Day 012 - 18 Jul 94 - Page 50
1
MR. RAMPTON: What one could not tell from looking at the
2 letter is who actually drafted the text, could one?
A. No.
3
MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, it does not tell you who did the
4 drafting.
A. It does not.
5
MR. RAMPTON: As his Lordship has just observed, or as you
6 have, Mr. Gardner, and as we saw before lunch, had the
handling of this matter for the Attorney General of Texas?
7 A. That is correct.
8 Q. If I make a statement which is correct please say so only
because it has to be recorded, that is all, on the
9 recording machine. Can you help me about Mr. Gardner? It
may be, my Lord, in view of what Mr. Morris said this
10 morning that Mr. Gardner is not going to be giving
evidence in this court.
11
MR. JUSTICE BELL: He is listed under Civil Evidence Act
12 notices at the moment.
13 MR. RAMPTON: Whether he will materialise or not one does not
know, but on the assumption he will not, Mr. Horwitz, how
14 much experience have you had during your time at
McDonald's of dealing with or, shall I say, lawyers in
15 government office?
A. I have had extensive experience both during the time
16 I was with McDonald's and prior to that time.
17 Q. How much experience did you have of Mr. Gardner during the
course of these two connected but separate disputes, over
18 the booklet and then the advertising campaign?
A. I was the point person for McDonald's on these matters
19 and dealt with him on practically every occasion.
20 Q. On the telephone?
A. On the telephone and I believe on one occasion in
21 person.
22 Q. In person?
A. Yes.
23
Q. If we look at this letter on page 131, we see expressions
24 like "the public" or "the customer should not be fooled
into eating there; the new campaign appears to be intended
25 to pull the wool over the public's eyes". We in England
might say, well, that is unusual sort of language for an
26 Attorney General to use. Is it unusual for an American
state Attorney General to use?
27 A. I think the answer to that is, yes. In my experience,
my opinion of Mr. Gardner is that he lacks the objectivity
28 and impartiality that you would normally find in most
professional law offices.
29
Q. On what do you base that statement?
30 A. I base that on the basis that we have found it
difficult, if not impossible, on many occasions to obtain
