Kalkhoven trial continues.

by Lynne Huntting.

It was very much a case of 'as you were' in the seventh day of the Northern California jury trial involving Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven.

In Oakland District Court, the plaintiffs continued to present their case alleging securities and exchange commission violations against Kalkhoven and three other former executives of JDS Uniphase, which is also a defendant in the case.

Kalkhoven has been an attentive listener, paying close attention to all the testimony - visual depositions shown on a large movie screen and witnesses who are examined, cross-examined and re-examined.

The plaintiffs legal team is anticipating it will be through most of its witnesses by Thursday afternoon or Friday morning; but it will not 'rest' its case at that point before turning it over to the defence. It has to do with the witness scheduling. Judge Claudia Wilkins is making efficient use of the court time, and each witness will only have to make one court appearance rather than be called back at a later time for further examination by the other legal team.

The trial is scheduled for nineteen days, which means if all goes according to plan, the evidentiary portion of the trial will end on Friday 16 November. Then, the thanksgiving week will be a 'break' for all lawyers and jurors, before reconvening the following week for closing arguments and jury deliberations.

Some of the attorneys on the case are from out of state. They got a disconcerting wake up call Tuesday evening. There was an earthquake in San Jose, CA measuring 5.6 on the Richter Scale, with the epicentre within 10-15 miles of JDSU headquarters.

There have been 40 or so aftershocks since, including one which was a 3.7 on Wednesday afternoon.