You can ride but you can’t hide

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Saturday, July 26, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It turns out those annoying phone calls from debt collectors really are inescapable.

Following a morning hearing Friday in the sixth week of the Bank of China racketeering trial, the defense lawyers and their associates hopped on a seventh-floor elevator with a reporter at the federal courthouse to get a head start on their weekend.

No sooner had the door closed than a recorded message blurted out of the intercom attached to the elevator phone.

“This call is an attempt to collect a debt,” the message said, as the elevator made its way down to the courthouse lobby.

The disembodied voice in what is supposed to be one of the most tightly secured buildings in the valley initially startled everyone but soon led to laughter.

“They’re following me everywhere I go,” one of the high-priced lawyers joked.

By the time the elevator reached the first floor, the lawyers were willing to stipulate that the recording was more entertaining than what had preceded it in the courtroom.