Day 083 - 06 Feb 95 - Page 48


     
     1        this morning seemed which seemed to suggest that Mr. Walker
     2        was allowed to buy out McKeys from McDonald's so as to
     3        avoid an obligation for discovery in this action.  My Lord,
     4        the fact is that the obligation of discovery in relation to
     5        Costa Rica and Guatemala was recognised right from the time
     6        when the pleading was finalised in 1991.  Everything that
     7        was in McDonald's possession, custody or power was
     8        disclosed.  When Mr. Hill went to Costa Rica the only
     9        documents that he found in McDonald's file in Costa Rica
    10        were those which have already been disclosed.  If it would
    11        help the Defendants to stop making accusations of bad faith
    12        against McDonald's without any foundation whatsoever, I am
    13        sure that Mr. Hill will swear an affidavit to that effect.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I suggest is you wait and see what
    16        decision I reach in relation to what "power" means.  What
    17        is the next topic?
    18
    19   MR. MORRIS:  I am conscious that we want to sort out the food
    20        poisoning ones as soon as possible, so I will be very brief
    21        on the destruction of the environment.  Guatemala,
    22        Mr. Gomez Gonzalez said he saw a map similar to the Brazil
    23        one relating to Guatemala.  I have not got the reference on
    24        that in Mr. Gomez Gonzalez's transcript.  That is all
    25        I would say on that.  If I am asked to find the reference
    26        I will try to find it.
    27
    28        The last one is about USA supply sources.  Again, I am not
    29        100 per cent prepared on this.  This was dealt with in
    30        Mr. Cesca's second affidavit.  We asked for a list of
    31        suppliers from 1979, 1983 and 1984 USA, or nearest year,
    32        and Mr. Cesca says he is advised that the Defendants are
    33        not entitled to this information.  I recognise that you
    34        made a decision that we were not entitled to that
    35        information, my recollection is.
    36
    37   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I said was that you were entitled to the
    38        information wherever the Plaintiffs pointed to a particular
    39        supplier, albeit unnamed, this was the effect of my ruling,
    40        and say that this happens there.  I suggested that you look
    41        at the Plaintiffs' witness statements to see where that
    42        might happen.  In fact, I had not recalled at the time that
    43        Dr. Gregory had mentioned Midland Meat Packers and another
    44        abattoir which he did not name, but you now know that was
    45        Jarret in fact.  That was an example of one which had to be
    46        named because the Plaintiffs' witnesses had relied on it.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  Are we talking about the same thing?  Are you
    49        talking about US suppliers regarding beef?
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I assume so. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  If we can ask if it can be thought about
    54        again because -----
    55
    56   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, again I will try to save time because we
    57        want to start with Mr. Atherton tomorrow.  In file yellow
    58        15 there is, as far as I am aware, a complete list of all
    59        McDonald's US suppliers for the year 1989.  It is only
    60        necessary to look at the index.

Prev Next Index