ALBANY – Although "troubling," the practice of paying fact witnesses substantially more than nominal fees should not disqualify their testimony as long as trial judges properly charge juries about potential bias, the state Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.
The 5-0 court upheld a jury verdict in favor of the defendants in a personal injury case in which a woman sued Cablevision Systems Corporation and subcontractor Communications Specialists Inc. (CSI) for leg injuries she suffered when she allegedly fell into holes dug for high-speed fiber-optic cable in Peekskill, Westchester County.
