14 DAY TRIAL // Although the suspect in the case has fled and is nowhere to be found, it seems that the lawsuit is still ongoing as the judge has demanded that Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, bring forward the documents and the emails exchanged with the fugitive.
Now that the man who claimed ownership over Zuckerberg’s company has run away, US district Judge Vernon Broderick has requested all the documents that Facebook’s owner has in his possession, along with the chain of emails from 2003, Chicago Tribune reports.
However, the same publication states that the lawyers from Facebook have requested that this order be suspended until the fugitive is caught.
Paul Ceglia somehow managed to remove his ankle bracelet and run away with his whole family.
The documents would play an important role in the case
His father commented on the matter, saying that his son fled out of fear, thinking that an unjust lawsuit was waiting for him, given the power that Zuckerberg now has thanks to his successful company.
In reply to these allegations, the judge replied that he would conduct a fair trial for everyone involved.
It is a bit unclear why Facebook is trying to delay the turning-in of the documents, but the judge did not comply to their request to have this suspended and gave them until Monday to proceed with the documents that will serve as evidence in the case.
Paul Ceglia mysteriously disappeared back in March, and police have not been able to locate him. They do not know if he still is in the US.
Ceglia sued Facebook founder back in 2010, based on a contract Zuckerberg had presumably signed when he was still in college and in which he agreed that Ceglia was entitled to claim ownership of 50 percent of the future project that would have been Facebook.
Zuckerberg, on the other hand, denied any such accusations, claiming that the contract had been altered and decided to also take the matter to court and testify against Ceglia.