tbh they filed 5 days after the incident, not heat of the moment as such.
The thing is by declining you defacto take Ioan's side. By testifying you can at least make a factual neutral statement. Not saying that father would, but I dont think that Alice can scheme/prepare statements for him like she probably will do for Gloria.
In fact witnesses are not always a good thing, especially when it's not an actual eyewitness. The other side is allowed to cross-exam them. So the friends father could in theory backfire on them to an extent depending on how honest he is.
I dont know tbh. But I refered to stuff she did in 2021 where she was definitely paid by him.