Application Corner: Qualifications are questioned

Previous articles described the sewage collection systems for two adjacent sewage districts where the flow measurements used to allocate expenses and bill one of the sewage districts flowmeters was questioned in court.

The first sewage district went to court to contest invoices from the second sewage district as not being accurate. Based upon a previous court proceeding, the performance of four flowmeters measuring sewage from the first district and the total plant flowmeter were considered by the court to be accurate and could not be discussed or questioned.

Remember that this was my first time testifying in court. However, I was not prepared for the reality presented to me — even after having seen my share of courtroom scenes in films over the years where witnesses swore to tell the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” and justice prevailed in the end. In this case, it seemed that my testimony would be futile given the legal restrictions placed on my testimony — even though there were valid technical points to be made.

An omen of what was to come occurred as I approached the witness stand. The judge said something to the effect that you could pay an expert to say anything. The judge’s words were duly reported by the court reporter before we proceeded to the next part of the case where the second district tried to exclude my testimony on the grounds that I was not qualified to testify. This is a normal procedure that is unpleasant at best and generally not shown in films, so I was somewhat taken aback. The challenge failed, so I could proceed to testify.

More next issue about my testimony.