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A. Testimony78
1. Mr. Cravens
Mr. Cravens appeared at the evidentiary hearing and
confirmed and expressly adopted every aspect of his prior
testimony at the Dixon II trial. Mr. Cravens testified that he
did not intend to have a secret settlement, that he did not
change his testimony at the original trial even though he had
settled his case, that he would not have "sold out" the other
pilots for money or a greater settlement offer, and that he had
no disputes with Mr. Kersting when he testified at the original
trial. Mr. Cravens testified that his testimony at the trial of
the test cases was incomplete insofar as he had failed to testify
that he believed that the promissory notes that he had signed
were valid and enforceable.
Mr. Cravens testified that he did not keep the fact that he
had settled his case a secret before the trial of the test cases.
He discussed his settlement with Mr. Kersting several times
78 The following summaries of the testimony of various
witnesses at the evidentiary hearing are provided for the sake of
convenience and are not part of the Court's findings of fact.
Also, these summaries do not cover the testimony of all witnesses
who testified at the evidentiary hearing.
On the basis of our observations at trial and our review
of the record, we conclude that the testimony of Messrs. Sims
and McWade lacks credibility, particularly their testimony
regarding the reasons for and circumstances surrounding the
Thompson and Cravens settlements and the Alexander understanding.
Mr. Alexander's testimony lacks credibility because of its
evasiveness, particularly his misleading response at the original
trial concerning his understanding with Mr. McWade regarding
reduction of the Alexanders' tax liabilities. See supra note 58.
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