MR. WEIDNER:· I am objecting to the
·3· ·relevance of this witness providing any testimony about
·4· ·this loan, these proceedings frankly, until there’s some
·5· ·foundation laid for her testimony to be here.
·6· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· All right.
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. :· She’s the servicer, so would
·8· ·that go to relevance —
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Objection to counsel making
10· ·the —
11· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Yeah.· I mean, I’m going to
12· ·sustain that objection.· There’s just a couple of things
13· ·you’ve got to do.· It is foundational.· So if you can
14· ·lay the foundation, you know, we can get there.· So
15· ·proceed.
Q.· And do they service the loan that we’re here on?
20· · · A.· Yes, sir.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Objection, foundation.· Your
22· ·Honor, if the witness is going to provide testimony,
23· ·we’ve got a hearsay statement, she needs some basis for
24· ·that statement.
25· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Okay.· Well, let me ask — yeah, ·I need something foundation-wise that links the
·2· ·Plaintiff to her company.· Do you understand where he’s
·3· ·coming from here?· You know, you’ve got to — you’re
·4· ·going to have to get some kind of an agency agreement,
·5· ·some kind of a servicing agreement.· You’re going to
·6· ·have to get something like that into the record for her
·7· ·to be able to testify on foundation grounds.
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. :· Well, I have that.· But, I
·9· ·mean, I can’t even ask her if she’s — I mean, we’re
10· ·here on a mortgage.· One question would be who owns it
11· ·and who services?· So, I’m surprised that I can’t ask
12· ·who is servicing it and —
13· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· You can get there.· But I might
14· ·suggest that whatever that document is that links the
15· ·Plaintiff to this particular company, why don’t you get
16· ·that admitted into evidence first.
17· ·BY MR.
18· · · Q.· I’m showing you a copy of a document.
19· · · A.· Yes, sir.· It’s our Limited Power of Attorney
20· ·from Association.
21· · · Q.· Okay.· And have you seen that before?
22· · · A.· Yes, sir.
23· · · Q.· And where in your records is that kept?
24· · · A.· This is kept in our system.· It’s ECN, which is
25· ·Electronic Content Management.· It’s scanned into it.
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·1· ·And then it’s linked to MSP, but it’s also kept in my
·2· ·knowledge link, which is a system that I go to for
·3· ·frequently-used documents.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Your Honor, I’m going to
·5· ·object to that testimony, to the extent that we’re
·6· ·testifying to matters that are outside of the Court.
·7· ·Just to get ahead of ourselves, I’m also going to object
·8· ·to a copy of a document executed by some other party;
·9· ·hearsay, foundation, authenticity, whether or not this
10· ·witness has the testimony.
11· · · · · To further support that objection, I’m going to
12· ·quote a couple cases that I use frequently in this
13· ·issue.· The best one is Dollar vs. Detto.· That’s
14· ·D-o-l-l-a-r, D-e-t-t-o.· It stands for the proposition
15· ·that if an agent comes to court purporting to act on
16· ·behalf of the principal, they must have the consent of
17· ·the principal, not of the putative agent
MR. WEIDNER:· Objection.· She’s reading from
·8· ·a copy of the document.· There’s signatures on there.
·9· ·Whether that person signed it or not is not something
10· ·within that person’s knowledge — this witness’s
11· ·knowledge.
12· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Sustained.· Let me ask
13· ·Plaintiff’s counsel something.· There’s a process for
14· ·turning a document into a self-authenticating document.
15· ·Has there been any effort to do that in this case, this
16· ·particular document?
17· · · · · · · ·MR. :· Well, in so far as it not being
18· ·an original?
19· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· No.· As far as it being
20· ·self-authenticating, so it can be essentially just
21· ·admitted into evidence without any foundation; just,
22· ·you know, that it’s self-authenticating.
23· · · · · · · ·MR. :· I mean, it’s been witnessed.
24· ·It’s been notarized.
25· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Yeah, that’s not — there’s a
statute that ties into the rules of evidence that allows
·2· ·documents like this that — you know, so you don’t have
·3· ·to bring a cadre of witnesses to your trial.· So that,
·4· ·you know, if you want to have one witness that’s your
·5· ·business record witness, that you can get these other
·6· ·documents in through.· And I forget the statute number
·7· ·that allows you to do it.
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· If I could help out?
·9· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Sure.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· That document is not, nor are
11· ·any of the other documents.
12· · · · · · · ·MR. :· I mean, you know, it has not
13· ·been — I mean, it’s just a document that’s kept in her
14· ·business records.· And as far as — I guess to answer
15· ·your question, I don’t know about self-authenticating.
16· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· All right.· Yeah, I don’t doubt
17· ·that it’s kept in the business records.· But the — you
18· ·know, for it to be admissible into evidence, a proper
19· ·foundation has to be laid by a witness that can lay the
20· ·foundation.· Or, the process needs to occur so that it
21· ·can be self-authenticating, so you don’t need that extra
22· ·witness at trial.· It just comes in as a
23· ·self-authenticated document.
24· · · · · · · ·You know, it’s just like by analogy the
25· ·promissory note, unless there’s a specific challenge to
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·1· ·the authenticity of the signatures on the promissory
·2· ·note in the responsive pleading, that’s a
·3· ·self-authenticating document.· Mr. Weidner looks like he
·4· ·disagrees with me.· But that’s the way I read it.· You
·5· ·know, that’s what the UCC says.
·6· · · · · · · ·MR. :· Well, this was set for a
·7· ·five-minute trial.
·8· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Right.
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. :· You know, we’ve been doing them
10· ·all day.· I mean, so if there are going to be all of
11· ·these evidentiary objections.· I had an opportunity to
12· ·give counsel my exhibits.· You know, we contacted
13· ·defense counsel prior to today’s trial.· My witness came
14· ·down.· You know, we have not heard any evidentiary
15· ·objections up to this time.· So, I mean, if we need to
16· ·continue this, and then we can seek some kind of, like,
17· ·motion in limine.· And we can go into additional case
18· ·law and arguments regarding the sufficiency of some of
19· ·these documents.
20· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Just so the record is clear,
21· ·I’ve had this issue as well, we’re at trial, he’s called
22· ·his witness, we’re here, it’s prejudicial to Defendant
23· ·to grant a continuance.· We’re ready to go.· So I’d
24· ·object to any continuance.
25· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· I think it’s within the
·1· ·discretion of the Court to grant a continuance.· I mean,
·2· ·generally, I mean, this has nothing to do with this
·3· ·particular case, this has to do with the foreclosure
·4· ·initiative in general.· The idea is, you know, to prod
·5· ·people along to get these cases finished one way or
·6· ·another.· I’m sure you heard me say that this morning.
·7· ·However, any case that I see has some life left in it,
·8· ·you know, we are not kicking down the road.
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. :· And, Your Honor, in this case,
10· ·the original note has been filed.
11· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Objection.
12· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· This is just very, very
13· ·different than a defaulted case.· I mean, this is a case
14· ·where, you know — and, you know, that’s why I asked at
15· ·the very beginning of this, anything stipulated to?
16· ·Nothing is stipulated to.· He doesn’t have to do that.
17· ·That means every single element that you need to prove,
18· ·you’ve got to get into evidence.· You know, it’s not an
19· ·easy case, but not an impossible case.· It may be
20· ·impossible today.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· I would object.· He could go
22· ·right ahead.
23· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Well, yeah, I mean, these are
24· ·all document cases.· So, just like a probate case or any
25· ·kind of a case like that, unless there’s a problem with
Page 20
·1· ·standing or a problem with a pre-condition being
·2· ·satisfied — you know, if there’s problems there, those
·3· ·are bad facts, no trial attorney can overcome those bad
·4· ·facts.· But if those elements are not there, and I
·5· ·suspect that in the majority of the cases those elements
·6· ·are probably not there, plaintiff should be able to win
·7· ·every single one of these cases if prepared.
·8· · · · · · · ·I just — I’m inclined to grant a
·9· ·continuance, if this keeps going the way it is, and set
10· ·it for an hour.· I mean, do you anticipate an hour?
11· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· And I would object and like to
12· ·let him try to make his case.· We’re here.· My witness
13· ·took time off work.· We’ve got a court reporter.· Maybe
14· ·he can make it with just a little bit here.
15· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Well, let me ask you, do you
16· ·want to try or do you want to regroup?
17· · · · · · · ·MR. :· Well, I mean, I don’t know if
18· ·the Court wants to take a look at my document, but —
19· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Well, again, I can look at it
20· ·all day long, but if it can’t be admitted into evidence,
21· ·it’s not going to work.
22· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Your Honor, I think the Court
23· ·should look at it.· And, quite frankly, are we going to
24· ·play even-stevens, right?· We see these cases all day
25· ·long.· And I like what the Court said, the Plaintiff
·1· ·should be able to win these all day long.· And they
·2· ·should.
·3· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· They should.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· And we see these all day long
·5· ·with defendants.· Well, here I am standing here.· The
·6· ·Court’s been called.· Even-stevens.
·7· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Yeah, I mean, there is a little
·8· ·bit of difference in that the Court called this trial as
·9· ·opposed to Plaintiff.· I mean, yeah, I think it’s hugely
10· ·different when the Plaintiff says, hey, we’ve called it
11· ·for trial, we’re ready for trial, we’re going.· This is
12· ·one where the Court said that.
13· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· This is the issue all across
14· ·the state where Courts call them.· And this is where
15· ·we’ve both got to be prepared.· And if the Court wants
16· ·discipline in here.· We’re here.· I spent all weekend,
17· ·ready to rock-n-roll.
18· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Well, you’re going to still get
19· ·your chance to defend this.
20· · · · · · · ·So, again, I’m going to leave it up to you.
21· ·I’m telling you that if you want a continuance, I’ll
22· ·give you a continuance to — it’s not going to be very
23· ·long.· When would the next trial date be available?· I
24· ·want Mr. Hudson to hear this.· He was supposed to be
25· ·here today anyway.
·1· · · · · · · ·CASE MANAGER:· I have the — did you say you
·2· ·wanted an hour?
·3· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Yeah, let’s talk about that.
·4· ·How long do you — at the rate we’re going —
·5· · · · · · · ·MR. :· I would almost say two hours.
·6· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· I think he’s got the documents
·7· ·he needs.· He says they filed the original note and, you
·8· ·know, we’re here.· And there’s the issue of prejudice.
·9· ·We’re here.
10· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· I don’t see any prejudice.
11· · · · · · · ·MR. :· If another trial date is
12· ·acceptable, I would take that.
13· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Okay.· Again, I understand it’s
14· ·going to be over your objection, Mr. Weidner, but are
15· ·you otherwise available on this date that the case
16· ·manager is giving?
17· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· The unfairness — and I want
18· ·the record to be clear about this, Your Honor.
19· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Yeah, you can put it on the
20· ·record.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· Across the state, we are
22· ·hauled in.· When I say “we”, defendants.· I’m sure
23· ·there’s been a trail of defendants all day long.· And
24· ·when we’re here ready to go, we demand justice, just as
25· ·if the plaintiff were here.· How many times have you had
·1· ·defendants come in and say, Your Honor, we need time or
·2· ·whatever, and the Court says, no, the legislature says
·3· ·we go forward?
·4· · · · · · · ·So, here we are ready to go.· And the fact
·5· ·of the matter is that continuing only grants Plaintiff
·6· ·assistance.· And that’s the fundamental unfairness that
·7· ·exists.
·8· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· Well, I’ve heard, but I’m going
·9· ·to grant the continuance.
·THE COURT:· All right.· So we’re going to go
·6· ·ahead and mark your exhibits today.· And so write that
·7· ·into the Order.· And when you’re done with that, just
·8· ·approach the clerk, and just as best you can put
·9· ·them — give her the order that you think you’re going
10· ·to introduce them and she’ll just number them
11· ·sequentially.
12· · · · · · · ·MR. :· Plaintiff and Defendant’s
13· ·exhibits to be marked as of today.
14· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· As of today.
15· · · · · · · ·Now witnesses, anyone that’s on their
16· ·witness list, they can bring back obviously, so…
17· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· And I do want over objection
18· ·of defense counsel.· So, trial continued
19· ·20, 2:00 p.m. —
20· · · · · · · ·THE COURT:· You can write that in.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. WEIDNER:· — over objection of defense
22· ·counsel.
