Miles Guo Court Documents · Doc 370
Response by Miles Guo re: Lay Witness Testimony / (中文) Doc 370-1 Exhibit A Foreign Direct Investment’s Impact on China’s Economic Growth, Technological Innovation, and Pollution
摘要
Defense Response · Steele Schottenheimer Testimony
This five-page filing, dated May 30, 2024 from Sidhardha Kamaraju of Pryor Cashman LLP, responds to the government's same-day letter (case-doc-369) regarding the testimony of Steele Schottenheimer of Hayman Capital Management in United States v. Guo, 1:23-cr-00118-1 (AT). Exhibit A (case-doc-370-1) is a scholarly paper on "Foreign Direct Investment's Impact on China's Economic Growth, Technological Innovation, and Pollution."
Disputed Testimony Topic
The government had proposed to elicit Schottenheimer's understanding — based on her personal perception — as to whether an investment in the Hayman Hong Kong Opportunities Fund (HHKOF) itself could have a negative impact on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Defense's Objection
The defense argues:
- The government invites error by treating Schottenheimer's lay perception as substantive evidence of HHKOF's geopolitical impact;
- The proposed line of questioning goes beyond admissible lay opinion based on personal observation;
- It would have Schottenheimer effectively rendering opinion about complex macroeconomic and geopolitical mechanisms;
- It is properly the subject of expert testimony rather than lay opinion.
Attached Exhibit
The filing attaches Exhibit A — a scholarly paper on Foreign Direct Investment in China — as a comparator to illustrate the technical-economic nature of the underlying question.