[comp.dcom.telecom] How to Supoena Telephone Records

rca@apple.com (01/17/91)

Some time ago, I submitted a message to the TELECOM Digest briefly
describing an upcoming small claims court suit I was filing against my
ex-landlord.  He didn't bother to show up to the trial, then later
filed to have the trial thrown out because he was "sick in bed --
proof will be given -- no phone."

I was pretty certain his phone was operational during that period, so
I wanted to know exactly what records to supoena, and who exactly to
get them from AT&T or whomever, so that I could prove that his phone
was operational the date of the trial.

The Moderator was on vacation at that time though, and I never saw my
message posted ... which is a pity, but hey, I like to take vacations
too.  :-)

Anyway, the hearing was held, and my landlord got the previous trial
thrown out, even though he had no proof at all of any medical problem,
and I told the judge that I had called his house ten days after the
trial and it was working fine.

(So we had a trial later that afternoon, and I'm now waiting for the
judgment, but that's not related to telecom, sooooo...  ;-) )

I'd still like to know the answer to my question anyway, though, just
in case I run across a situation in which it'd be nice to know.
Anyone?


Rick Adams	   |  work: ...!apple!fico2!rca
Delphi: RICKADAMS  |  home: ...!apple!fico2!ccentral!rickadams


[Moderator's Note: Mr. Adams' original message, entitled "Sick in Bed
 ... No Phone" appeared in TELECOM Digest volume 10, issue 903 on
Sunday, December 23, 1990. It was handed off to comp.dcom.telecom via
news@accuvax.nwu.edu _ or _ news@bu.edu that day.  All Digest messages
go automatically to comp.dcom.telecom, theoretically a moderated and
controlled newsgroup, however as incidents of the past week have
shown, my control over what happens to messages after I give them to
Usenet is limited. I'm sorry it somehow got 'lost' or otherwise did
not get a thorough circulation.  To answer the question at hand,
supoenas for telephone records are generally served on the security
department at the responsible telco, or sometimes on the corporate
attorney, but the attorney will invariably bounce the request back
down the line through channels. In the original message, Mr. Adams
mentioned that although he had sued his landlord, the landlord escaped
by claiming to have been sick and had no phone available to notify the
court of his inability to appear.  PAT]