Class Action Page #8

did you have occasion to test it?

Yes, sir, I did.

- Did you have any problems with it?

- Did we have problems?

That circuit is garbage.

It blew up the gas tank.

I said so in the report to Mr Getchell.

It was his big invention.

Big deal, Mr Getchell.

So I gave him the report,

and after that, I don't know.

You were certain, and still are, that this circuit

should not have gone into that car?

Objection! Calls for conclusion.

Your Honor, his job at Argo

was reaching conclusions just like this.

Overruled.

Should this circuit

have gone into the Meridian?

Yes, if you want to kill people.

- No further questions.

- Your witness, Miss Ward.

Your Honor, does plaintiff's counsel

intend to introduce this alleged report?

- Mr Ward?

- No.

So the only evidence of its existence

is testimony, such as that of Dr Pavel?

Yes, just testimony.

Dr Pavel, in all of your years at Argo, you

must have worked on hundreds of projects.

Oh, yes. Hundreds.

Could you tell me about

some of your favorites?

Objection. Dr Pavel's former

research has no relevance here.

Overruled.

Please answer, Doctor.

There were lots.

The Atlas, that was a terrific car.

Motorcycle Python.

The Python.

Doctor, did it have circuit problems?

No, but I worked on different motorcycles.

Maybe some of the others...

Perhaps like the A100. Do you remember

a defective gasket on that one?

A100?

No.

What about CA3200? According to

reports, an axle had to be replaced.

Yes, yes. That was a wonderful motorcycle.

That was the first time we put that linkage

in a two-wheeled vehicle.

The CA3200 was a pickup truck, Doctor.

Objection. Your Honor,

she's testifying for the witness.

Sustained.

Doctor, what is 2762396?

Objection! This is not a math test.

It goes to the quality of his memory.

Overruled. I think, without the report,

the doctor's memory is relevant.

I'm going to allow this line of questioning.

I'm not so good with numbers any more.

Could you please repeat it?

Absolutely. 2762396.

- Isn't that your phone number, sir?

- Objection!

- Overruled.

- How about 94536?

- Objection.

- Overruled. Sit down, Mr Ward.

Your zip code, sir. 123019?

Isn't that your birthday, sir?

- And 0243?

- Objection, Your Honor.

- All right, Miss Ward.

- Isn't that the Meridian?

Miss Ward!

- Your Honor...

- No further questions.

I'd like that last remark

struck from the record.

Strike the last answer.

- Miss Ward, I don't want to warn you again.

- Beautiful.

You may step down, Doctor.

Not good with numbers any more.

That's not a crime, is it?

I still remember the most important things.

Next witness, Mr Ward.

Your Honor, plaintiff calls Michael Grazier.

What?

Objection! This is unsupportable!

Your Honor,

I need him on the witness stand.

- It's outrageous!

- Hold on.

I want you all in my chambers now.

Recess.

I don't care.

I need him on the stand.

Come on, Jed. You listen to me!

Go and turn some other courtroom

into a circus with your half-ass stunts.

Come on, Fred.

If it's a stunt, if I'm ajoke, let me prove it.

The jury came out

on that one a long time ago.

- Wait a minute...

- Hold it!

Just sit down. Look, people.

Listening to you spit on each other

is entertaining as hell.

But I gotta move this thing along.

- Jed, what the hell are you doing?

- I have to have him on the stand.

It's critical to show Argo's state of mind

when they built that car.

- He can't do this without prior notice.

- He can. It's within your discretion, Judge.

He's trying to save face in front of his

clients, so they think he has something.

There's no offer of proof here.

You're asking for a leap of faith here, Jed.

Can you give me one reason why I should?

The worst thing that can happen

is that I am wrong.

If I am, you're gonna make it

very ugly for me.

I would think the thought of that

would be irresistible to you.

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth so help you God?

- I do.

- Be seated and state your name.

Michael McKinley Grazier.

Mr Grazier, I understand you are

in charge of legal affairs for Argo

in the firm of Quinn Califan and Lunt.

I'm the chief legal liaison

between Argo and my firm.

If somebody asks for a safety report on Argo,

someone like me, for instance,

you would get it and you would turn

it over to them. Right?

Right.

All of them. Every single one.

Mr Ward, you have all

the safety research in existence.

You mean there might be a report

that is no longer in existence?

There might be eight-legged mice on Venus.

That's another question I can't answer.

Very easy for you to make jokes.

You have both your arms and legs.

- Objection! Argumentative.

- Sustained.

Opposing counsel's not suggested anything

thatjustifies keeping Mr Grazier on the stand.

- Isn't it time to move on?

- I'm leaning in that direction.

Please get to the point.

Mr Grazier, do you know of

the existence, now or in the past,

of a report calling into question

the safety of the Meridian model?

I can't testify on some hypothetical report.

It wasn't hypothetical to Dr Pavel.

He wrote it.

- So he says.

- So he says under oath.

Do you understand, sir,

that you are testifying under oath?

- Yes, I do.

- And that perjury is grounds for disbarment?

Mr Ward, I find that objectionable.

I do know the law.

So do I. You're using semantics when

all you have to do is answer a question.

- Did you see that report? Yes or no?

- Objection! The question has been answered.

- It's been asked and has not been answered.

- Overruled.

Yes or no? I think you're being evasive!

I'm not.

I'm answering the questions you're asking.

The hell you are! You know that,

I know that, the jury knows that.

- Mr Ward...

- Everybody in this courtroom knows it.

- Mr Ward, sit down.

- That son of b*tch is getting to the jury.

No. He's only bluffing.

He did the same thing in Wrangell v Kincaid.

- I can handle this.

- Then do it.

Miss Ward?

Mr Grazier, Mr Ward has been

thundering on for quite some time now.

It occurs to me that, with all his fire and

brimstone, he might have confused the issue.

I'd like to ask you a simple question,

straight out.

Have you any knowledge of a report

calling any version of the Meridian unsafe?

No.

Have you ever seen one,

read one or heard of one?

No.

No further questions.

Members of the jury,

what you've seen here is a little unusual.

Mr Grazier's presence on the stand should not

influence you to find for or against his client.

You may step down.

Your Honor,

plaintiff calls Anthony Patricola.

- Who the hell is Anthony Patricola?

- I've never heard of him.

His name was there.

You must have missed it.

I'm sure I gave it to you,

along with a bunch of other papers.

Looked like the goddamn

Library of Congress.

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

- I do.

- Be seated and state your name.

Anthony Patricola.

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