Part 36

1 Q. And he's also a party to the lawsuit?

2 A. Yes, he is, I'm afraid.

3 Q. We've heard testimony in the course of this trial,

4 Pastor Gerhardt, about the students who are enrolled at

5 Mountain Park. Who enrolls students at Mountain Park?

6 A. The parents do.

7 Q. And what particular traits do the students tend to

8 have? Do they tend to come from trouble background?

9 A. Typically, yes, sir, they do.

10 Q. Okay. What sort of history do the students generally

11 have when they come to Mountain Park?

12 A. I often say that some of our kids, the parents send

13 their kids to us sometimes put a fence at the top of the hill

14 and other times put an ambulance at the bottom. A parent

15 calls me on the phone and says, Brother Gerhardt, I have a

16 young person and they are, you know, I can't control them

17 anymore. My daughter is slipping out at night or my son is

18 slipping out at night, and I don't know where they are going

19 or what they are doing. They were great students until they

20 hit junior high school and something happened, they began to

21 run with the wrong crowd and began to smoke and fight with

22 mom and dad. Kids have fought their parents and physically

23 abused their parents and all those things. Those are the

24 kind of kids we get.

25 MR. STILLEY: Objection. I'll withdraw that

II - 161

1 objection.

2 Q. Based on the background you just testified about,

3 Pastor Gerhardt, I'd like to show you what was marked as

4 page 3 of Defendants' Exhibit A. Sir, have you seen this

5 document before?

6 A. Yes, sir, I have.

7 Q. Okay. It appears to be a form. What kind of form is

8 it?

9 A. We call it a preadmission statement. It's used when

10 the parent calls on the telephone initially, get the

11 information about the student.

12 Q. So this is a form that was prepared by you?

13 A. I prepared part of this form, yes, sir.

14 Q. All right. And on this form do you ask the parents to

15 describe generally the behavior the children have?

16 A. Yes, sir, we do.

17 Q. And is there a space on the form where they can

18 identify the particular summary of behavior?

19 MR. STILLEY: Objection, irrelevant.

20 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, actually I think it's

21 entirety relevant in this case because it goes to the basis

22 why students would be enrolled in the first place and why

23 they need corrective behavior.

24 THE COURT: Fine. I'll overrule for the time being.

25 BY MR. BRIGGS:

II - 162

1 Q. So, Pastor Gerhardt, to an extent, the parents are

2 given an opportunity to describe generally the traits that

3 their children have or what they believe they have?

4 A. Yes, sir. We ask them to describe for us the problems

5 they are having at home that would cause them to call us in

6 the first place.

7 Q. Okay. Now, with respect to the third page of

8 Defendants' Exhibit A, this form has been completed. And

9 does it, in fact, relate to the plaintiff, Jordan Blair?

10 A. Yes, sir, it does.

11 Q. Was this completed in connection with a communication

12 from his parent?

13 A. Yes, sir, from his father.

14 Q. When was the communicate made?

15 A. The 19th of October in the year 2000.

16 Q. After this communication or shortly thereafter was

17 Mr. Blair, actually Jordan, was he actually enrolled at

18 Mountain Park?

19 A. It was a year later.

20 Q. A year later, okay. So you subsequently -- what

21 happens after you had a conversation around October 19th,

22 2000? What was the decision at that time?

23 A. At that particular time by the note that I have in the

24 upper left-hand corner, the parents indicated that they did

25 not have the resources financially, but they asked me to mail

II - 163

1 them an application package, which I did. I referred them to

2 some other ministries that I knew of that they could call and

3 check on for help for their son.

4 Q. Okay. At that time in October 2000, with whom did you

5 speak specifically?

6 A. I talked to Mr. Ron Blair.

7 Q. Okay. And did he express a desire to enroll Jordan?

8 A. Yes, sir, he wanted to be able to.

9 Q. Okay. And you said that you subsequently got a call

10 about a year later from the Blairs?

11 A. Yes, sir, I believe it was.

12 Q. Okay. From whom specifically?

13 A. Again, from Mr. Blair.

14 Q. Okay. Did he again express a desire to enroll Jordan?

15 A. He certainly did.

16 Q. Subsequently did it actually come about that the

17 parents did make a decision to enroll him at Mountain Park?

18 A. Yes, sir, they did.

19 Q. Okay, very good. And, sir, now I'll show you what was

20 marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit 2. Sir, have you seen that

21 before?

22 A. Yes, sir, I have.

23 Q. And what is that form?

24 A. That is the basic application form to enroll a student

25 at Mountain Park.

II - 164

1 Q. And is this form completed in relation to Jordan Blair?

2 A. Yes, sir, it is.

3 Q. And who would have completed this application?

4 A. His parents.

5 Q. Turning to the second page of Plaintiff's Exhibit 2, is

6 there a space for the parents to sign the application?

7 A. Yes, sir, there is.

8 Q. Okay. And did the parents, in fact, sign the

9 application?

10 A. Yes, sir, they did.

11 Q. Okay. And can you tell by looking at Plaintiff's

12 Exhibit 2 the date that Mr. Blair was enrolled?

13 A. He was enrolled on the 20th of October in 2001

14 according to the signature and the date the parents put.

15 Q. So that's when the parents actually completed the

16 application?

17 A. Yes, sir, that's when they completed the application,

18 I'm sorry. That's when they completed the application.

19 Q. Okay. And when did Mr. Blair arrive at Mountain Park?

20 A. He arrived four days later, on the 24th.

21 Q. Sir, I'd like to show you Defendants' Exhibit C and

22 represent that this is the sample schedule that's already

23 been identified --

24 A. Yes, sir.

25 Q. -- in the course of the trial. Sir, did you actually

II - 165

1 prepare Exhibit C?

2 A. I believe I did, yes, sir.

3 Q. Okay. And was it prepared in connection with this

4 lawsuit?

5 A. Yes, sir, it was.

6 Q. Okay. But is the schedule maintained back at Mountain

7 Park?

8 A. Yes, sir.

9 Q. Okay. I'd like to focus your attention, Pastor

10 Gerhardt, to one particular entry. And just so we represent,

11 this is a sample schedule for a typical week at Mountain

12 Park; is that correct?

13 A. That's correct.

14 Q. Would this schedule have been the same back in 2001?

15 A. Yes, sir.

16 Q. Focusing your attention to the 2:30 time entry,

17 practical training, can you describe for the jury what

18 practical training is?

19 A. Certainly. It's that time and opportunity that the

20 young men have to -- again, to continue to learn, to apply in

21 a practical way the principles that are learning about living

22 life. How to dig a fence post and set a fence post and do it

23 in such a way that the fence post won't come out of the

24 ground. Just those kind of practical things. How to mow a

25 yard and mow it correctly. Those are the kind of things we

II - 166

1 do. As well as the ball playing and being a good sport on

2 the ball field and knowing how to run through first base.

3 Q. So some days in the typical week the students will be

4 on work detail doing some of the tasks you assigned and other

5 days they would be doing games?

6 A. Yes, sir, that's correct.

7 Q. And the work detail that they do, how is that -- is

8 that an essential and important part of the overall

9 curriculum and what's offered by Mountain Park?

10 A. Oh, yes, sir, it certainly is. Again, we could not

11 have an opportunity to go out in a practical way and do the

12 work we do, how would we be able to instill that sense of

13 accomplishment and pride and self worth and accountability

14 and responsibility and discipline and all those things that

15 go with the job well done.

16 Q. Okay. You had mentioned mowing lawns. When some

17 students arrive at Mountain Park, are there actually some

18 male students who never mowed the lawn before?

19 A. That's for sure, yes, sir. We have students who have

20 never mowed the yard before, don't have an idea how to mow,

21 and look back and see that you missed a strip of grass

22 three inches wide, and you need to go back and get it. We

23 have to teach them how to wash a car from the top to the

24 bottom.

25 Q. And productive adults in society typically know how to

II - 167

1 do that, would that be a fair statement?

2 A. Yes, sir.

3 Q. Sir, taking a look also on Exhibit C, we have some

4 academic training. Can you describe for the Court and the

5 jury briefly the academic curriculum that's offered by

6 Mountain Park?

7 A. The primary curriculum is an accelerated Christian

8 education curriculum out of Louisville, Texas.

9 Q. And does that -- what does that -- does it integrate

10 any other aspects into the program? What does the program

11 consist of?

12 A. The ACE curriculum is a Christ centered bible based

13 individualized self based curriculum. The students are to

14 take diagnostic tests to tell us where to place them in the

15 curriculum based on their own ability, their own performance.

16 It doesn't necessarily distinguish a grade level, but a level

17 of work and a level of ability to accomplish the work.

18 It's common for us to have a student come in and

19 they need to go back and review and learn again, if they ever

20 did learn basic math, how to add and subtract, multiply and

21 divide, those kind of things.

22 And also in the curriculum is the sense of the way

23 the system works on a day-to-day basis, the curriculum

24 procedures themselves instill responsibility, accountability,

25 and Christian character.

II - 168

1 Q. And is it hoped that through this program that some, if

2 not all, the students at Mountain Park will have the ability

3 to go on to college after they graduate?

4 A. Yes, sir, it certainly is. That's the goal.

5 Q. In connection with this curriculum, are credits granted

6 once certain course levels are completed?

7 A. Yes, sir, they are.

8 Q. Okay. And I'll show you page 65 of Plaintiff's

9 Exhibit 9. And the top of this page, does this generally

10 show the courses and credits that are required at Mountain

11 Park?

12 A. Yes, sir, it does, it shows the required credits in

13 each subject and how many have to be obtained in order to

14 graduate.

15 Q. Now, taking a look on that list, there's a reference to

16 physical education and two credit hours. Do you see that?

17 A. Yes, sir, I do.

18 Q. Okay. Now, what does that physical education, those

19 two credit hours, what does that encompass?

20 A. Okay, what that means, in order to graduate from our

21 school, they have to accomplish two years of PE. They have

22 to earn a credit for two years worth of work. In order to

23 earn that credit for us, the time that they spend in the

24 afternoon doing their -- whether it's playing ball or pulling

25 brush or building a fence, the physical activity they are

II - 169

1 involved in, all those things are evaluated to give them a

2 physical education grade.

3 Q. Okay. So as you said, then all those physical

4 activities are incorporated in to give the physical education

5 credit?

6 A. Yes, sir, that is correct.

7 Q. Okay. So then it -- also would it be fair to say then

8 the work that's done in the afternoons, that that also

9 relates into the academic programs?

10 A. Yes, sir, it does.

11 Q. Pastor Gerhardt, does Mountain Park maintain a no-touch

12 policy with respect to students?

13 A. Yes, sir, it does.

14 Q. So staff are generally not permitted to have physical

15 contact with students?

16 A. That's correct.

17 Q. All right.

18 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, may I have just a moment to

19 confer?

20 THE COURT: Sure.

21 MR. BRIGGS: That's it at this time, Your Honor.

22 Thank you.

23 THE COURT: Very well.

24 CROSS-EXAMINATION

25 BY MR. STILLEY:

II - 170

1 Q. Can you tell the jury the substance of the no-touch

2 policy?

3 A. The substance of the no-touch policy would be simply

4 that the staff should not manhandle the students.

5 Q. And does that include even senior staff such as

6 yourself?

7 A. Correct, the staff should not manhandle students.

8 Q. Okay. So it's fair to say then that slamming someone

9 up against a wall would violate that no-touch policy; is that

10 correct?

11 A. That would be correct.

12 Q. Even for a person such as yourself, correct?

13 A. Sure, yes, sir.

14 Q. Within the past three -- have you ever violated that

15 policy?

16 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, I'll object.

17 THE COURT: Sustained.

18 MR. BRIGGS: Outside the scope.

19 BY MR. STILLEY:

20 Q. Is this no-touch policy written down anywhere?

21 A. I'd have to go back and look in our handbook to see if

22 it's written there. I don't recall, sir.

23 Q. Did you have anything to do with the formulation of

24 this policy?

25 A. This is a hard fast policy that Brother Wills has had