UPDATE 3-Bratz juror dismissed, MGA seeks mistrial

(Adds details from court order, Mattel lawyer comment, details; updates share price)

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES, July 25 (Reuters) - A juror in the copyright infringement trial over Bratz dolls was dismissed on Friday for making an ethnic slur against MGA Entertainment Inc Chief Executive Isaac Larian, causing MGA to seek a mistrial and casting doubt on the outcome of the case brought by Mattel Inc (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Mattel had prevailed in the first phase of trial, winning the rights to dozens of original Bratz drawings and sculpts and was seeking damages of more than $1 billion.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson dismissed the female juror from the federal case in Riverside, California, after another panelist complained about remarks she had made about Larian during deliberations over the drawings. Larian is an Iranian Jew who immigrated to the United States as a teenager.

Larson set an Aug. 4 hearing to determine whether the case should continue or end in a mistrial. The trial had been scheduled for a week-long break starting on Monday before the incident came to light.

In a court order issued late on Friday, Larson said Juror No. 8's "grossly inappropriate remarks" -- that Iranians were "stubborn, rude, stingy ... thieves, and have stolen other persons' ideas" -- occurred near the end of the deliberations and "did not effect (sic) or influence the decision made by the jury."

"All of the jurors clearly indicated ... that the remarks would have no effect on any deliberations or decision in (the damages phase) of the trial," Larson wrote. "All jurors believed that they would be completely fair to all parties."

MGA attorney Thomas Nolan said he had questioned each juror during jury selection about whether they would be influenced by Larian's Middle Eastern heritage, and all had said no.