Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis made clear over a day-long pretrial hearing on Sept. 16 that attorneys for Smartmatic and Newsmax need to stick to the clock and what the jury really needs to know when they head to trial at the end of the month.

Davis noted the parties have repeatedly clashed on details as the case has progressed and warned against using the limited time allocated going down rabbit holes at the expense of the jury’s understanding the broad strokes of the defamation dispute over statements Newsmax broadcasted about Smartmatic in connection with the 2020 presidential election.