Supervised by Judge James Donato. epic vs googlea case that could decide the future of the Android app store, but the testimony in this case could also have major implications for Google.
On Friday, Judge Donato called Google’s actions a “frontal attack on the impartial administration of justice” and vowed to investigate Google for intentionally and systematically concealing evidence. We were in court for his explanation.
“I intend to thoroughly determine who is responsible,” he said, adding that he would pursue these matters “on my own, independent of this trial.”
testimony at epic vs google The Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google in Washington, D.C., which ran parallel to this trial, revealed that Google automatically deleted chat messages between employees, and that employees up to CEO Sundar Pichai It was revealed that he had intentionally used this to make certain conversations disappear. Pichai and many other employees also testified that they did not change their automatic deletion settings even after they became aware of their legal obligation to preserve evidence.
And Mr. Pichai and his colleagues, among other employees, admitted to marking documents as legally privileged solely to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
On Nov. 14, Pichai told the court that he relied on his legal and compliance team, especially Kent Walker, Alphabet’s chief legal officer, to provide him with proper guidance. Two days later, Judge Donato ordered Walker to appear in court. I was taken away.
But the judge was not satisfied with Walker’s testimony, accusing him of “tap dancing”.
Walker said he never attempted to audit whether employees actually retained evidence. It was up to individual employees to determine which communications were relevant to the lawsuit, and multiple employees testified in court that they had the wrong idea of what was involved.
“This is the most serious and worrying evidence I have seen in my 10 years on the bench.”
Today, Judge Donato called Google’s actions “deeply disturbing as an American judicial officer,” calling it “one of the worst actions I’ve seen in my 10 years on the court.” “This is the most serious and worrying evidence.” The parties intentionally conceal relevant evidence. ”
“This action is a frontal attack on the fair administration of justice. It ignores due process. It calls into question the resolution of legal disputes. It is antithetical to our system,” Judge Donato said. Stated.
Nevertheless, the judge today decided not to issue a “forced inference instruction,” or an order directing the jury to proceed with the understanding that Google suppressed evidence that could be harmful to the case.
Instead, “permissive” jury instructions will be given. The jury “could” infer that the missing evidence could have helped Epic and harmed Google.
“The best course of action is for the jury to decide for themselves whether to make that inference. I would not limit the jury’s discretion by making that inference on their behalf,” he said.
Judge Donato said, “While it would be well within my scope to issue a mandatory inference order, I am free to independently pursue these issues in future cases beyond this trial.” .
“We intend to thoroughly determine who is responsible,” he said. “It’s going to be different than what happens here, but that day will come.”
Google declined to comment The Verge Regarding Judge Donato’s statement.
Today, Epic and Google resolved their lawsuit. epic vs google. He is scheduled to return for closing arguments and jury instructions on Dec. 11.