U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled today on several motions to exclude evidence regarding the trail between the City of Seattle and the Sonics in the city’s lawsuit against to force the team to honor the last two years of the KeyArena lease agreement.

Pechman ruled to allow testimony from Seattle author and Sonics season ticket holder Sherman Alexie, noting that he was properly disclosed as a potential witness and his testimony is relevant to the issue being argued.

However, the Sonics motion to exclude testimony from KJR-AM radio talk show host Mitch Levy was granted, because the city disclosed Levy as a witness nearly a month after the agreed on discovery deadline of April 30.

Pechman also said that Levy’s testimony concerns media access to players, and is not directly related to the main issues surrounding the case.

Pechman ruled to reserve the city’s motion to exclude testimony from Seattle City Council members Nick Licata and Richard Conlin, stating that the Sonics did not seek to prohibit evidence contradicting the two councilmen’s previous statements.

Pechman denied the city’s remaining motions to exclude evidence presented by the Sonics regarding the team’s dysfunctional relationship with the city, a field survey showing the teams is the third most popular franchise behind the Seahawks and the Mariners, and evidence showing the team made an effort to secure a successor venue to KeyArena.

Pechman stated the city’s motions extended beyond issues of evidence into issue of law, and that city’s arguments were premature.

Check out the filing here.