It might turn out to be not all that important to the final ruling. As you point out, there is no way to know if DECN forced JNJ to confess to the man's fibbed Ph.D so there is absolutely no reason to speculate that it might have happened. Actually, when often stated on this board, it is not offered as speculation but as fact. It was reported by DECN themselves that JNJ voluntarily reported it to the court so that's where it stands.
I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. - Albert Einstein