BAD FAITH IS HIS MIDDLE NAME: Michael Mann Sanctioned for False Testimony, Bad Faith.

My wife and I attended several days in court, near the end of the Michael Mann v. Mark Steyn and Rand Simberg trial in Washington, D.C. We witnessed a dramatic moment, when Mann’s lawyers had introduced into evidence a document, which was blown up for the jury and about which Mann testified, that contained a list of grants that Mann allegedly didn’t get as a result of the defendants’ purported defamation. The value of one of those grants, per the exhibit, was $9 million.

On cross-examination by Simberg’s lawyer, Victoria Weatherford*, it turned out that the exhibit reflected sworn interrogatory answers that had been served by Mann, but later superseded by revised answers, also given under oath. The $9 million had been reduced to $112,000. To say that Weatherford’s cross-examination was effective is an understatement. And Mann didn’t get away with the misrepresentation, as the jury found only nominal damages of $1.

But still, the false evidence had been presented, and defendants moved for sanctions to be imposed on Mann and his lawyers. Earlier today, more than a year after the events, Judge Alfred Irving entered a long order ruling on the defendants’ sanctions motion. It is embedded below. The facts are rather complicated, but the judge’s conclusions are unequivocal.

Good.