Day 236 - 17 04 96 - Page 21
Day 236
1 still jury actions. Of course it cannot happen in a jury
2 action. It could do, but it does not, in fact. What one
3 often finds in the ordinary cases, and one has aimed a
4 whole lot of evidence at a meaning which in the end turns
5 out to be completely different and one has wasted all one's
6 time and energy.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. If I had been trying this case from the
9 start again, I might have decided what the meaning was of
10 it, right at the very beginning, but that is all past now.
11
12 This debate started because I am concerned about you having
13 your defence nutrition witnesses organised to come to
14 court. What I think you should do is, you should be
15 organising all those you even might want to call, and
16 fitting them in because I repeat what I have said on more
17 than one occasion in the past. That although the proposed
18 schedule which I have in front of me comes to Plaintiff's
19 public witnesses on the 4th June, if we have gaps before
20 then, and at the moment we have a gap from, apart from
21 short gaps -- earlier short gaps -- we have a gap from
22 Thursday 16th May, if Mr. Olive is not called until Friday
23 the 24th May, I may very well call upon Mr. Rampton to get
24 on with his publication witnesses. The proposed schedule
25 has a week from Monday 20th to Friday 24th, where nutrition
26 witnesses have been written and I am not saying anything to
27 pour cold water on that, but if we do not start filling
28 that with nutrition witnesses on one of other side's soon.
29 Whatever else is said about Mr. Carroll and Mr. Nicholson,
30 for instance, I am going to be saying to Mr. Rampton, "You
31 have to start filling the end of the week, Thursday 16th
32 and 17th, and the week beginning Monday the 20th May with
33 publication witnesses", so we do not lose time. Have you
34 issued subpoenas against any of your nutrition witnesses?
35
36 MS. STEEL: No, why?
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is, I would invite you to consider
39 subpoenas because I think you have a misunderstanding of
40 what subpoenas involve. The reason I say that is on more
41 than one occasion Mr. Morris has said something to the
42 effect that he wants your witnesses to come willingly and
43 be willing witnesses. Lots of perfectly willing witnesses
44 are subpoenaed. Some willing witnesses, although they have
45 expressed their willingness, prefer to be subpoenaed,
46 particularly if they are experts or potential experts,
47 because rightly or wrongly, they feel it gives them a
48 feeling of independence between the parties because they
49 are coming because they are ordered to come, rather than
50 because they push themselves forward to come.
51
52 The advantage of having a subpoena is that it can be for
53 this trial and at relatively short notice you can then say
54 to the witness: "Well, as a result of what the judge has
55 indicated, I am afraid you must come on such and such a
56 date." The reason I invite you to consider that is that if
57 you do not take that course, and if witnesses say to you
58 this is not convenient and that is not convenient, I do not
59 want you to come to a time where I say: "No more evidence
60 now," and you have not managed to get in all the witnesses
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