke and former Redskins general manager Charley Casserley lobbied NFL owners to illegally thwart his $800 million bid to buy the team from the estate of Cooke's father, Jack Kent Cooke, who died in 1997.

Mr. Cooke the younger and Mr. Milstein were both vying for the team, and in January 1999, Mr. Milstein's company, Washington Sports Ventures Inc., brokered a deal with executors to buy the team. However, the purchase did not receive the required approval of NFL owners and the team was later bought by Bethesda, Maryland businessman Daniel Snyder, a partner of Mr. Milstein's at the time, for $800 million.

The suit was first launched against Mr. Cooke, 58, in a U.S. federal court, but was withdrawn in November of last year and filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court instead. Mr. Cooke originally claimed that as a resident of Bermuda, he was not subject to U.S. laws. But under D.C. laws, Mr.

Cooke's residency was not an issue.

Suit dismissed In her decision, Judge Zeldon cited the opinion of another case involving Mr.

Milstein in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, which she said answered questions about why Milstein failed to get NFL approval that could no longer be litigated.

In that case, Judge Claude Hilton ruled the Cooke estate was allowed to keep Milstein's $20 million deposit for the team. The judge said Mr. Milstein had only himself to blame after withdrawing from the bidding process before NFL owners could vote on whether to approve the sale. According to The Post, Milstein's attorneys said a vote would have been pointless because Mr. Cooke lobbied against him in "behind-the-scenes maneuvering with NFL operatives''.

Mr. Cooke's lawyer, Joseph Hassett, told The Post he was delighted with the ruling and said Milstein was now "finished'' and his client had been vindicated.

In a statement to The Post, Mr. Cooke said: "The court's decision is a complete vindication that I was not the cause of Mr. Milstein's failure to obtain NFL approval, and that this wasteful litigation should never have been brought.'' Mr. Cooke, who lives in Tucker's Town, was the heir of a communications fortune including newspapers, radio and cable television. Mr. Cooke's father also owned the Los Angeles Lakers NBA team and the Los Angeles Kings NHL team.

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