In the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa
On Tuesday I got to testify in court for the first time, as a defense expert in a criminal case in Contra Costa County Superior Court. This is also the first time I've been cross-examined, although not the first time I've submitted testimony to a court (nor the first time I've testified in person at a governmental hearing). My testimony was given at an evidentiary hearing with the jury excluded.
I testified about RFC 2822 message headers and, in particular, how to interpret the times in Received headers. The judge stated that he accepted my testimony, but he granted the People's motion on other grounds.
While I was waiting outside the courtroom, I saw a prosecution witness in another case get upset and threaten to leave without testifying. The prosecutor in that case overheard him and threatened to have the witness arrested and held in contempt of court if he left. The witness ended up leaving anyway and apparently was arrested outside the courthouse and brought back inside by force. Having witnesses arrested for noncompliance with subpoenas is the kind of drama that I just haven't seen in civil cases...
