09-3625 Relational, LLC, v. Hodges

Civil Procedure
Default judgment; credibility

A court is not required to credit the only testimony offered.

“Hodges appears to presuppose that the district court could compel Johns to appear. This is simply not the case; foreign nationals are beyond the court’s subpoena power. See 28 U.S.C. § 1783; United States v. Drogoul, 1 F.3d 1546, 1553 (11th Cir. 1993). Thus, the court could not ‘order’ Johns to do anything. Second, the absence of cross-examination does not render Johns’s affidavit unworthy of credence. Hodges does not-and cannot-maintain that he has a right of confrontation in the circumstances of this case. Van Harken v. City of Chicago, 103 F.3d 1346, 1352 (7th Cir. 1997) (no absolute right of confrontation in civil cases, but confrontation is sometimes required to ensure due process). It is true that Hodges was the only principal witness to testify in person, but that does not mean the district judge was required to give his testimony more weight. Credibility is earned, and here, Hodges simply failed to persuade the court that he was telling the truth.”

Affirmed.

09-3625 Relational, LLC, v. Hodges

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Coar, J., Sykes, J.

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