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I might be misunderstanding, and haven't read anything other than this twitter thread, but it sounds like this is the discovery process in the lawsuit filed by

by kemayo 3y ago

I might be misunderstanding, and haven't read anything other than this twitter thread, but it sounds like this is the discovery process in the lawsuit filed by the State of California against Amazon, in which Molson is a witness. It doesn't sound like Amazon is suing him for anything, but the discovery process in big cases can be a lot, and the requests are overwhelming him. As such, given that he's not actually a party to the suit, I'd think that California and its attorneys should be assisting Molson with document requests?

gamblor956 3y ago
Based on the discovery requests, it appears Amazon is mostly requesting documents and discovery from him that CA can't help him with, since Molson is in control of those documents. Being an expert witness usually means that the party employing your services generally pays for your time to respond to discovery requests. In this case, it appears he was cited in CA's complaint but CA did not actually engage him as an expert witness so it doesn't appear (based on the Twitter thread) that he is being paid for his testimony.
- Retric 3y ago
  Third parties can require reasonable compensation for complying with discovery requests.
  - gamblor956 3y ago
    As all of the requested documents should be standard business records kept in the normal course of running his sales business, and he does not have any employees, "reasonable compensation" in this matter is presumed to be zero unless he can demonstrate to a judge otherwise.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
pphysch 3y ago
TFT clearly says "And in response [to being a witness for CA], Amazon served me with a lawsuit"
- sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
  If you zoom in on the picture of him being served, the legal documents he's holding indicate the case is between the state of California and Amazon. He is neither plaintiff or defendant. It is a subpoena not a lawsuit.
  - lisasays 3y ago
    In practical terms - its still basically Amazon, acting through the courts, trying to effectively strangle him. I think that's what was driving when he said "Amazon served me".
    - sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
      Agreed, but half the comments here are getting hung up on him saying he's being sued when it really appears that he isn't. Which then brings in the "what did he do that is appropriate to sue over?" arguments...which can't be answered, because he isn't being sued.
      - lisasays 3y ago
        They're not hung up on anything. They're holding firm that this is (in essence) a SLAPP. Whether it's a lawsuit proper or a subpoena resulting from a document request filed to the court by Amazon (and affecting the activist exactly as Amazon intended) is an almost irrelevant technical detail.
        sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
        Given his available paths and options of how to proceed are vastly different between being sued himself and being subpoenaed in a lawsuit between other parties, I would not call it an irrelevant technical detail.
judge2020 3y ago
IIRC you aren't entitled to a court-provided lawyer in civil proceedings. Although I guess the question is whether or not the AG could/should ask their legal council to represent the witness to some degree to fight these overbearing document requests.
- zdragnar 3y ago
  He's not a defendant, he's a prosecutor's witness. The state ought to be covering him here, or they risk losing his testimony.
  - Waterluvian 3y ago
    My understanding is that you can be subpoenaed to testify as a witness and they don't need to make you whole.
    - abduhl 3y ago
      Correct, but there is a bit of an unstated threat any time you do this to one of your own witnesses where the witness may give testimony that is not as persuasive to your version of events as you’d like. “The car was blue.” versus “Well it was dark out and I didn’t have my glasses on but maybe the car was blue.”
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      Plain old witnesses, yes. Expert witnesses get paid when you pull them in to support your case. The State of California should also have some reasonable interest here in protecting their expert witness from retaliation, so they can continue to obtain qualified expert witnesses in future cases.
      - ganoushoreilly 3y ago
        This is usually the case. Having served as an expert witness in CA, this is what I was afforded. I still had my own legal team to interface with the state, but that was baked into my fee.
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by kemayo 3y ago

gamblor956 3y ago

Based on the discovery requests, it appears Amazon is mostly requesting documents and discovery from him that CA can't help him with, since Molson is in control of those documents. Being an expert witness usually means that the party employing your services generally pays for your time to respond to discovery requests. In this case, it appears he was cited in CA's complaint but CA did not actually engage him as an expert witness so it doesn't appear (based on the Twitter thread) that he is being paid for his testimony.

Retric 3y ago
Third parties can require reasonable compensation for complying with discovery requests.
- gamblor956 3y ago
  As all of the requested documents should be standard business records kept in the normal course of running his sales business, and he does not have any employees, "reasonable compensation" in this matter is presumed to be zero unless he can demonstrate to a judge otherwise.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

pphysch 3y ago

TFT clearly says "And in response [to being a witness for CA], Amazon served me with a lawsuit"

sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
If you zoom in on the picture of him being served, the legal documents he's holding indicate the case is between the state of California and Amazon. He is neither plaintiff or defendant. It is a subpoena not a lawsuit.
- lisasays 3y ago
  In practical terms - its still basically Amazon, acting through the courts, trying to effectively strangle him. I think that's what was driving when he said "Amazon served me".
  - sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
    Agreed, but half the comments here are getting hung up on him saying he's being sued when it really appears that he isn't. Which then brings in the "what did he do that is appropriate to sue over?" arguments...which can't be answered, because he isn't being sued.
    - lisasays 3y ago
      They're not hung up on anything. They're holding firm that this is (in essence) a SLAPP. Whether it's a lawsuit proper or a subpoena resulting from a document request filed to the court by Amazon (and affecting the activist exactly as Amazon intended) is an almost irrelevant technical detail.
      - sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
        Given his available paths and options of how to proceed are vastly different between being sued himself and being subpoenaed in a lawsuit between other parties, I would not call it an irrelevant technical detail.

judge2020 3y ago

IIRC you aren't entitled to a court-provided lawyer in civil proceedings. Although I guess the question is whether or not the AG could/should ask their legal council to represent the witness to some degree to fight these overbearing document requests.

zdragnar 3y ago
He's not a defendant, he's a prosecutor's witness. The state ought to be covering him here, or they risk losing his testimony.
- Waterluvian 3y ago
  My understanding is that you can be subpoenaed to testify as a witness and they don't need to make you whole.
  - abduhl 3y ago
    Correct, but there is a bit of an unstated threat any time you do this to one of your own witnesses where the witness may give testimony that is not as persuasive to your version of events as you’d like. “The car was blue.” versus “Well it was dark out and I didn’t have my glasses on but maybe the car was blue.”
  - ceejayoz 3y ago
    Plain old witnesses, yes. Expert witnesses get paid when you pull them in to support your case. The State of California should also have some reasonable interest here in protecting their expert witness from retaliation, so they can continue to obtain qualified expert witnesses in future cases.
    - ganoushoreilly 3y ago
      This is usually the case. Having served as an expert witness in CA, this is what I was afforded. I still had my own legal team to interface with the state, but that was baked into my fee.

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