I think I just watched a witness lie under oath today. It’s a bit weird. You know that it happens, but you never really expect to see it happen. Today, I was a witness in a trial with Mobile Cellular Unlimited. I almost settled a case with them. Watching Richard Luzaich testify was, however, quite enlightening. For one thing, he kept watching for hand signals from his lawyer.
When Plaintiff’s lawyer asked whether the Defendant had hired Whittemore Communications, Defendant paused and looked at his lawyer, who shrugged, before answering. I saw a couple of other guestures that looked more like hand signals than anything else during the examination.
Given that he’s sent in copies of his contract with them, I’d expect him to recall. I don’t know why he’s denying knowledge of this; he already sent in the documents. We saw the same thing in his deposition; he clearly waited for guidance from his lawyer before claiming not to remember. Perhaps Whittemore Communications, like our friends Eloansites, has a confidentiality clause in their contract?
But it gets more extreme. When the Plaintiff in this case (Bob ELIDE) called Mobile Cellular, in early 2002, they insisted that Richard Luzaich had nothing to do with any kind of marketing plan, and that everything was handled by Gail Luzaich; that she was the one who made the decision to hire faxers. Today, under oath, Richard Luzaich denied that. Why? I don’t know. What I do know is that I have a hard time believing that the original story, presented by people who showed no signs of a planned preparation, seems a lot more probable than the revised story. Furthermore, it would explain why Mr. Luzaich has been so hard-pressed to provide specific answers to questions about their faxes.
I dunno. Maybe he’s telling the truth now, and was just lying then. But it’s been very interesting watching how, at any given time, his testimony always seems to be what he thinks will sound the best for his case.
Note: This was written on the 24th, but didn’t get posted until the 25th, as it took a while to check facts and spelling.
Comments [archived]
From: JASON
Date: 2005-02-09 13:30:11 -0600
My company is a recent victim of Eloansites, just curious of any info you can share on them.
Thank You