On Fri, 2010-02-19 at 07:17 -0500, Carter wrote:
> DAVID HELLER wrote:
>
> > The real fun came from the cases where some lawyer thought he could
> > show me up on cross-examination. Not once did the lawyer win.
>
> Been there, done that!
>
> I was the forensic expert for a large telcom and spent my share of time
> in court...and no, not once did the opposing lawyer win. They all mostly
> seem to have forgotten the lawyer's Golden Rule of never asking a
> question to which they don't know the answer. :-)
>
> Carter K8VT
>
I've had several of the type, "when did you quit beating your wife?" One
involved a battery operated flashing lamp. I set it on a post and took a
drive one evening about dusk and with terrain and all I was able to see
it at 10,000 feet limited by terrain, no intensity. In my deposition one
young attorney asked, "Had I tried to stop within that distance." My
initial answer was, "No, I don't drive my vehicle 70 mph on a gravel
road nor do I try a rapid stop on a gravel road, and further that
determination was not a part of my request for service." He didn't like
that because he wanted a simple yes/no answer to use to impeach my
testimony at trial, that I had failed to make that test. Clearly his
concepts of numbers was lacking. He repeated the question and I repeated
the answer adding that the main runway at the Des Moines airport is
10,000 feet long and they stop a half million pound Boeing 747 from more
than 100 mph in that distance. That I did stop in that distance several
times, that I knew for vehicle tests on the TV that a good vehicle could
stop from 60 in 100 feet or so, which meant that 10,000 feet was ample
room for at least 100 stops so a test would prove nothing. He threatened
to call the judge (on a Saturday) to force me to give the simple yes or
no answer. I didn't give him that pleasure of having the simple answer
and he didn't call the judge. I've not heard anything from that case
since my check covering the deposition arrived. There were multiple
parties involved and I guess they settled.
73, Jerry, K0CQ
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