Witness list discussion

📄 Witness list discussion — Thursday, December 12, 1996

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CIVIL\1996\DEC\12\WITNESS-LIST-DISCUSSION.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 31 of 57

◀ Adjournment Jury greeting and exhibit admissions ▶

Date: Thursday, December 12, 1996 • Utterances: 18

The judge and counsel briefly reviewed objections to Dr. Henry Lee's video deposition testimony, which the defense noted had been objected to comprehensively by plaintiffs. The parties then outlined their remaining witnesses and time estimates for the day, with the defense expecting to wrap live testimony in roughly a half-day.

# 1 THE COURT:

All right. We have the plaintiffs' objection to designation of Dr. Lee's video testimony, which is extensive. And I don't have a transcript, so I don't know what you're talking about.

# 2 MR. BAKER:

So far, they've objected to everything you've looked at. I just got this this morning. They've objected to everything that -- every question that was asked and every answer that was given, except Mr. Medvene's objections. So I don't know why they were complaining yesterday they needed more time. They just objected to everything.

# 3 MR. PETROCELLI:

Here you go.

# 4 (Mr. Petrocelli hands transcript of Dr. Henry Lee's deposition to the Court.)

# 5 (Pause for the Court to review transcript.)

# 6 THE COURT:

Well, it would appear it's going to take some time to go through this.

So what witnesses do you have here today?

KEY QUOTE

# 7 MR. BAKER:

We've got Detective Spangler, who's a very short witness.

We've got Mulldorfer, who's also a police detective, a very short witness.

We've got John Gerdes. He's one of our experts.

Your Honor, this can't be construed --

# 8 THE COURT:

Mr. Baker, I'm trying to get organized.

# 9 MR. BAKER:

All right.

# 10 THE COURT:

What is your time estimate on these witnesses today?

# 11 MR. BLASIER:

Dr. Gerdes will be an hour or two. We'll probably be finished with our witnesses in the morning.

# 12 MR. LEONARD:

The two police witnesses, for direct, are 10 or 15 minutes.

MR. P. BAKER: I also planned on reading some depositions, but we can move it.

# 13 THE COURT:

So your whole testimony presentation, you think, is going to be about half a day?

# 14 MR. BAKER:

Yes, of live testimony.

# 15 MR. LEONARD:

Or less.

# 16 THE COURT:

Okay. We'll do this in the afternoon.

# 17 MR. LEONARD:

Excellent.

# 18 THE COURT:

Bring the jury in.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (2)

Robert Baker

They've objected to everything that -- every question that was asked and every answer that was given, except Mr. Medvene's objections.

Baker characterizes plaintiffs' objections to Lee's deposition as blanket and indiscriminate, signaling ongoing friction over the forensic expert's testimony.

Hiroshi Fujisaki

Well, it would appear it's going to take some time to go through this.

The judge acknowledges the scope of the deposition objections, foreshadowing a time-consuming review process.

Evidence (1)

Informal

Transcript of Dr. Henry Lee's deposition, handed to the Court by Petrocelli

submitted for Court review re: plaintiffs' objections to video testimony designation

Notable Exchanges (1)

Robert Baker•Hiroshi Fujisaki

Baker begins editorializing about plaintiffs' blanket objections and the judge cuts him off to stay focused on scheduling.

mildly testy

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 8631 • 18 utterances

Civil Trial

Department 103