Court Declines to Squash Subpoena; Limits Scope of Production

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A federal court has declined to quash a subpoena served upon a non-party in a benzene lawsuit, but limited the defendant's obligations to produce only the documents that are in its possession. Johnese, et al. v. Ashland Inc., et al., No. 06-01632 (E.D. Ark.).

In an Oct. 25 order, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found that there was question of whether the court had jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena and "until that is clear, this Court declines to quash the subpoena."

Plaintiffs Wilbert Johnese and Sharon Denise Johnese claim that …