Hello again mon amie SS,
>>If the information is unrelated to the case, why did they ask for it?<<
Good question... They asked for all private airplane manifests, obviously, because they want to peruse them to see if there IS something pertinent to the case within them. If there is nothing in 998 out of 1000 airplane manifests that have anything to do with the case, then those 998 manifests are clearly "unrelated" to the case -- they were used to fish for something which might be related to it.
I asked my husband for an example of what I am trying to express. He said, "So, if some stranger comes up the road and dies in our front yard, is it right for people to come and look in our refrigerator to see if that stranger broke in and helped themselves to something in our fridge that poisoned them?" LOL Sorry, I couldn't resist -- that was so too dumb that it bore repeating just because it was worth a laugh. I said, "No hon, I don't think that works."
On the other hand... If the guy hung himself, and if we said, "Our laundry room was broken into today...the only thing touched was our dirty clothes basket." If they wanted to request the contents of our basket, I might say, "Okay, but the undies are confidential, OKAY?" Unless they could prove to me that something about our undies killed the stranger (like he used one of my underwire bras to hang himself), all undies but those pertinent to that which he used to hang himself would be requested to be kept confidential. Sorry -- this is a REALLY REALLY stupid example (maybe not entirely), I would rather have a legal case to quote from where an all round fishing expedition with no confidentiality was not allowed for good reason.
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_production"]Request for Production:[/ame]
>>A request for production is a legal request for documents, electronically stored information, or other tangible items. In civil procedure, during the discovery phase of litigation, a party to a lawsuit may request that another party provide any documents that it has that pertain to the subject matter of the lawsuit.<<
I see the "pertain to the subject matter." In the above "Request for Production" notes from the civil suit, most identify CC in them or something which would directly relate to him, but not all. The private airplane manifest is "broad" -- and certainly all private airplane manifests in the possession of JMM do not have something to do with this case. IF private airplane manifests which listed CC or MM or some other woman known to be hanging with CC, or included an alias of MM, perhaps this would be pertinent. Instead, there is the fishing expedition, and I just don't know if that is appropriate.
>>
Illinois Response to Request for Production
A response to a request for production is a response to a request for production propounded by the opposing party. For each item or category in the request, the response must either state that the inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, or state an objection and the reasons for the objection. An objection to part of a request must specify the part and permit inspection of the rest. A party responding to a request for production must do so within an amount of time usually determined by statute or statewide civil procedure rule. Most jurisdictions require that each request be separately answered in writing and under oath. Most jurisdictions also required that any objection specifically state the grounds for the objection. SmartRules Illinois simplifies the rules for complying with codes, rules of court, civil procedure and local court rules, in a single search. SmartRules covers pleadings, timing, format, motion practice, subpoenas, filing and service.<<
I would like Sheri's family to have every benefit of the doubt in proving CC guilty of a) directly causing the deaths (which I think he did) or b) causing the deaths due to his negligence, but I do not think it is responsible to ask for things which may not be pertinent without indicating that when those things are found, they will be respected as confidential. Just my opinion, for what it is worth...and maybe not much based on my stupid example
