Judge May Not Permit New Evidence
WinInfo | at | by Mike
A surprise decision by Microsoft to cull its list of witnesses has the non-settling scrambling this week, and though the states had hoped to introduce new evidence proving that the company's proposed settlement with the federal government is ineffective, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has indicated that she will not allow it.
However, Microsoft lawyers complained that it was too late for the states to introduce new evidence. "We are in our case, [and] they have rested their case," Microsoft attorney John Warden told Kollar-Kotelly. "That is not what conduct of a trial is in our system, that a plaintiff presents a moving target to a defendant." Kollar-Kotelly indicated that she agreed with Microsoft, but hasn't yet made a final decision in the matter. "You generally admit [evidence] during your part of the case," the judge told Gutmann. "I want to be very careful about this. I'm not going to do it off the top of my head."