Thank you for all you do on your blog and, of course, your coverage of the Prop 8 Trial.

I am not a lawyer, (neither is my husband) but I just finished reading all 12 days of the official court transcript (2,592 pages!) and I have a question about the “expert” testimony of Miller and Blankenhorn that I wondered if you could help me understand. (Sorry to leave it as a comment, but my email bounced back at me.)

During Voir Dir and cross examination the Plaintiff Lawyers asked questions about which materials the experts had read before their depositions and after their depositions. They also asked several questions about which materials were provided by their (defendant) lawyers. (The implication seemed to be that the Prop 8 “experts” had not developed their own theories through independent research. It seemed that they had been “fed” their opinions by their own lawyers – if I understand correctly.) Some of the daily trial feeds (trial tracker & Firedoglake) suggested that something about this constitutes a legal “no – no.” It sure seems like a no – no.

Aside from being totally embarrassing, and undermining what little credibility they have, can you help me understand what the nature of that “no – no” is? Does what I mentioned above pretty much cover it?

I know you must be very busy, so I appreciate any light you might shine on this.

Thanks for your time and your great writing,

Jason Zenobia
Portland, OR