Federal Judiciary

O2 Micro v. BiTEK - sanctions update

By Michael C. Smith

Judge Everingham's Friday order solicited any response by BiTEK regarding the sanctions imposed in the order, and this afternoon, BiTEK filed one, accompanied by a declaration and a letter to the Court from Mr. van Loben Sels.
In the supplemental briefing, BiTEK asks that the Court not sever it from its codefendants, and offered to accept no peremptory challenges or questioning of the jury panel (except for challenges and questioning for cause) and notes that Mr. van Loben Sels has been removed from the BiTEK trial team.  Substantively, the briefing argues that the question at issue was not violative of the Court's limine ruling because the prior ruling in the first case prohibited introduction of evidence of taxation, and not simply any references to taxation (thus there was a good faith belief that the order was not being violated), and that the proposed sanctions are disproportionate to the prejudice suffered by the plaintiff, citing the nondispositive sanctions proposed by plaintiff earlier, which BiTEK now accepts and argues are sufficient.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on July 13, 2009 (boomark / email).