Microsoft Corp. on Friday pulled chief executive Steve Ballmer from its list of remaining defense witnesses, confident of making its case without calling its No. 2 executive.
Microsoft told the federal judge overseeing hearings on the demands by nine states for stiff sanctions against the software giant that Ballmer will not be among the four remaining witnesses it will present.
"We believe the remaining issues we need to address in our case will be covered by these (remaining) witnesses," the company said in a statement.
In addition to Ballmer, Microsoft also decided to cancel the appearance of Gayle Brock, a company official who oversees relations with computer makers.
The cancellations leave two company officials, an economist and a computer science professor on Microsoft"s witness list.
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and co-founder, took the stand less than two week"s ago, declaring the states" demands were impossible to meet and would harm consumers.
On Monday, Microsoft declared Gates" testimony a success and took a first cut at its remaining witness.