Judge cancels depositions in Davis v. Airport Case – December 2, 2011

Turkia Mullin was scheduled to provide her testimony this upcoming Monday in Mr. Davis’s lawsuit accusing the Airport Authority of violating the Open Meetings Act when it interviewed several candidates for the Airport CEO position, which Ms. Mullin ultimately obtained after a 7-0 vote of the Airport Board.

A judge has the power and responsibility to limit the questions that may be asked of any witness to make sure that the parties stick to the actual factual issues involved in a case. Judge Colombo previously ruled that Mr. Davis’s attorneys were only allowed to ask her questions about what she personally experienced as one of the candidates in the interview process. Turkia was prepared on Monday to discuss and explain everything she knew about the Airport’s interviews of her and others for the CEO position.

This morning, Judge Colombo ruled even further- he quashed the subpoena and ruled that Davis’s attorney would not be allowed to ask her or anyone else any questions at all. Thus, Turkia will not be permitted to testify in the Davis case on Monday or at any other time.

The basis for Judge Colombo’s ruling was that Ms. Mullin and others should only be required to testify about disputed facts concerning the interview process. Here, there are no facts in dispute, so Ms. Mullin’s testimony about her limited role as one of the candidates in the interview process would not assist the judge in deciding the ultimate legal question as to whether the process violated the Open Meetings Act. That hearing is scheduled to occur on December 16, 2011 in his courtroom.

Of course, Turkia will testify about everything she knows at the appropriate time in other cases.