Day 265 - 19 Jun 96 - Page 77


     
     1        report upon which -----
     2
     3   MS. STEEL:   Yes, but by calling this in support of my case, I
     4        do not want it to be thought that I am agreeing with all
     5        the notes and I do not know what the situation is with
     6        that.
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You are only referring to one part of it.
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:  OK.  As long as that is the case.
    11
    12   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, there are problems about that.   There is
    13        a lot of law in it.  It is not, I would respectfully
    14        submit, the time to have the argument about that now.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You see, if there is any doubt I do not want
    17        the argument about it now.  I want Mr. Bishop to come back
    18        so it can be put to him.
    19
    20   MR. RAMPTON:  I believe the law to be this:  If he comes back,
    21        and those notes are used in cross-examination of him, the
    22        Defendants open the flood gates.  It is as simple as that.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  On reflection, I think the position is this.
    25        We can have argument about the status of the reports and
    26        the extent to which they -- I will not say "their evidence"
    27         -- they are of any probative value, but what you would
    28        want to put to Mr. Bishop, at very best, is asking him to
    29        draw a conclusion which it is for me to draw, not for him,
    30        because he cannot speak as to how those other notes -- or I
    31        assume he cannot -- came to be made.
    32
    33   MS. STEEL:  No, I realise that.  The problem is that if these
    34        notes belong to people who have not been called as
    35        witnesses -- well, none of them have been confirmed.  So,
    36        it seems like, as it presently stands, they are not
    37        evidence of anything.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Maybe, but let me stop you there.  Whatever
    40        the answer to that is, it has nothing to do with the recall
    41        of Mr. Bishop.  They do not become stronger or weaker by
    42        you putting a bit of deductive reasoning to Mr. Bishop.
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:  But if I had put to Mr. Bishop, given that he has
    45        accepted that he might have got it wrong, but then said
    46        "But my note says this; I presume it would be right", if I
    47        had put this in front of him he might have said, "Well,
    48        actually, yes, I guess I may very well be wrong".  I mean,
    49        I do not know .....
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is Ms. Steel not entitled to do that? 
    52 
    53   MR. RAMPTON:  She is entitled to do it.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   It is relevant, surely, so long as you may
    56        ask me to rely upon the evidence Mr. Bishop gave as some
    57        evidence that Ms. Steel was having a hand in preparing a
    58        number of antiMcDonald's leaflets, and that is what his
    59        note refers to.
    60

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