The elder who was there until 3am was not on official JW call as there was only one elder, but instead was there as a friend.
He was called to testify in court, attempted to use his status as minister to get out of it, but the judge force him to testify since it was not an *official* JW visit. So the congregation left this elder high and dry.
When he finally did testify, he was very evasive in his answering of questions to the point that the judge called him a 'hostile witness'.