I -   2

         1                              I N D E X

         2    PRETRIAL CONFERENCE                     3

         3

              INITIAL INSTRUCTION BY THE COURT       55

         4

         5    OPENING STATEMENTS

         6         (By Mr. Stilley)                  62

                   (By Mr. Oliver)                   66

         7

         8

                                        Direct   Cross   Redirect   Recross

         9

              PLAINTIFF'S WITNESSES

        10

              BETTY SUE WILLS

        11         (By Mr. Stilley)        81

                   (By Mr. Oliver)                 116

        12         (By Mr. Stilley)                         130

        13    JORDAN BLAIR

                   (By Mr. Stilley)       134

        14

        15                           E X H I B I T S

        16                                  Offered         Received

        17    PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBITS

        18         2 - 7, 9 - 38               52              52

        19         41                          52              53

        20

        21

        22

        23

        24

        25

                                                                    I -   3

         1             (The following proceedings were held on April 12,

         2    2004 at 9:13 a.m.:)

         3             THE COURT:  Good morning.

         4             MR. STILLEY:  Good morning.

         5             MR. OLIVER:  Good morning.

         6             THE COURT:  We're here for the trial of Jordan Blair

         7    versus Bob Wills, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding

         8    Academy, et al.  Representing plaintiff Blair is attorney

         9    Oscar Stilley.  Good morning, Mr. Stilley.

        10             MR. STILLEY:  Good morning.

        11             THE COURT:  And representing the defendants Bob

        12    Wills, et al. is John Oliver.

        13             MR. OLIVER:  Your Honor.

        14             THE COURT:  And this is Russell Watters with you

        15    here?

        16             MR. BRIGGS:  John Briggs, Your Honor.

        17             MR. OLIVER:  Your Honor, may I introduce Mr. Dave

        18    Gibbs of the bar of Florida who won't participate in the

        19    trial, but with the Court's permission if he could sit in

        20    front of the bar and observe, we would appreciate it.

        21             THE COURT:  Very well.

        22             MR. GIBBS:  May I correct one thing, it's the bar of

        23    Ohio.

        24             THE COURT:  You're getting closer.  We have a number

        25    of issues remaining, pretrial issues.  And part of this whole

                                                                    I -   4

         1    thing, we've only got two claims left, this Fair Labor

         2    Standards Act and this civil -- single civil battery claim,

         3    the plaintiff against Bo Gerhardt.

         4             Now, one of the things, we got all these witnesses

         5    that you're trying to belatedly come up with.  It's as simple

         6    as this, you know, you cannot hide the basketball and then

         7    sneak out on the floor for a slam dunk, it is as simple as

         8    that.  This is not Perry Mason.  You got to come on with it.

         9    It's like playing cards, everybody got to turn their hands up

        10    and see what you got, maybe the game don't even need to be

        11    played, you see.  If you got all threes and the other person

        12    got all aces, please, then I can make a call and the game is

        13    over.  No point in playing that game.  But here you are

        14    trying to come up with a bunch of cards that you didn't turn

        15    up.  That's the problem.

        16             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, may I address that?

        17             THE COURT:  Go for it.

        18             MR. STILLEY:  Here's what the situation was.  I had

        19    tried to get information from the defendants about various

        20    individuals, about names and contact information on the

        21    various individuals.  Was not able to get that.  But now let

        22    me explain what the situation is.

        23             THE COURT:  You know, when a person has a problem,

        24    what do they do?  Do you play golf?

        25             MR. STILLEY:  No, I don't.

                                                                    I -   5

         1             THE COURT:  Well, they call the official and they

         2    ask the official for a ruling.  Did you call me and ask me

         3    for a ruling?

         4             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor.

         5             THE COURT:  No, you didn't do that.  See, now you

         6    want to come up with this.  You should have called, said we

         7    got a problem, what we going to do, Mr. Official?

         8             MR. STILLEY:  Well, I understand that.  But what the

         9    rule says is that you have to either identify witnesses

        10    either directly in response to discovery or Rule 26 or

        11    otherwise identify these individuals in writing, whether it's

        12    other litigation going against these individuals.  And rather

        13    than try to go through this again to try to get this

        14    information, I simply listed all the former students and

        15    staff at these facilities.  And one of these gentleman,

        16    Mr. Palmer, only got out about eight months ago, so it was

        17    long after the litigation was started that we even knew that

        18    he existed.

        19             THE COURT:  Well, you know, if you take anything to

        20    an extreme, suppose you list everybody in the world as a

        21    witness.  Please.  You know, there is some degree of

        22    specificity that is needed.  I'm going to let Mr. Oliver

        23    respond to what you're talking about.  Mr. Oliver.

        24             MR. OLIVER:  May it please the Court.  First, Your

        25    Honor, this was a subject, albeit briefly, of a discovery

                                                                    I -   6

         1    conference and ruling between Your Honor, myself, and

         2    Mr. Briggs on September the 23rd of 2003 in which the Court

         3    made certain rulings, with respect to which we have complied

         4    with one exception, which is the subject matter for the

         5    further pretrial.

         6             Since that time the plaintiff has not under their

         7    duty under Rule 26(e)(1) supplemented either their Rule 26(a)

         8    disclosures or their answers to interrogatories, particularly

         9    my interrogatories for Palm Lane No. 34 and No. 35 and No.

        10    36, in which I specifically asked for the name, address, and

        11    telephone number of people with certain knowledge.

        12             Judge, you're acquainted with this better than I am.

        13    Your decision in Patterson versus State Farm was just

        14    affirmed by the Eighth Circuit a little while ago in which

        15    where the party did not under Rule 26(e)(1) supplement their

        16    disclosures until the date that pretrial was due, Your Honor

        17    excluded that evidence.  The Eighth Circuit affirmed you.

        18             And then most recently -- I understand I'm taking a

        19    risk citing -- most recently, Your Honor, the Eighth Circuit

        20    cited that opinion affirming you again in a case called

        21    Troncanon (phonetic), in which the defendant tried to do what

        22    Mr. Stilley did, which was to run in a bunch of witnesses on

        23    the pretrial.  And the Eighth Circuit citing to Your Honor's

        24    affirmed opinion specifically held that not only -- not only

        25    affirmed the trial court but affirmatively stated that the

                                                                    I -   7

         1    trial court should exclude all witnesses who weren't listed

         2    in 26(a) or a timely 26(a) supplement or answers to

         3    interrogatories.  With the exception of Lou Blair, which we

         4    clearly admit we knew about.  Mr. Stilley offered Lou Blair

         5    to us to depose.

         6             So with the exception of Lou Blair and the

         7    plaintiff, all of these witnesses in this case that he's

         8    listed -- except our clients obviously -- are inappropriate

         9    and should be stricken.

        10             THE COURT:  Very well.  Mr. Stilley, what do you

        11    have to say to these thirty people basically, almost 30

        12    people here you belatedly listed?  Anything about any of them

        13    that you've identified them or supplemented information about

        14    them?  You know, part of the reason people may want to take

        15    depositions, take these people's statements, see what they

        16    have to say.  They have a right to do these things.  That's

        17    why we have these rules.  It's not a surprise -- civil cases

        18    are not a surprise situation.  It is to explain to lay people

        19    that it is simply like you have a hand, they have a hand, and

        20    if they ask to see your cards, you just have to turn them up.

        21    You turn your cards up and we see what everybody has so we

        22    know where we're doing.

        23             But when you don't do that, nobody knows what's

        24    going on.  It's a surprise situation.  They have a right to

        25    take these people's depositions, statements or whatever

                                                                    I -   8

         1    investigation otherwise they wish to undertake.  But when you

         2    belatedly give up that information, then nobody knows.

         3    You've taken advantage of our rules.  So it's a problem.  Is

         4    there any exception with any of these people?

         5             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, I know I listed a number

         6    of individuals.  The only three that's in dispute is a lady

         7    named Melissa Smith, a lady named Angela Collier, and a lady

         8    named or a gentleman named Ray Palmer.  That's the only three

         9    we're talking about.  Ray Palmer is the one that got out

        10    about eight months ago.

        11             THE COURT:  Got out of what?

        12             MR. STILLEY:  Beg your pardon?

        13             THE COURT:  Got out?  What are you saying?

        14             MR. STILLEY:  Out of Mountain Park.  The other two

        15    have been out for a considerable period of time.  So -- let

        16    me put it like this.  If -- and I'd respect the Court's

        17    ruling --

        18             THE COURT:  Is there some way that you were

        19    prevented from knowing who these people were?  What's the

        20    problem?

        21             MR. STILLEY:  No, I was not.  Well, I knew about --

        22    I just dribble these people along.  These people came to my

        23    attention from time to time that I just from various sources

        24    find out that these people existed.

        25             THE COURT:  Well, you remember when we had our

                                                                    I -   9

         1    previous President in a pickle, he said he was going to tell

         2    more rather than less.  See, you're telling less rather than

         3    more.  You say you knew about these people but you didn't

         4    want to tell anybody, see.  So what do you want me to do?

         5             MR. STILLEY:  Judge, let me put it like this.  I can

         6    present all the evidence that I need with Mr. Jordan Blair

         7    and Lou Blair.

         8             THE COURT:  Fine, then these other witnesses are

         9    excluded.  Now, let's see here about Mr. Lou Blair.  There's

        10    a motion to exclude him also.

        11             MR. OLIVER:  Her, Your Honor.  This is Mrs. Blair.

        12    It's the witness's grandmother.

        13             THE COURT:  I'm sorry.

        14             MR. OLIVER:  And might I suggest it might be

        15    appropriate if the witnesses or potential witnesses that are

        16    in the room weren't in the room.

        17             THE COURT:  Well, it doesn't bother me.

        18             MR. OLIVER:  All right.  It doesn't bother me then.

        19             THE COURT:  If they are excluded, that's that.  This

        20    is just a legal matter.

        21             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, let me put it like this.

        22    I do want to reserve for rebuttal, and I want to make sure I

        23    have a clear understanding of that.

        24             THE COURT:  Rebuttal is somewhat different.

        25             MR. STILLEY:  That is correct.

                                                                    I -  10

         1             THE COURT:  We're talking about witnesses in your

         2    case in chief.

         3             MR. STILLEY:  Correct.

         4             THE COURT:  Rebuttal witnesses are witnesses that

         5    you're saying something came up that you need to rebut that

         6    was not part of your case but was part of the defendant's

         7    case and you are rebutting what they say.  So you don't

         8    necessarily know who those might be.  So there's a

         9    difference.  What are you saying, Lou Blair then would be a

        10    potential rebuttal witness?

        11             MR. STILLEY:  No, I'm saying Ms. Smith, Ms. Collier,

        12    and Mr. Palmer would be potential rebuttal witnesses.  And

        13    Ms. Blair, I'm still contending she's a proper witness to

        14    testify.

        15             THE COURT:  I'm not going to concern myself with

        16    rebuttal witnesses until -- I'm not going to cross that

        17    bridge until we get to it.

        18             MR. STILLEY:  Okay.

        19             THE COURT:  Now, so as far as witnesses in chief are

        20    concerned, those witnesses are excluded.  Now let's go to Lou

        21    Blair.

        22             MR. STILLEY:  Okay.

        23             THE COURT:  My understanding is that the defendants

        24    have moved to exclude Lou Blair based on the fact that the

        25    witness has no relevant testimony other than information

                                                                    I -  11

         1    relative to the plaintiff's juvenile detention.  And that's

         2    not part of this case.

         3             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, I understand that that's

         4    not part of this case.  There are some issues involved in

         5    this.  For example, the defendants sent me their copies of

         6    their exhibits on the last day for me to object.  And one of

         7    those exhibits, Exhibit A, it has a statement in it from Ron

         8    Blair talking about Jordan.  And I was not able to talk to my

         9    client before midnight on that date.  Since that time I've

        10    talked to him and we'd like to keep that out.  It's Ron

        11    Blair's statements about Jordan's situation.

        12             THE COURT:  Wait a minute.  I'm talking about apples

        13    and you've jumped over on oranges.  I'm not following you.

        14    What are you talking about?

        15             MR. STILLEY:  Well, Ms. Blair can explain actually

        16    what the situation is with Jordan Blair.  And if we don't

        17    have these extraneous things, it may not be necessary to call

        18    Ms. Blair.

        19             THE COURT:  Maybe if you object at the appropriate

        20    time they won't come in, you know.

        21             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor.

        22             THE COURT:  That's the whole idea of an objection.

        23    Just like they file objections to these witnesses, you see.

        24             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, but once again they waited

        25    until the very last day.  I got this material on the very

                                                                    I -  12

         1    last day.  My client was at work and I could not talk with

         2    him about this.  I wanted to see what he had to say.  And so

         3    unless I was just going to object without discussing it with

         4    him, I didn't have a way to object.

         5             THE COURT:  Are you talking about the potential of

         6    another rebuttal witness perhaps?  Is that what you're really

         7    talking about?

         8             MR. STILLEY:  No.  I think that this should be -- I

         9    think I should be allowed to present her for my case in chief

        10    to let the jury know --

        11             THE COURT:  To explain something that he's going to

        12    present.

        13             MR. STILLEY:  No.

        14             THE COURT:  That's what you're telling me.

        15             MR. STILLEY:  That may be part of it.  But to

        16    explain about -- give a little background on Jordan Blair.

        17             THE COURT:  Well, you know, there used to be a

        18    television program called This is Your Life.  Now, this is

        19    the court case here, this is not This is Your Rife, this is a

        20    trial.

        21             MR. STILLEY:  I understand.

        22             THE COURT:  We don't need all that extraneous

        23    information about his background.  What do you want the jury

        24    to say, oh, I feel sorry for him?  That's going to be one of

        25    my instructions, forget all that sympathy stuff, we've got to

                                                                    I -  13

         1    rule on the law.

         2             MR. STILLEY:  I understand that.  I certainly do.

         3             THE COURT:  Okay.  Well, that witness is excluded

         4    also.  I mean, if it's a rebuttal situation, then you just

         5    bring that to the Court's attention if there is a need for

         6    rebuttal.  So that witness is also excluded.

         7             Mr. Oliver filed a lot of motions here.  He's got a

         8    motion to preclude collateral attack of this juvenile

         9    adjudication.  I assume you're not going to put any

        10    information on about the fact that Mr. Blair was adjudicated,

        11    juvenile delinquent.  Is that fair to say?

        12             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, the way this case stands I

        13    think that all should be just kept out.  It's irrelevant.  It

        14    doesn't --

        15             THE COURT:  Fine, okay.  That motion will be then

        16    denied as moot.

        17             Now, you know, a whole lot of claims that were

        18    brought have been ruled on in some fashion or another or

        19    excluded.  But in any event, I guess in a display of caution

        20    Mr. Oliver has filed motions to preclude irrelevant and

        21    immaterial evidence.  And among those -- among the many, that

        22    the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to deprive Mr. Blair

        23    of his constitutional rights.  Are we going to have any of

        24    that, Mr. Stilley?  I'm just going to go down.  It's like 19

        25    of these things.

                                                                    I -  14

         1             MR. STILLEY:  Your Honor, what I would -- if I was

         2    left on my devices what I would do is to allow the witness to

         3    testify that he wanted to contact law enforcement and was not

         4    allowed to do that.

         5             THE COURT:  What has that got to do with anything?

         6             MR. STILLEY:  The best --

         7             THE COURT:  We got two issues here, you know, the

         8    Fair Labor Standards Act violation and this battery.

         9             MR. STILLEY:  Well, I think the best that would go

        10    to is that he was kept there and kept without ability to

        11    communicate and prevented to leave so that he wouldn't have

        12    to work there.  If he had been able to --

        13             THE COURT:  Mr. Oliver.

        14             MR. OLIVER:  That's a false imprisonment claim, Your

        15    Honor.  You've already ruled on that.

        16             THE COURT:  Yeah, I think you want to keep those

        17    claims in that I already ruled on.  You know, when you think

        18    about the Fair Labor Standards Act, we're talking about the

        19    employer/employee relationship and the hours, kind of work,

        20    that kind of thing.  The battery is this as you all

        21    various -- this shoving or pushing or whatever, so we got

        22    those two things.  That's all we got.  That's all that's left

        23    here.  So how does the fact that he -- part of what you're

        24    saying, that he wasn't allowed to leave have to do with

        25    either one of those?

                                                                    I -  15

         1             MR. STILLEY:  That helps prove he didn't volunteer

         2    -- it's not just volunteered work.  He was compelled --

         3             THE COURT:  This is as Mr. Oliver said, this not a

         4    false imprisonment claim.

         5             MR. STILLEY:  That's true.  That's true.

         6             THE COURT:  Well, you know, there's several things.

         7    I heard Charles Barkley say the other day that work is not

         8    all it's cracked up to be.  And these people are talking

         9    about essential employees.  The graveyard is full of them.

        10    So what I'm trying to say there is this is not about forcing

        11    somebody to work, this is just whether or not he was an

        12    employee.  Not whether or not he was forced to stay there.

        13    That's gone.  That claim is gone.

        14             MR. STILLEY:  I understand.  I'm trying to --

        15             THE COURT:  Fine, we got to move on.  So I'm

        16    granting as far as that is concerned.

        17             Bounty hunter service, that's granted.  We're not

        18    getting into that.

        19             Affiliation of the defendants Mountain Park and Palm

        20    Lane with facilities outside the United States.  What has

        21    that got to do with anything?  That's excluded also.

        22             Their lock-down facilities, that's excluded.

        23             Contract status.  We may need that.  There is an

        24    employer/employee relationship, who was the employer, is it a

        25    corporation or is it some individuals?  What about that,