The View from Our Hotel Room Window
One of the problems I discussed dealt with cross-examination and when to start planning to cross-examine a witness. The cross I used as my example came from Cross-ExaminationHandbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques, and dealt with the cross-examination of an expert witness. In the stereotypical cross-examination the lawyer first begins planning as the witness testifies on direct examination. The examiner sits poised at counsel table jotting down notes as the witness testifies, immediately discerns the Achilles heel of the direct examination, writes out a few well-phrased questions, and eviscerates the witness when the time comes to cross-question. This sort of cross occurs most frequently in fictional trials. Cross-examination in the real word requires preparation. We began to prepare the example cross-examination before we even knew the identity of the expert. In fact, we began preparing the cross before we drafted the indictment.
We believed that the victim died as the result of an attack with a Buck General hunting knife, but we anticipated difficulty in proving that specific cause of death. We therefore charged in the indictment that the victim was killed “in some manner and by some means to the grand jury unknown.” We later had reason to be glad we had pled the case so carefully. Although our Medical Examiner testified that the victim died as the result of “homicidal violence to the neck area, type undetermined, accompanied by copious bleeding,” the defense found an equally qualified Medical Examiner to testify that the body was so badly decomposed it was impossible to determine the cause of the victim’s death. As a result of our careful planning, and through a well-crafted cross-examination, we were able to get the defense Medical Examiner to say that he agreed with our Medical Examiner that the victim died as the result of a homicide. The cross-examination on cause of death ended with the following exchange:
Q: … Dr. Lipkovic determined … the cause of death was homicidal violence, type undetermined … Do you have any disagreement with the cause of death?
A: Just plain homicidal violence?
Q: Yes, sir.
A: And no other specifics than that?
Q:Yes, sir?
A: As a specific diagnosis, I would not use that terminology. Having feelings what he is saying, I would probably not disagree with it, no sir. [A double negative is a sign of an expert on the defensive].
Q: You would not disagree with that diagnosis?
A: Well, I would disagree with it as a … diagnosis …, but not as an opinion based on his experience. [From actual trial transcript].
The Handbook describes how we were able to get this admission on pages 38-40. Although I failed to mention in my talk that the cross was discussed in the Handbook, I was pleased to hear several prosecutors praise the Handbook. The book was a labor of love, and I am gratified that practitioners find it useful for planning and conducting cross-examinations.
Murder is a cruel crime.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrible
ReplyDeleteWatch out for Hillary Applegate. She works with her mother, Valerie Houghton, to hack, harass, threaten, and stalk litigants in Family Court. Ms. Applegate is pretending to operate a tech company with the name Digital HQ. She does not seem to be engaged in any legitimate business. The shell company likely only exists to process payments.
ReplyDeleteHillary Applegate has access to all of her mother’s connections in Santa Clara County. She is making a ton of money working with all the divorce lawyers. Once she gets into your electronic devices, Ms. Applegate exerts almost complete control over her victim’s life. You cannot exist without electronic communication in this day and age. The Houghton’s exploit this.
Once Ms. Applegate clones your phone, she will be reading/writing/deleting emails and text messages. She will also have access to your social contacts, browsing history, GPS locations, and all of your passwords.
This is a modern-day sociopath that gets off on “surreptitious pranks” and ruining other people’s lives. My own kids are being raped because of this animal. Ms. Applegate demands that I let her continue to make money from the sexual abuse and stop trying to protect them. She, herself, is a mother, so I don’t understand how she can be so cold blooded about this.
Is Ms. Applegate a sick pedophile? Does she get sexual enjoyment from doing this?
Furthermore, Ms. Applegate employs a gang of thugs to physically stalk and assault me. I cannot go anywhere without these degenerates following me.
Valerie Houghton says that she “lost a lot of business” because I complained. Since Ms. Applegate had her “aha” moment to work with other lawyers, you will likely never know that she is hacking you.
The Digital HQ con is nothing new. Hillary Applegate and her mother previously used to embezzle money using a different company, Metaview. The Houghton’s are a family of con artists. Ms. Applegate used the ill-gotten money to treat her friends to fancy meals, pay for her college education and get a brand-new Porsche. Her mother was eventually indicted, but he charges soon went away. This is because the Houghton’s are connected to the District Attorney. They operate without fear. That’s why they are so violent and feel entitled to take your health.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6981163-HoughtonIndictment-Docket/
There is much more information here:
https://forum.legaljunkies.com/forum/attorneys-courts-litigation/civil-litigation/69836-austin-family-court-corruption/page16
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/05/02/family-court-injustice/
I wish that someone would cover Valerie Houghton and Hillary Applegate. These are the most sadistic and violent legal professionals that you will ever meet. They pretend to be everything that they are not.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, Ms. Applegate pretends to be a tech executive that specializes in social media and marketing. She doesn’t seem to do anything legitimate. How could she? Ms. Houghton raised her.
Hillary has a shell company named Digital HQ. It is utilized to process payments from other attorneys seeking her services, pay her contractors, and as a conduit to declare an income. I have already filed a complaint with the IRS regarding this. An audit would likely quickly prove that Ms. Applegate is laundering money.
https://forum.legaljunkies.com/forum/attorneys-courts-litigation/civil-litigation/69836-austin-family-court-corruption/page16
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/05/02/family-court-injustice/
Unless her mother has been retained, you will likely never even realize that it is Ms. Applegate who is hacking you. Although is one of the biggest players in Santa Clara County, how could you possibly know that she is the one inside your phone?
It all start by accessing your phone through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals. Then Ms. Applegate quickly uses “smishing” to clone your phone. She has no boundaries or sense of morality. Anything goes. Once she has full control over your phone, she will systematically ruin your life.
Even the children can be affected. Ms. Applegate is involved in sex trafficking my own children. It came as a shock to find out that Applegate is also a parent. How could she be this callous and cruel towards other people’s children? How can she have empathy for her own child when she sex traffics other children?
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If you want to understand Valerie Houghton and Hillary Applegate, I recommend watching the new series “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” on Peacock.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt31314754/
It shows that Mr. Gacy putting people at ease with his clown disguise, political affiliations, and construction business. He made himself look like a trusted member of the community. In reality, Gacy was terrorizing teenage boys with violence and rape. Most of the characters described him as a monster – and for good reason. This kind of behavior is heinous.
Ms. Houghton and Ms. Applegate also uses disguises to put others at ease. Forget for a moment that Digital HQ is a fake business. If Ms. Houghton didn’t advertise that she is a therapist and lawyer, she would have been imprisoned a long time ago. People like her can’t thrive without a disguise.
You can also see in the new Gacy series that he disguises himself through lies. These types of people are compulsive liars. If they were ever genuine, you would never go near them. I fired Ms. Houghton after a couple of months. I felt like something was off. But by then, it was already too late. She and her Hillary Applegate already knew that my kids were being molested and had already embedded themselves into my life. It is in this regard that makes the Houghton’s much more dangerous than Gacy ever was.
Gacy just stuck to himself. The Houghton’s hack entire families. They blackmail, extort, and use the legal system to their advantage. When evidence of Gacy’s crimes was identified, he was immediately arrested. In Houghton’s case, the victims get arrested and labeled as mentally unfit. And despite the horrific assaults and repeated sex trafficking, Ms. Houghton hasn’t spent a minute in jail for her crimes.
Hillary Applegate is sick like Ted Bundy. Both of these people are sexually violent. They just achieve their perversions in different ways. Ms. Applegate uses a gang of violent thugs and phone hacking to sex traffic children as young as two in court proceedings.
ReplyDeleteEven Bundy didn’t sink that low. He never harmed any children.
Only the Houghton’s treat other people’s children as their sex slaves. They feed off of the control.
Hillary Applegate, herself, now claims to be a mother. How can you raise a child while behaving in such an immoral fashion? How does she explain to her child that the food she that she eats comes from the sexual abuse of another child?
If you live in Santa Clara County and are involved in a court case, chances are that Hillary Applegate is hacking you. She has all of her mother’s cast legal connections to market her services to. Her business has grown so large that now she needs a shell company to launder the money. She even pays for articles to be published online to make her business look legitimate.
ReplyDeleteI have filed a complaint with the IRS. Hopefully, they will conduct an audit to uncover her illegal activities.
One thing that you can do is pay attention to the people following you. Ms. Applegate employs a group of young Latino men. They all wear red articles of clothing and are likely part of a gang. This makes total sense to me. Her thugs probably work on the cheap and will stay quiet if caught.
Her “contractors” also are capable of doing pretty much anything on her behalf. They will break into home and car. They will take your spare keys, tamper with your food source, and install cameras.
Even people in San Mateo County are not spared. Check out Malinsky v Malinsky. If Applegate’s mother was involved, chances are that the camera in the car was installed by Ms. Applegate’s gang. She must think that living in Austin, Texas gives her some sort of alibi. The truth is that Hillary Applegate can get you from anywhere.
Read this published opinion regarding the Malinsky case:
https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/A167187.PDF
I’ve moved to Nevada just to get away from her and her mother. It didn’t work.
https://thefamilycourtcircus.com/2025/05/02/family-court-injustice/
If you live in San Jose, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Morgan Hill, Campbell or Gilroy take extra precautions to guard your electronic devices.