A reliable source informs me that the deposition of Wendy McCaw is being taken this week at an undisclosed location in Santa Barbara.
Just when she thought she was done testifying, she got sucked back in.
McCaw is being asked questions by attorneys for Jerry Roberts and is answering them under under oath. The answers are being taken down by a court reporter and a transcript will be made. Her testimony is possibly being videotaped as well. The deposition is in connection with McCaw's lawsuit against Roberts, the former top editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press, which is the subject of a private arbitration.
My guess is that this time around, McCaw is not getting off as easily as I thought she did when she testified at the recent NLRB hearing. For starters, I'm sure the range of testimony is much broader than in the labor hearing.
Also, there is no judge present during the deposition to rule on objections. Just Roberts' attorneys and those for McCaw. If McCaw's attorneys think a question is improper they can object to it, but in most instances she must go ahead and answer the question anyway. If necessary, a judge will rule at a later time if the answer will be allowed into evidence at trial.
Under those ground rules, there is a lot of territory to be covered in an examination of McCaw. The deposition began Tuesday, continued on Wednesday and it is believed that it will wrap up sometime today.
Reportedly, McCaw is unhappy with the location of the deposition. She wanted it taken at the office of Barry Cappello, one of the attorneys who represents her. But since it's Roberts' attorneys who exercised their right to depose McCaw, they got to choose the location, and apparently, they didn't want to give Wendy and Cappello the home field advantage.
The other day I incorrectly identified Mercedes Eichholz, who has been subpoenaed by Cappello for a deposition, as the current chairman of the Museum of Art Board. She is actually the former chairman of that board.
My thanks to Jamie Nichols, the attorney who will be representing her when her deposition is taken, for the correction.
Recommended reading for today is John Quimby's post over at his blog The Production Room on the state of local newspapers and new media sources.
Hannah-Beth Jackson, who formerly represented Santa Barbara in the State Assembly, announced yesterday that she is running for the State Senate.
And my sincere thanks to all of you out there who voted my blog as the Best in Santa Barbara in the annual Independent Reader's Poll, which is out today.
And yes, I'm at a total loss to explain it other than to say, "even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while."
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