Judge Koh Lashes Out at Attorneys for Apple & Samsung

Judicial Trust

Judge Lucy Koh has had it up to here (::this reporter holds hand up to chin level to demonstrate “here”::) with attorneys for both Apple and Samsung. During courtroom proceedings on Tuesday, the judge lost her cool with both sides over what she called courtroom “theatrics.”

 

Though Samsung’s attorneys have drawn more sanctions than Apple—four times as of the latest count—CNet reported that Judge Koh told the assembled attorneys for both sites that, “I want papers. I don’t trust what any lawyer tells me in this courtroom. I want to see actual papers.”

Those are strong words for a federal judge, and a demonstration that the high-profile, high dollar, high pressure case is going to leave a mark.

At particular issue was planned testimony from Tim Williams, Ph.D., an expert witness called by Samsung. A few hours before he was scheduled to appear, attorneys for Apple protested his inclusion because he hadn’t disclosed non-disclosure agreements he had signed with Intel that prohibit him from discussing the details of Intel’s source code.

How that might effect the case between Apple and Samsung is unclear, but it is common practice for attorneys to do anything they can to discredit opposing expert witnesses or keep them from testifying at all, and both sides have engaged this tactic in this battle.

Judge Koh, however, appears to have had enough enough, labelling the actions of both sides as “theatrics.”

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