Who pays for witness in jury trial?

[kdowd771]

What is the name of your state? Tx

Some of you have read about my divorce that has been going on for almost 2 yrs now. At least it will be in Jan 04.

Well I had filed for Bankruptcy and that was holding up the divorce from proceeding. Got the BK "stay" lifted and now the divorce can proceed.

My lawyer has requested it be placed on the Oct jury docket. BTW jury trial is not my choice psycho stbx (hopefully) wants it. We have been married 8 yrs this July, seperated for the last 2 yrs, have no kids, only 2 cars and personal possessions as assests and my military retirement. Still have 7 yrs to go before I am eligible to retire. She wants $20,000 and both cars and all the possessions. The fact that I just filed for chpt 13 does not seem to have any effect on her.

My questions:

1. If she supeonas witnesses from the local area and they have to be deposed, causing them to miss work, does she have to pay them for lost wages?

2. She listed 47 witnesses mostly from out of state, (I.E. my parents, brother and sisters) if she supeonas them who pays the bill?

3. Can a person refuse to answer questions in a depostion?

4. Do I have to answer questions if I am deposed?

5. In Texas what is a jury allowed to decide?

She claims cruelty and has refused to hand over any information at all in any way shape or form regarding this accusation, her income or any other information that has been requested. This whole process has been one attempt after another of delaying this case more and more. We were supposed to go to a jury trial back in May but her lawyer requested and was granted a delay. My lawyer told me it was actually good that they did that because now it would be very unlikely that the judge would grant another one.


Any help in this matter would be great.
Thanks

 

[cyana]

Bump...Interesting question. Hopefully BoxCar Bill will be around soon to answer this.

 

[kdowd771]

Can anyone help me with this????

 

[smorr]

My guess is that if she subpoened them, she should be paying for their expenses including any lost wages, if the witnesses are entitled to them. I'm not from your state so not sure what the laws are there.

As for depositions - anyone can say they "don't remember" - that can be considered an answer although not a credible one. In that way, they're not actually refusing to answer, just lying as to what they know. If found out to be a lie, however, their credibility in court is destroyed (which is good for you). If you are deposed, you must go, unfortunately, and you cannot refuse to answer questions. It would not be in your best interest. Out of staters are hard to get in to a deposition if they can't make it for good reason - so I wouldn't count on all 47 of 'em coming in! Why does she need that many witnesses?

I would also think that if she has no proof of spousal abuse (i.e. police involvement - calls to the home - former filings of abuse orders), then it would be difficult to prove, but not impossible - some stupid jurors will be sympathetic to her, so be careful.

And, you're lawyer's right - judges don't like to drag things out and the more delays she imposes on the court, the less likely she is to be viewed in a good light - but, again, I'm not from your state so not sure what laws are.

And, what the hell does she want with the only two cars you two have? That's ridiculous!

 

[kdowd771]

Actually it is more than the 2 cars she wants. I have been in the military for 13 yrs. Married to her for 8, seperated for 2. In her latest and greatest proposal she asks for the following:

$20,000 cash at signing of divorce or $25,000 in alimony payable over 60 months.

I give her the 98 Saturn and 86 Jaguar
I get to keep my truck that was bought prior to marriage
She is given 2 houses
Somehow she wants me to sign the mortgage over to her name only.
She keeps all the possessions we bought
IN return she will give me 100% of my possible military retirement. Which I might see in 7 yrs or more.

The fact that I filed for Chpt 13 bankruptcy in Aug seems to have slipped her mind. And in Texas they do not have alimony. They have spousal support, that my understanding is for spouses that were homemakers and have no marketable skill. She has multiple real esate licenses and multiple cosmotology licenses, plus has worked a variety of management positions. My lawyer has explained the bankruptcy to her lawyer to no avail. It will be quite interesting when the judge finally gets this case.

The jury trial she has been wanting for the past 2 yrs was finally coming up on the docket. One day prior to the docket selection she decides she no longer wants a jury trial and pulled the jury demand. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Now we have a hearing set up on the 16th for a motion to compel since she STILL has not provided even the minimum of documentation I have requested. IE. credit card statements, bank records, pay checks etc etc.

 

[smorr]

That's bizaare! No offense to her, but she sounds like a nutcase. Anyone who has the abilities she has for work potential (real estate and cosmetic licenses) is or should not be eligble for spousal support (which is actually a fancy name for alimony). I'd sell the Jag, to pay her a lump sum in spousal support and tell her not to spend it all in one place! Sounds to me like she's getting much more than she deserves. My guess would be that if this does get in front of a judge - he'll split all marital assets down the middle, which will mean one car for her, one for you, one house for her, one for you and so on.

She may have pulled the jury demand because she was told it would not be to her advantage. Hopefully, the motion to compel will provide the judge with enough information to show her requests are way off the mark and look upon her in a less that perfect light.

Good luck - post again after the hearing and let me know how it goes!

 

[kdowd771]

No offense to her? Brother you can offend her all ya want for all I care!!!!

As for the nucase remark. Prior to actually filing the divorce we went to a marriage counselor to try and work it out. Obviously it did not work. While I was attending a session on my own the counslelor told me that my STBX has a borderline psychological personality disorder!!!

This is one of the main contributing factors for her mind set of it being her way and only her way. Under no circumstances is she going to settle this unless she gets what she wants and thinks she deserves.

This is going to be a 3 ring circus when it gets to the judge.
Sure glad we have no kids.

 

[smorr]

Well, I only said the no offense part because some people honestly get offended when you put down someone they were once married to - I've seen it happen.

As for her not settling this until she gets what she wants... Well, my guess is that if this goes in front of a "fair" judge, she can hoot 'n holler all she wants - he's going to go by the laws and hopefully split the assets down the middle - she'll have to go with that or appeal it - even if she does appeal, she has to show proof that the judge made an error in his application of the law to your case to win what she "thinks" she deserves. What she really deserves is a steel rod up her **s! May straighten out her boarderline personality disorder in the process too.

Hopefully, your military retirement won't come into play in this divorce. The judge may see to it that you retain the 100% without her "grace and gratuity".

And, you're right - it's definitely good that you have no kids together!

As for the 'brother, you can offend her all you want' - just so you know....I'm female - but I'm not prejudice (hee!) I vote for what I think is fair and it doesn't matter if it's a man or woman. I just hate seeing people get taken advantage of. AND - I still think she deserves a steel rod up her .......

Take care!

 

[kdowd771]

Well the lawyers had their little meeting yesterday. Come to find out they did not even see a judge. The judge told them to work it out themselves and did not even here any of the ridiculousness of this circus I am going thorugh. So that gets taken care of and the next step is getting is set for trial by judge.

Oh boy what a fiasco this is now, since my psychotic someday STBX wants to call 47 witnessess for this trial where there are no kids and no assets, as I have filed chpt 13 and surrendered all possessions, her lawyer needs 1 full day in court!!! The next available date is 25 Jan 2004. I can't get a break towards getting this done. Delay after delay after delay. and no one will do squat about it. I thought about getting rid of my lawyer but I am afraid no other lawyer would want to touch this circus of a case. The case file is now about 6 inches thick!!!
And to top it all off she says I owe her $96,000 and has filed a claim in my chpt 13 stating so!!! And it was accepted by the bk court!!
The bk lawyers are dumbfounded as to where the heck she came up with this amount and no one knows what to do. I make $43,000 a year and have only the clothes on my back. I left all the possessions in the house and have asked for nothing from her other than her signature on the divorce papers.
She is raking up cc debt faster than anything I have ever seen. $25,000 in less than 8 months. And no mine name is on none of thoses cards. She is making the $1247 house payment by taking money off her cc. Oh I can see it now we will get all this crap done and right before the Jan 25th hearing she is going to file bankruptcy at the last minute which will cause an automatic stay to be imposed and stop this whole thing!!


1.Does any one anywhere have any advice on what to do?

I don't feel my lawyers is doing an effective job. Yet I have asked around about him and 3 other lawyers say he is the best divorce lawyer in this town. If he can't do it then it can't be done.
The day this finally comes to the judge no witnessess will probably be called.

2. Should I get rid of this lawyer and get a new one?

3. Is the fact that she has delayed and delayed and delayed this case going to come into play?

4. Can the judge order this to an earlier trial date?

5.How do you stop someone from hijacking and jerking around the whoel court system?

Help!!!

 

[kdowd771]

Bump.

 

[smorr]

Doesn't sound like you had a good day in court. I'm sorry to hear that - this judge must have once practiced in Massachusetts - they do the same thing here too - let the lawyers fight it out amongst themselves and their clients. What the hell are the courts there for then? Sometimes, I think the judge was only there to oversee everything and sign on the dotted line giving his official okey dokey. Big deal! Anyway, in answer to your questions (these are opinions, now, remember that...):

1.Does any one anywhere have any advice on what to do?
I don't feel my lawyers is doing an effective job. Yet I have asked around about him and 3 other lawyers say he is the best divorce lawyer in this town. If he can't do it then it can't be done.
The day this finally comes to the judge no witnessess will probably be called.

Response - - Other lawyers will never put down their constituates. They have to face them in court one day, so it's not in their best interest to bad-mouth one of their own. I'd try to call the bar association in your state and see if anyone has ever filed a complaint about him, or try to get the names of some of his former clients - see what they thought of him...

I seriously doubt she'll get 47 people to show up as witnesses. Hearing about how whacked she is, those she calls are probably just a half-step behind her.

2. Should I get rid of this lawyer and get a new one?

Response - - I wouldn't throw in the towel on him yet. See if you can investigate him a little before you decide. Getting a new lawyer now would delay things more, since he or she would have to do more research just to catch up. Delays at this point is the last thing you want!

3. Is the fact that she has delayed and delayed and delayed this case going to come into play?

Response - - Often times the delays aren't noticed by the courts much, unless the court sees that it's really getting in the way of the court's schedules and too many motions filed to delay, etc., etc. And it can sometimes depend on the judge.

4. Can the judge order this to an earlier trial date?

Response - - It's unlikely the judge would order an earlier trial date, unless it interferes with his schedule (a/k/a golf game). Your attorney can motion for an earlier trial date - I'd request it through him. No guarantee the judge will allow it though. If you can get your attorney to present the request to a particular judge that he knows of that is likely to pass it through....but that would have to be done on the hush-hush - neither of you could ever breathe a word of it to anyone, as it would be a shoe-in for your attorney's disbarment trial.

5.How do you stop someone from hijacking and jerking around the whoel court system?

Repsonse - - I can only think that if your attorney can out-smart her attorney - this fiasco can come to an end once and for all.

As for the bankruptcy - if you were to change your Ch. 13 to a Ch. 7? I wonder if it would help in her claim - she'd have to prove the debt even more so and a good chance she'd lose her claim. There's a forum section for bankruptcy matters only on this site - one of the advisers is someone called "Ladynred". She's excellent and may be able to give you some advice on what you can do about the bankruptcy part. Since you have two separate issues in two different courts asking on this section wouldn't bring much for responses on the bankruptcy.

Once again, I'm sorry this is happening to you and I pray you do come out of this in one piece and with peace of mind! Take care!

 

[kdowd771]

Got a letter form my lawyer today giving me dates on all sorts of stuff that evidently has not been done.

12/1/03 discovery shall be completed by this date.
What is discovery?

1/10/04 Pleadings All amendments and supplementation must be filed by this date.
What are pleadings?

I was under the impression from my lawyer that all we were waiting for was a trial date. Does not seem to be true. All this waiting and these things could of and should have been taken care of earlier.

 

[smorr]

What he sent you is typically called a "docket sheet" - it's simply a listing of what the court expects of each side in a case and gives deadlines as to when this stuff should be completed.

The discovery is any document that requests the opposing side to come up with documents, etc., any depositions that were taken, and any other document that can help you during the course of the case. They'd typically be called "requests for production", "interrogatories", "deposition of....", etc. It can be requested by your attorney of her or from her attorney of you.

Pleadings are documents such as a complaint, counter-claim, cross-claim, motions or third party complaint and any answers that need to be filed with the court in response to those documents. The same applies to one side filing against the other as above.

I don't understand why he sent you the docket sheet - it means nothing to you except for information on dates of things that he needs to be aware of, not so much you. (although if you know this, it's a good basis on which you can nudge him to do what he's supposed to do...)

Looking at it another way - if the other side fails to file with the court or submit to your attorney any documents needed in connection with these deadline dates the court has set, it's a plus for you. Sometimes, attorneys think the layperson knows what they're doing - well, if we did, we'd be defending our own case in court and the judges would be quite impressed, I'm sure!

Contacting your lawyer only drives up your bill - so, for now go through what he's sent you (hopefully, he's sending you copies of what he sends out to the opposing attorney and the courts). Try to match up any responses from the other attorney with the requests from your attorney and vice-versa. If you are able to do this and it makes any sense, hopefully, it means that everything that could be done has been done and you are indeed only waiting for a trial date. If you don't have documents you think you should have, call your attorney and ask if it was necessary to file certain documents. It may not have been needed in your case.

 

[kdowd771]

I don't understand why he sent you the docket sheet - it means nothing to you except for information on dates of things that he needs to be aware of, not so much you. (although if you know this, it's a good basis on which you can nudge him to do what he's supposed to do...)

He sends me copies of pretty much everything, and a letter long with it. Sometimes I think he does it just to run up the bill. One time I spend 3 hours with him at $175 per hour for him to tell me the in-depth details of the procedures for trials. Have learned the hard way to limit my conversations with him to the absolute minimum.

 

[stealth2]

One time I spend 3 hours with him at $175 per hour for him to tell me the in-depth details of the procedures for trials. Have learned the hard way to limit my conversations with him to the absolute minimum.

In defense of attorneys (no, I'm not one), this is a catch 22 situation. If they don't spend that time explaining the minutiae, they get hit with "I don't know what's going on 'cause my lawyer doesn't tell me anything."