Despite the news that Elon Musk again submitted an offer to acquire a social media platform Twitter Inc. TWTRa lawsuit between Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO and the acquisition target is still relevant.
What happened: Judge Kathaleen McCormick sent a notice to the attorney in the legal case involving Musk and Twitter that the scheduled Oct. 17 date would begin the highly anticipated trial.
“The parties have not filed a stipulation to stay this action, and neither party has requested a stay. So I continue to push towards our trial which is scheduled to begin on October 17, 2022,” McCormick said.
The announcement comes after it was revealed that Musk offered to buy Twitter again for $54.20 a share on Tuesday.
Related Link: Twitter is suing Elon Musk: How Chuck Norris, memes, poop emoticons and texts play a role in a major court case
Why it matters: McCormick takes notes on text messages that were recently revealed by Musk discussing the Twitter acquisition.
The judge also mentions messages sent via Signal.
“With respect to Signal, plaintiff submits that Musk sent or received Signal messages during the relevant period and that their deletion or non-production amounts to sanctionable spoliation,” McCormick said.
The plaintiff (Twitter) also claimed that there were texts missing from the defendant’s documents.
“The defendants have conceded, but say that these incomplete records were preliminary and were produced ‘in the interest of time’.”
The judge said this was believable given the two-day time frame proposed by the judge. The plaintiff drew attention to several specific individuals not listed in the text log, including Morgan Stanley bankers and Musk’s attorney. Alex Spiro.
“For the avoidance of doubt, defendants are required to produce or record one of these messages which respond to plaintiff’s requests.”
No texts were produced between May 24 and May 30 or between June 1 and June 7, which Twitter said shows gaps in the text log and likely missed texts discussing the acquisition.
“These periods were material to the dispute between the parties, and I share the plaintiff’s concern that Musk did not produce any responsive text messages from these periods,” McCormick added.
Musk is ordered to produce non-SMS instant messages and iMessages.
“With respect to Signal, Plaintiff argues that Defendants’ failure to produce Signal messages suggests that Musk deleted relevant messages that he was obligated to keep.”
Although the plaintiffs concluded that Signal was used to discuss potential financing of the deal, the defendants told the attorney that they “did not recall sending or receiving any other messages relating to the merge via Signal”.
Musk said he did not intentionally delete any emails, texts or other communications related to the acquisition.
The defendants told the judge they were investigating the possibility of recovering Signal messages that were automatically deleted.
“If the defendants deleted documents after being required to retain them, a remedy is appropriate, but the appropriate remedy is unclear to me at this stage,” McCormick said.
The judge’s latest document puts full emphasis on the October 17 court date.
Musk’s acquisition letter to Twitter on Tuesday said he would pay the originally announced $54.20 per share if Twitter agreed “to adjourn the trial and any other related legal proceedings pending such closing or further court order. “.
Twitter has not announced whether it accepts the new proposal at the time of writing.
TWTR Price Action: Twitter shares are down 1% at $51.63 on Wednesday.
Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Oberhaus on Flickr
