Miller v. Thorne (1954) - Depositions regarding the Veracity Vines

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CASE NO: 54-CV-812 COURT: District Court of Oakhaven, State of Ohio DATE: October 12, 1954 MATTER: Miller v. Thorne DEPOSITION OF ELIZABETH MILLER (PLAINTIFF) Q: Mrs. Miller, please describe the events of the evening of August 14, 1954. A: Mr. Thorne invited us to his garden for an early autumn tasting. He served a platter of small, deep purple grapes. I believe he called them a specialty variety. Q: At what time did you consume the fruit? A: Approximately 7:15 PM. I had three grapes. My husband, Arthur, had several. Q: Did you notice any immediate physical reaction? A: A slight tingling in the roof of my mouth. A cooling sensation in the throat. Q: And then? A: My husband began to speak. He did not stop. He informed me, and the other three couples present, that he had been maintaining a second bank account in Cincinnati for six years. He detailed the exact balance. He then confessed to a deep, abiding hatred for my sister's choice in drapery. Q: Was this behavior typical for your husband? A: Arthur is a man of extreme discretion. He has never once raised his voice in public. Q: Did you experience a similar loss of inhibition? A: I did. I found myself telling the Mayor that I found his leadership ineffective and his breath reminiscent of old pennies. I remember wanting to stop, but the words felt as though they were being pulled from my lungs by a hook. *** DEPOSITION OF MAYOR CLARENCE HALLOWAY (WITNESS) Q: Mayor Halloway, you were present at the Thorne residence on the night in question? A: I was. It was a social call. Q: You consumed the grapes provided by the defendant? A: I did. Two or three of them. Q: Is it true that shortly after consumption, you disclosed the details of the municipal zoning bribes regarding the new textile mill? A: (Witness pauses) Yes. I described the envelopes. I named the contractors. I believe I even specified the brand of cigars the developers smoked during the transactions. Q: Did you feel you were under duress? A: Not in the legal sense. I felt a biological imperative. The truth was simply the only available currency for speech. I could not formulate a lie. I tried to say the bribes were for charity, but the word charity would not form. I said bribes instead. Q: How long did this effect last? A: Approximately one hour. By 8:30 PM, I was able to lie again. However, the damage to my administration was already complete. *** DEPOSITION OF SILAS THORNE (DEFENDANT) Q: Mr. Thorne, you are the cultivator of the vines in question? A: I am. They were a gift from a contact in the Levant. Q: Were you aware that the fruit possessed a property that compelled the eater to speak the truth? A: I suspected it. The vines have a history of causing domestic disputes in their region of origin. Q: Did you warn your guests of this effect? A: I told them the fruit was honest. I believe that is a sufficient warning for any reasonable adult. Q: You understood that the consumption of these grapes could lead to the collapse of marriages and political careers? A: I understood that they would speak the truth. I am a gardener, not a sociologist. If a marriage collapses because of a piece of fruit, the fruit is merely the catalyst. The instability was already present in the soil.