Chapter 67 Section 17

Jane spoke for 15 minutes, and then James explained the compensation plan: US$25 million was used to set up a leukemia research fund, with a down payment of US$25 million, and each of the eight plaintiff families paid US$1.5 million per year for a total of 30 years. While William Cheeseman and his colleagues were constantly taking notes, only Gero was constantly playing with a fine fountain pen that the hotel provided for each attendee. William added up all the numbers and it came to $410 million.He asked Jameson: "This is the total of 30 years. According to the current interest rate, how much should the principal be?"

"I'd better not say. Your accountant will tell you." In fact, James had calculated: $1.75 million. Combined 1985 revenues for W. R. Glass and the Beeches Group were about $65,000. Jero picked up another donut, wrapped it in a napkin, and put it carefully in his pocket. The Williams were still discussing and asking questions, and the Janes were still answering patiently.Jie Luo suddenly said: "May I..." When all eyes turned, Jie Luo shook the pen in his hand, "Take this pen away?" Everyone was stunned. Jero slipped the pen into his pocket. "Good pen," he said, "thank you." Putting on his coat, he went straight to the door.

William and his colleagues also got up to pack their things and followed them out. Kevin Conway looked at his watch. The entire meeting took only 37 minutes.The food that the defendant touched was a mint and a donut, and no one even took a sip of coffee. Jane shrugged and said, "There are still two weeks to choose the jury." Walking out of the doors of the Four Seasons, Kevin said to Bill Connolly, "I think I heard Jello say 'Fuck!' Did you hear that?" "No." Bill thought for a while, "Maybe I said it, but..." They argued all the way. Deliberations on the selection of the jury are still proceeding as scheduled.According to Jane Hilleman, it is best to be all middle-aged women, each of whom has a half-grown child, just like Anne Anderson.Jero Fischer didn't want juries to hear the stories of children with leukemia, especially mothers like Anne.But after six days of screening, the results were not satisfactory.The first person to enter the jury was an old man over sixty years old, and the last one was a girl in her twenties.Of course, not all of the 12 jurors were ideal candidates for the defense.What they want are bachelors who work for big corporations, kind of workaholics like Jann.

Judge Walter Skinner gave the lawyers for both sides two weeks to come up with an agenda for the trial.Professors Jane and Charles Nason suggested that witnesses be called in chronological order of events.Let the plaintiffs tell the story of their children from being diagnosed with leukemia to dying of leukemia. The last family member of the patient to appear in court should be Anne Anderson, because she can serve as a link between the past and the future.In addition to Jimmy's story, Anne also tells about the list of patients and data she collected and recorded, as well as her doubts about tap water and so on.After that, evidence that W·R·Glass Company and subsidiaries of the Beeches Group polluted local water sources can be submitted to the court.Then, several medical experts appeared in court to demonstrate the connection between the pollutants in the two wells and leukemia and other diseases.

William Cheeseman, who represented W. R. Glass, wanted to start the court debate on whether TCE caused leukemia. He believed that this was the plaintiff's weakest link. On the other hand, Jero Fischer, representing the Beeches Group, advocated that it is first necessary to find out whether the two factories really polluted the G and H wells. J. J. Riller's Tannery is not the same as W. R. Glass's Food Machinery Factory, which is on the east bank of the Apojona River with Two Wells, but the Tannery is on the other side of the river.If the plaintiff could not prove that the waste liquid discharged from the plant actually reached the two wells on the other side of the river, the trial of the Beeches Group would not have to proceed any further.

The plan was handed over to the judge, who spent another week comparing and weighing, and finally worked out an agenda that was similar to Jero's plan.Walter Skinner divided the trial into two phases, titled "Water Supply" and "Medical Argument".The judge explained that, given that the Warburn case would be a protracted trial, he would schedule an adjournment between the two sessions, when both parties could relax and move on to the next phase of preparation. Meanwhile, Jero Fischer's deputy, Neil Jacobs, invited Jane to a bar and asked him to set a separate price for the Beeches Group.

"Eighteen million dollars," Jane told Neil on the phone the next day. "Thank you." Neil said, "I'll call you back after I ask the old man for instructions." However, Neil never returned the calls. Jan Hilleman stood in the center of the courtroom, facing 12 jurors.He was wearing a charcoal-gray dark floral-striped suit and a red Hermes tie that day.In fact, his eyes were not directed towards the jury box, but on the floor under his feet.In the auditorium on his right, he knew that the first few rows had already been surrounded by the media.In the back seats, apart from all the staff of the firm including the front desk lady and their wives and husbands, there were Jane's mother, his three girlfriends before and after, and Pastor Bruce Younger from Warburn And other local residents, as well as Uncle Bitt of the Bank of Boston, and of course the heads of the Beechose Group and W. R. Glass Company who came from Chicago and New York on a special trip.Even one of Jero Fischer's daughters was there because it was the "biggest case" of her father's career.

The only ones absent are the plaintiffs in this case.Jane En once expressed the hope that the family members of the patients would avoid it.What Jane meant was that the whole trial could go on for weeks or even months, and if these high-profile future witnesses in the gallery appear lethargic, bored, or laugh when they shouldn't be, they shouldn't be angry angry at times, or just coming and going for whatever reason... "Think about it," said Jane, "what impression would that be on a jury?" You know, the backs of reporters' heads They all have eyes.