A Trial Where Only Prosecution Evidence And Specialists Are Allowed Is No Trial At All
Following the disqualification yesterday of specialist John Romanelli, Judge Danilkin has just disqualified yet another specialist called by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to give expert testimony on the activities of integrated oil companies.
Disqualifying accounting and financial expert Laura Russell Hardin's testimony, Judge Danilkin said she had not been engaged by the court and, since the court cannot make an evaluation of her objectivity, her "professional competence" is in doubt.
Hardin is just the latest in a line of disallowed specialists called by the defence to try and explain the baseless nature of the charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Only yesterday, Judge Danilkin disallowed the testimony of John Romanelli, an independent banking expert who was forced to defend himself and his experience from attacks by the prosecution.
Notably, in June this year, Judge Danilkin disqualified the testimony of US expert Kevin Dages. In his judgement, Judge Danilkin determined that because Dages "does not have knowledge of Russian corporate law, knows the Russian accounting system superficially and is a certified public accountant in the USA" the court doubts his professional competence and ruled out his testimony.
Hardin however, is well versed in the Russian accounting system and corporate law, and has fourteen years experience in providing litigation support, business valuation, and forensic accounting services on a variety of different engagements. Speaking to the court about her credentials, Hardin explained that she had significant amount of work with Russian companies. Her first employer was Aeroflot. She also worked at PwC Moscow, where most of the clients were Russian and CIS entities, including airlines, general manufacturers, and aircrafts designing bureaus. In addition, Hardin has worked for the Russian Federation in international arbitrations.
A trial in which prosecution evidence alone is allowed is no trial at all.