The size and scope of what the jury is being asked to process here is really astounding to me, if you step back and think about it. I've got a JD and other post-graduate study under my belt, and this is a lot to sit down and process. Plus, the restrictions on life, and the amount of time and mental energy you are being asked to dedicate to this case — it's truly kind of mind bending to consider.
Is it typical that jury instructions run 70+ pages?
This is SOMETHING: "You are to assume that the statements “Funding secured” and “Investor support is confirmed. Only reason why this is not certain is that it’s contingent on a shareholder vote.” were untrue. ... You must also assume Mr. Musk acted with reckless disregard for whether the statements were true. "
I imagine these decisions were part of summary judgement already made by the court.
Interesting. Chen is very careful as to precedent and very detailed as to each bit of legal reasoning, but also not afraid at all to make certain findings which the defense will hotly dispute, such as reckless disregard and falsity of the tweets. I am curious as to how the jury will view the directors liability.
Your tweet an hour ago, "Phew, that was one witness". What did you mean by that? Have they started questioning witnesses? I was trying to follow along on twitter but must have missed something. What was the GIF you tweeted of something being thrown out of a window? Thx
Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023Liked by Chance the Lawyer
Missed the opening statements, but I was present in court during the plaintiff's testimony.
It was entirely from an options trader who seemed to panic completely focusing his bets on the veracity of the "funding secure" part of Musk's tweet, at least for a week or two while unwinding his hedges. His statements about never "betting" (only "investing") and "never trading on rumor" did not ring true.
[Aside: I'm a retired engineer who sometimes likes to follow trials in the SF area involving patents, copyrights, or tech companies in general. Since the rules of evidence are different to legal beagles (only what is filtered thru the adversarial system) vs. what evidence is to science types like me (research everything you can from a curiosity standpoint) I would probably make a poor juror in that manner. Further, my own bias here is from multiple standpoints: (1) I drive a Tesla (Model 3, 2018), (2) I own shares long, kept from since before the infamous tweet, and (3) Simultaneously, I believe that Musk has cretinous opinions unbecoming of a CEO.]
I've read the documents from the related $40M SEC settlement involving class action losses from just two trading days including the tweet. There they are defined as applying to anyone who traded during those two days whether they kept the stock or not. Like most class action suits it will only pay out cents-on-the-dollar, if that. Here I wonder what is different besides the class period (10 days). It must be that the main difference is that a poor jury decides damages rather than the SEC + Tesla lawyers in a settlement. A pity, since that is rather like having juries in East Texas determine patent cases against deep pockets, i.e. very random.
I'm not sure if I will be there Friday, since it is streamed.
The size and scope of what the jury is being asked to process here is really astounding to me, if you step back and think about it. I've got a JD and other post-graduate study under my belt, and this is a lot to sit down and process. Plus, the restrictions on life, and the amount of time and mental energy you are being asked to dedicate to this case — it's truly kind of mind bending to consider.
Is it typical that jury instructions run 70+ pages?
This is SOMETHING: "You are to assume that the statements “Funding secured” and “Investor support is confirmed. Only reason why this is not certain is that it’s contingent on a shareholder vote.” were untrue. ... You must also assume Mr. Musk acted with reckless disregard for whether the statements were true. "
I imagine these decisions were part of summary judgement already made by the court.
Interesting. Chen is very careful as to precedent and very detailed as to each bit of legal reasoning, but also not afraid at all to make certain findings which the defense will hotly dispute, such as reckless disregard and falsity of the tweets. I am curious as to how the jury will view the directors liability.
Your tweet an hour ago, "Phew, that was one witness". What did you mean by that? Have they started questioning witnesses? I was trying to follow along on twitter but must have missed something. What was the GIF you tweeted of something being thrown out of a window? Thx
Surprised the judge didn't include a copy of some books from Kahneman and Tversky to cover all biases apparently needed to deliberate in this case :)
Missed the opening statements, but I was present in court during the plaintiff's testimony.
It was entirely from an options trader who seemed to panic completely focusing his bets on the veracity of the "funding secure" part of Musk's tweet, at least for a week or two while unwinding his hedges. His statements about never "betting" (only "investing") and "never trading on rumor" did not ring true.
[Aside: I'm a retired engineer who sometimes likes to follow trials in the SF area involving patents, copyrights, or tech companies in general. Since the rules of evidence are different to legal beagles (only what is filtered thru the adversarial system) vs. what evidence is to science types like me (research everything you can from a curiosity standpoint) I would probably make a poor juror in that manner. Further, my own bias here is from multiple standpoints: (1) I drive a Tesla (Model 3, 2018), (2) I own shares long, kept from since before the infamous tweet, and (3) Simultaneously, I believe that Musk has cretinous opinions unbecoming of a CEO.]
I've read the documents from the related $40M SEC settlement involving class action losses from just two trading days including the tweet. There they are defined as applying to anyone who traded during those two days whether they kept the stock or not. Like most class action suits it will only pay out cents-on-the-dollar, if that. Here I wonder what is different besides the class period (10 days). It must be that the main difference is that a poor jury decides damages rather than the SEC + Tesla lawyers in a settlement. A pity, since that is rather like having juries in East Texas determine patent cases against deep pockets, i.e. very random.
I'm not sure if I will be there Friday, since it is streamed.