Part 23

1 many hours that there were only five hours left. So that's

2 what you need to be focusing on. Okay. It's how many hours

3 worked. Now, if he's on call all night, you're saying he

4 worked all night. Fine, that's what you say. Okay.

5 MR. STILLEY: Does that mean then that I wouldn't be

6 allowed to ask him how many hours of restful sleep that he

7 was able to get each night?

8 THE COURT: No, you will not be able to ask that.

9 MR. STILLEY: Okay. I just can't understand --

10 THE COURT: Because we are not getting into whether

11 or not he had some medical problem sleeping or anything of

12 that nature. You talked about he was on call all night.

13 MR. STILLEY: Okay.

14 THE COURT: So you basically said he worked 24/7.

15 That's what you just said, you said he worked 24/7.

16 MR. STILLEY: That is exactly what I said.

17 THE COURT: Fine. What more do you want? Is there

18 any more time? You know, it's like talking about this guy

19 that had three jobs, three full-time jobs, and he got

20 overtime on all of them. Please.

21 MR. STILLEY: I know some lawyers like that.

22 THE COURT: I know. I know. But you've already

23 said he's working 24/7, that he was on call all night. How

24 much more time is it?

25 MR. STILLEY: I think I preserved the record on

II - 22

1 that. I just wanted to establish what I was trying to get

2 the point.

3 THE COURT: I understand.

4 MR. OLIVER: Your Honor, again, with due respect to

5 the Court and Mr. Stilley, I would beg the Court to require

6 Mr. Stilley to control his client. His client is

7 intentionally -- there can be no doubt about it now that his

8 client is intentionally going over the lines the Court set in

9 the pretrial.

10 THE COURT: I think what happens to some degree is

11 that while the client has a real emotional stake in this

12 thing, and he's a young person, so I would expect Mr. Stilley

13 to exercise some control by asking questions and not waiting,

14 you know, just opening the door and whatever comes out comes

15 out. You got to go and ask questions. You seem to want to

16 let your client say anything he wants to say. But you have

17 to take control of this.

18 MR. STILLEY: Certainly, Judge.

19 THE COURT: And you know what, when you take

20 control, the people you're selling to will respect you more.

21 You know who you're selling to?

22 MR. STILLEY: I'm selling to eight people sitting in

23 the box.

24 THE COURT: That's right, so take control.

25 MR. STILLEY: Certainly.

II - 23

1 THE COURT: Because otherwise you're not going to

2 sell it, okay. You better take control.

3 MR. STILLEY: I certainly understand that.

4 THE COURT: Because it's like you're letting it fly

5 anyplace. It's like you don't necessarily believe in it

6 yourself. You're just whatever the client says. It's like

7 the client selling the case. You have to take control.

8 MR. STILLEY: Judge, I intend to take control.

9 THE COURT: Because he is but 19 years old. I think

10 all these people are over 40.

11 MR. OLIVER: He's 19 years old and he's given the

12 answers Mr. Stilley has told him to give. It's plain and

13 apparent.

14 THE COURT: Take control. Take control.

15 MR. STILLEY: Let me say this and save some trouble

16 and go ahead and ask the Court, and I want to preserve the

17 record on this and I want to get the ruling on this. The

18 next question I want to ask is about his security guard

19 duties with respect to toileting. And I would anticipate

20 that he would say he was slammed up against the wall, yanked

21 off the toilet, and it's his job to keep them from causing

22 any problem for the people that just did that to them. I

23 want to preserve the record. I want to preserve that

24 testimony.

25 THE COURT: You already said it's more prejudicial

II - 24

1 than probative. You've already said that he was supposed to

2 back up any actions of any people in authority or other

3 students who were in authority. So please.

4 MR. STILLEY: Well, I want a ruling on that. If you

5 rule me not to do --

6 THE COURT: Yeah, I just told you, I'm excluding

7 that.

8 MR. STILLEY: Fine.

9 THE COURT: You just said he's supposed to back up

10 anybody. See, you keep wanting to show these very bad kinds

11 of things. You want to show other alleged batteries and so

12 forth. That's what you want to do. And so when you're

13 trying to prove a case of battery, I mean, that is not part

14 of, you know, this case.

15 MR. OLIVER: It's a violation of Rule 403 and

16 404(c).

17 MR. STILLEY: I'm trying to --

18 THE COURT: I'm not allowing that.

19 MR. STILLEY: I'm not trying to bring anything

20 before the jury that I shouldn't, but I do want to protect

21 the record.

22 THE COURT: Since when?

23 MR. OLIVER: He spent two days --

24 THE COURT: When did you change?

25 MR. STILLEY: Judge, I'm trying to walk this line

II - 25

1 and vigorously represent my client and I have 100 percent

2 respect for the Court. But I just got -- I just got two

3 more. And I just asked you about also --

4 THE COURT: You still got the same script.

5 MR. STILLEY: No, this is a different script. And

6 everything it says, what were your duties.

7 THE COURT: You're just singing in a different

8 pitch, but it seems like it's the same song.

9 MR. STILLEY: Judge, if I can get a ruling on this,

10 if you give a ruling, I'll respect it.

11 THE COURT: What is it?

12 MR. STILLEY: What were your duties as a security

13 guard relating to physical altercations?

14 MR. OLIVER: Asked and answered.

15 MR. BRIGGS: Asked and answered.

16 THE COURT: You asked that about if there was any

17 kind of action going on by people in authority, what was he

18 supposed to do, he was supposed to back them up without

19 question.

20 MR. STILLEY: And what were your duties as a

21 security guard relating to runaways?

22 MR. OLIVER: Asked and answered, volunteered

23 answers.

24 THE COURT: He was supposed to restrain people.

25 We've already got that.

II - 26

1 MR. STILLEY: Okay. I just wanted to -- you're

2 ruling that neither of those can come in, correct?

3 THE COURT: Asked and answered, that's my ruling.

4 They've objected to it on the basis it's been asked and

5 answered, and I'm agreeing with that.

6 MR. STILLEY: Thank you very much. That's not a

7 problem. Thank you. I mean, I reserve my objection.

8 THE COURT: Fine.

9 MR. STILLEY: But I want to get it on the record.

10 THE COURT: Fine.

11 MR. STILLEY: Thank you, Judge.

12 (The following proceedings continued within the

13 hearing of the jury:)

14 BY MR. STILLEY:

15 Q. You talked about various jobs, doing things like

16 digging ponds. Can you explain to the jury how that you've

17 calculated your weekly hours on those particular duties?

18 A. Well, see, it was so varied, there was such a variation

19 between our daily activities, so I had a breakdown of about

20 how long it took for us to do a job and how long it took for

21 me -- the labor that I performed on that job. Basically

22 pretty much if I remember, I just kind of pieced together how

23 much -- how many hours I worked on any specific job.

24 Q. So what's a fair estimate of hours per week?

25 MR. OLIVER: Objection, estimate.

II - 27

1 THE COURT: Overruled.

2 A. Anywhere between 15 to 27 hours.

3 Q. Okay. And how did you calculate that?

4 A. Well, see, if it stayed where we didn't leave the camp,

5 the property, it was pretty much between 15 and 20 hours.

6 Now, if we had taken -- and we didn't go to school at all

7 during the week -- during a school day and say we went to Bob

8 Wills' house or -- yeah, Bob Wills' house, then that would

9 add on extra hours for that week.

10 Q. Did you get to play sports while you were at Mountain

11 Park or Palm Lane?

12 A. Yes, sir.

13 Q. And what sports did you get to play?

14 A. We played baseball, basketball, volleyball.

15 Q. And how many times did you get to play baseball?

16 A. Played baseball once at Mountain Park and about twice

17 at Palm Lane.

18 Q. How about basketball?

19 A. Once at Mountain Park and about three or four times at

20 Palm Lane.

21 Q. And how about volleyball?

22 A. None at Mountain Park, about eight or nine times at

23 Palm Lane.

24 Q. Did you ever get to go swimming?

25 A. Yes, sir.

II - 28

1 Q. How many times?

2 A. I believe twice at Bob Wills' house.

3 Q. I want to draw your attention to Plaintiff's

4 Exhibit 10. Can you tell the jury why you think this

5 letter -- well, first of all, tell the jury what this is.

6 A. This is a letter written from me to my parents on

7 October 9, 2001. I would have been at Mountain Park.

8 Q. And is all the writing on this letter yours?

9 A. No, sir.

10 Q. And where is the other writing?

11 A. It seemed to either been on the back of the page --

12 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, objection. May we

13 approach?

14 MR. OLIVER: He's going to censorship. That

15 doesn't --

16 THE COURT: Well, I don't know where you all are

17 going. Where are we?

18 MR. BRIGGS: It's irrelevant. This isn't relating

19 to the battery or the Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

20 MR. STILLEY: Your Honor, I'm trying to identify

21 which of the words in the letter were --

22 THE COURT: What does this have to do with

23 employment, Fair Labor Standards Act, or the battery? What

24 does it have to do with one of those?

25 MR. STILLEY: Well, he was asking for work boots in

II - 29

1 this letter. However, the entire letter is admitted. And on

2 a number of these letters including this one there were

3 matters that were written in by one of the Gerhardts. I

4 believe this one is by Sam Gerhardt.

5 THE COURT: So.

6 MR. STILLEY: I'm just trying to establish --

7 THE COURT: What does it have to do with either of

8 those two issues, battery or Fair Labor standards?

9 MR. STILLEY: Well, I'm just trying to establish

10 that it was not all his words.

11 THE COURT: So.

12 MR. OLIVER: Your Honor, we agree that his words are

13 his words, that his words are in evidence.

14 MR. BRIGGS: We don't dispute that. Moreover --

15 THE COURT: Well, you know, what does the letter

16 have to do with this case? That's what I'm talking about.

17 MR. STILLEY: What it has to do with this case is he

18 was asking for work boots. And the reason that --

19 THE COURT: Fine. Then you can ask him did he write

20 a letter asking for work boots and is this the letter.

21 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, I'd object to the extent

22 that it calls for hearsay.

23 THE COURT: Overruled. I'll allow you to ask that.

24 MR. STILLEY: Okay. But not anything about anybody

25 else's writing?

II - 30

1 THE COURT: Please. I keep telling you, if it

2 doesn't have to do with the battery or Fair Labor Standards

3 then forget it. We don't want to hear it.

4 MR. STILLEY: Okay. Thank you, Judge.

5 THE COURT: We want to finish this case within our

6 lifetimes, you know.

7 MR. STILLEY: Okay, Judge.

8 THE COURT: We got to hear everybody in the world,

9 we'll be here forever.

10 BY MR. STILLEY:

11 Q. Did you wear different clothes when you were doing your

12 work as opposed to when you were doing other things?

13 A. Yes, sir.

14 Q. And what kind of -- say, when you went to these

15 meetings or classes, what kind of clothes did you wear?

16 A. In indoctrination meetings we wore a suit. During

17 classes we were required to wear khaki slacks, a button down

18 dress shirt.

19 Q. And what did you wear when you were doing work?

20 A. We wore -- I was required to wear a uniform of yellow

21 T-shirt, work belt, jeans, and steel toe work boots.

22 Q. Okay. In this Exhibit 10, what were you asking for in

23 that letter?

24 A. The work boots.

25 Q. How about No. 12, Exhibit No. 12, can you take a look

II - 31

1 at that.

2 MR. OLIVER: What's the date, Mr. Stilley?

3 MR. STILLEY: It's 10/16/01.

4 Q. Do you see anything in that letter related -- that was

5 related to your work?

6 A. Did you say this one was dated 10/16/01?

7 Q. I think it's ten -- maybe it's 10/26?

8 A. 10/26.

9 Q. Look down about line 5.

10 A. Yes, sir.

11 Q. And do you see anything there that related to your work

12 duties?

13 A. Yes, sir. I was in need of work jeans and work shirt

14 and work boots.

15 Q. Take a look at Exhibit No. 14. On the second line do

16 you see anything in this letter that relates to the work that

17 you did at Mountain Park or Palm Lane?

18 A. Yes, sir, I was still asking for work boots and work

19 shirts, yellow T-shirts.

20 Q. And why did you ask again?

21 A. Because as I say, earlier with the -- I was required --

22 with the classes I was required to wear khaki slacks and a

23 button down dress shirt where I performed my chores in those

24 clothes. Now, the task I said before as far as digging the

25 ponds, repairing the cattle fence, that nature I was required

II - 32

1 to wear the work uniform.

2 Q. Okay. But it sounds from these letters, it sounds like

3 you asked for these items more than once; is that correct?

4 A. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

5 Q. And why did you have to ask more than once?

6 A. Because I was told that I had to have them. I was

7 having other students were having to provide them for me.

8 Q. And I don't want to go through all these letters one by

9 one, it would take just a whole lot of time, but do these

10 other letters contain similar items?

11 A. Yes, sir.

12 MR. STILLEY: Pass the witness.

13 THE COURT: Cross-examination.

14 MR. BRIGGS: Thank you, Your Honor.

15 CROSS-EXAMINATION

16 BY MR. BRIGGS:

17 Q. Good morning, Mr. Blair.

18 A. Good morning, sir.

19 Q. Mr. Blair, did you understand that your -- strike that.

20 You understood that your parents wanted to send you to

21 Mountain Park; is that correct?

22 A. No, sir.

23 Q. Do you remember having your deposition taken, sir?

24 A. Yes, sir.

25 MR. BRIGGS: May I approach the witness, Your Honor?

II - 33

1 THE COURT: Go ahead.

2 Q. Mr. Blair, you had your deposition taken on June 4,

3 2003; is that correct?

4 A. Yes, sir.

5 MR. BRIGGS: My apologies, Your Honor. May I have a

6 moment?

7 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, why

8 don't we just take a morning recess at this time. Recall the

9 admonition. Be prepared to return to the courtroom at --

10 return to your jury room at 10:15, okay.

11 (Court in recess from 9:54 a.m. until 10:22 a.m.)

12 BY MR. BRIGGS:

13 Q. Mr. Blair, prior to the break I handed you a copy of

14 your deposition from June 4, 2003. Do you have that still in

15 front of you?

16 A. Yes, sir.

17 Q. Okay. And the question I'd asked you was whether you

18 understood that your father wanted to send you to Mountain

19 Park; is that correct?

20 A. Yes, sir.

21 Q. And your answer was no, right?

22 A. Yes, sir.

23 Q. Turning to your deposition page 20. Page 20, line 22.

24 I'll go ahead and read it for you.

25 "QUESTION: Do you know if your father, Ron Blair,