by Lynne Huntting
Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven has started his third week as defendant in a class action jury trial at Oakland District Court, and could be set to testify as early as today [Wednesday].
Kalkhoven and three other defendants are accused of violations against the Securities and Exchange Commission based on insider trading charges. He has been in court every day, as have his fellow defendants Charles Abbe, Robert Muller and Josef Strauss. There was no court session on Monday due to the Veteran's Day holiday, but matters progressed on Tuesday and it is expected that Kalkhoven and Abbe could be called to testify today.
Witnesses occasionally are called out of order, in order to accommodate their schedule or those of the court and legal teams, and Kalkhoven's appearance on the stand is expected to precede the return of plaintiff witness Kerry Dehority, who will reappear Thursday to finish his testimony. The defence will then call two more witnesses, before the plaintiffs call back Dr Scott Hakala as a rebuttal damages expert on Friday.
Depending on how the testimony goes the next three days, the jury could receive its instructions from Judge Claudia Wilkins on Friday. The following Monday, the week of the traditional American Thanksgiving holiday, the plaintiffs hope to present their closing arguments, followed by the defendants' summation. It has been the judge's plan to complete all testimony, instructions and summations early in Thanksgiving week so that everyone can have time off to celebrate.
Kalkhoven has his own legal team from the San Francisco firm of Heller Ehrman LLP, while the other three defendants are represented by Morrison & Forrester LLP. Kalkhoven's attorneys called two witnesses on Tuesday, both of whom were examined and cross-examined, while the plaintiffs started testimony from a witness.
