Page 14

1 already been admitted as Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2. And part

2 of this package is a parent handbook or a parent/student

3 handbook which has already been admitted which is Exhibit

4 No. 9. This explains the philosophy of Mountain Park to the

5 parents before they ever come there.

6 Sam didn't hear from the Blairs for about a year.

7 And on October the 2nd, 2001 he got another phone call from

8 Mr. Ron Blair, the father, indicating a renewed interest

9 because of activities at home, a renewed interest in sending

10 Jordan to Mountain Park. He asked for another information

11 package and he got another information package. And then

12 Mr. Blair called back on October the 9th and explained in

13 greater detail the problems at home. And on October the 20th

14 the Blairs arrived, Ron and Jannett Blair, and went through

15 parent orientation. You know, this is not your basic

16 kindergarten, this is not your basic public school. And

17 parents are required to go through orientation so they

18 understand the school before they make the commitment.

19 And the Blairs came and went through the orientation

20 process and saw how the school works in great detail and

21 signed the enrollment forms. They call on October the 24th,

22 2001 and formally enrolled Jordan Blair in Mountain Park

23 knowing that before he turned 17 he would be moved to Palm

24 Lane.

25 So the plan was to stay at Mountain Park until about

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1 Jordan's 17th birthday, and then move him to Palm Lane.

2 Jordan arrived on the evening of October the 24th. He was

3 met by a young man named Drew Parrish, who as they do with

4 every child is enrolled tries to, you know, engage in small

5 talk, trying to make these kids relax, try to make them

6 understand the environment that they are in. And they come

7 in to the boy's dorm and you go downstairs and there is a

8 couch down there that is routinely used to discuss the

9 situation with new students. We're trying to put them at

10 ease. You know, most of them are not real pleased to be

11 there. They know they are going in to a strict religious

12 rigid environment. Well, some don't want to be there.

13 Trying to put them at ease, and at the same time try to

14 conform to our requirements. You know, we have rules about

15 what you can and cannot have, what you can and cannot bring.

16 So every student is talked to, talked to on the

17 couch about this. About this time Bo comes. Bo comes down,

18 has the conversation with Jordan. One of the things that

19 they do is to inspect everything that's brought to make sure

20 there's no contraband. You know, no long knives that -- you

21 know, that the clothing that they bring is appropriate. You

22 know, this is a white T-shirt, high necks, no V-necks for

23 young ladies, no rock band T-shirts. It's a change for these

24 kids.

25 So there's an inspection to make sure that

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1 everything that the child has brought, young person's brought

2 fits. While the inspection is going on, all children take a

3 shower. These young people are taken to the shower and they

4 take a shower. This is the first thing they want, clean

5 children. You now take care of your body and have respect

6 for yourselves as the temple of the Lord because your body is

7 a temple. If you don't have that, you're not going to ever

8 have respect for others.

9 And then the child is integrated into the activities

10 of the school that are ongoing at the time they arrive. Now,

11 what did not happen on November the 24th is that Bo Gerhardt

12 did not take Jordan Blair and slammed him up against

13 anything. There is a no touch policy at Mountain Park.

14 Students don't discipline students. Staff does not use

15 physical discipline on students except swats which are the

16 last resort, and they are never administered to Jordan.

17 This is an invention. It did not happen. Bo comes

18 in, meets Jordan, engages in small talk, explains the basic

19 rules, hands him this towel and bar of soap, sends him to the

20 shower while they inspect his goods, make sure that there is

21 nothing inappropriate there, no long knives, no inappropriate

22 clothes, that kind of thing, no inappropriate rock music, no

23 inappropriate books. Do they have the correct bible, King

24 James version, the correct one. Because that's the

25 environment that he's changed to. You don't slam any child

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1 in the staff area into any bathroom. It doesn't happen and

2 it did not happen.

3 Now, then Mr. Blair then was just integrated into

4 the program. Well, the program that was going on at that

5 particular time would have been to sleep. So after his

6 shower he would have been shown to the dormitory. They all

7 sleep in a dorm. The next day he would have been integrated

8 into the regular Monday through Friday program. This isn't

9 an absolute, but this is pretty much what the schedule is.

10 It differs on Wednesday night because on Wednesday night you

11 have additional church service. It differs on Friday night

12 because on Friday night you have movies. And it differs on

13 Saturday and Sunday.

14 But basically you get up in the morning, you start

15 off with your personal hygiene. Then there is a period of

16 time for bible reading and personal devotions. This is an

17 essential part of the way the school functions. We believe

18 that if shown a chance to know the Lord, if they develop a

19 personal relationship with the Lord and become saved, they

20 will be restored to society.

21 After that they eat and then they come to common

22 area cleaning. That's one of the -- considered by Mountain

23 Park to be one of the basics. Every student, every student,

24 for every student the very basics of character development

25 begin with responsibility to maintain their personal and

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1 common areas. This is how they do it at Mountain Park. They

2 have teams. Because teamwork is something that troubled

3 people lack. And they need to learn to work together to

4 learn self-respect and how to deal with other people.

5 So they are assigned teams and they start off the

6 day then cleaning the common area. Then at 8:15, from

7 8:15 to noon and then afternoon till about 2:30 they go to

8 school. School is, as I showed you from the Plaintiff's

9 Exhibit 9, school is the academic program which is the School

10 of Tomorrow curriculum. A self-based integrated learning

11 program combined with the Freedom Baptist curriculum which is

12 the religious portion.

13 So from 8:15 in the morning to noon and then from

14 one o'clock to 2:30 is the academic program. After the

15 academic program there is work and there is sports. This is

16 just Monday through Friday. Sunday afternoon is -- unless

17 you're on discipline, Sunday afternoon is free time.

18 Saturday afternoon is a variety of different things. But

19 from 2:30 to roughly five o'clock you do one of two things,

20 you either work or you play sports. Some days they play

21 sports; soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, swim. That's

22 activity some days. And some days they work.

23 Now, what do they do? What do they do, in teams a

24 whole lot of things. What is the point of the work? Well,

25 I'll tell you what we don't do. We don't make anything,

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1 except to provide an opportunity by Christian example in

2 reference to the bible is the word of God. The only thing we

3 make is an opportunity for these children, troubled children

4 to find God and by finding God be restored to society. But

5 we don't make any products. We don't sell anything. We

6 don't buy and sell farm equipment. We don't buy and sell

7 machinery. We don't repair, buy, and sell farm equipment or

8 machinery. We don't run cattle farms. We don't run horse

9 farms. We have a singular mission ministry, save troubled

10 youth and at the same time educate them. And this is

11 integrated into it.

12 So children, young people in the afternoon learn

13 work ethic, self-respect, team work, a self accomplishment,

14 relearn a sense of pride by either as groups playing sports

15 or doing things. What do they do? They stack firewood. We

16 have -- a hot water heater is wood fire. They stack

17 firewood. Do they do it all the time? No, the guy that

18 sells the school the firewood stacks it some of the time, but

19 that's an activity that they do. We leave a part of the

20 grounds unmowed. Most the grounds are mowed with a bushhog,

21 particularly down in Florida. We leave a part unmowed so

22 that we can reintroduce young people to manual labor, to hard

23 work, where they go cut weeds or mow grass or pick up limbs.

24 Or down in Florida where it rains and blows a lot, pick up

25 what's blown in. Or maybe paint fences.

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1 So that they accomplish something, something that

2 they've not apparently in their life accomplished it with

3 other people. We don't sell this product. We don't put it

4 into the stream of commerce. We use this opportunity to

5 teach these young people how to work in society with each

6 other. A self-respect and work ethic just exactly like we

7 tell the parents when they enroll their children that we are

8 going to restore.

9 These children by providing nurturing Christian

10 values of respect for authority, learn how to take direction,

11 a biblical self image and Christian services. We nurture

12 them at student growth, respectfulness, leadership, and

13 creativity. And in part, and, in fact, in whole this work or

14 play environment is intended exactly to do that, to teach

15 cooperation, like the sports, to teach cooperation, to teach

16 children respect for authority so they don't end up like me

17 yelling at every basketball official. I don't think a SEMO

18 official has ever made a good call, but somebody ought to

19 teach them better than I learned. It's respect for

20 authority, something that most of these children when they

21 come don't have.

22 So, yeah, sure, they have to clean up in the

23 morning. And, yes, they have to work or play sports in the

24 afternoon. Because it's part of how we put their lives back

25 together. Teamwork, self-discipline, accomplishment,

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1 service, we integrate this with other students called

2 orientation guides, students that show willingness to

3 minister to others with team leaders, students who show

4 willingness to minister and have leadership responsibility.

5 And we take unacceptable peer pressure and throw it out the

6 window and substitute peer pressure with peer pressure to

7 save children. And by example these children are restored,

8 hopefully restored to society believing in Christ, saved with

9 strong academic background, an unacredited but Christian

10 school academic background. And this is the philosophy of

11 Mountain Park, and it is the background into that philosophy

12 that Jordan came and was moved to Florida where he stayed

13 till he walked away on March the 15th.

14 There will be no evidence that we are a business

15 enterprise or that we engage in any commerce. There is no

16 evidence that any of the defendants except Bob Wills, Sue

17 Wills and Sam have any right to hire, fire, set wages or do

18 anything that people who are employers are. This isn't

19 employment. This is education. It's education with your

20 mind, with your spirit, and with your hands. So that if you

21 keep your commitment to Mountain Park or you keep your

22 commitment to Palm Lane, after a year you have a realistic

23 chance to be a restored human with a faith in God and an

24 ability to work in society fully educated. And that's what

25 the evidence will be.

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1 There is no employment here. He wasn't employed by

2 anybody. Nobody employed him. Nobody is an employer as

3 relates to Jordan. This is an integrated part of a system

4 designed by the Wills to save children. When you hear the

5 evidence you'll know that Bo Gerhardt didn't slam Jordan

6 Blair up against anything. Violent conduct begets violent

7 conduct. It's against the rules. It's against Christian

8 example. It didn't happen.

9 And neither did we work this boy in employment. We

10 didn't produce any goods for employment. Did the boy do

11 work? Absolutely did chores in the morning, did work in the

12 afternoon to restore himself. The only tragedy here is he

13 didn't stay long enough for it to take. Thank you.

14 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we'll

15 take our luncheon recess at this time. Recall the admonition

16 with regard to no discussion of the case and so forth and so

17 on. Have a pleasant lunch. Why don't you look at returning

18 to your jury room at 2:15 p.m. Have a pleasant lunch.

19 (Court in recess from 12:58 p.m. until 2:13 p.m.)

20 (The following proceedings were held outside the

21 hearing of the jury:)

22 THE COURT: Good afternoon. I understand you all

23 had something you wanted to talk to me about?

24 MR. STILLEY: Yes, Your Honor. On the defendants'

25 exhibits in light of the rulings this morning, I'm moving to

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1 require the defendants to strike anything in their pleadings

2 about Mr. Blair's alleged pornography or impression of credit

3 cards or anything of that nature. Other than that I don't

4 have any objection to this Exhibit B. But based on the

5 Court's rulings, I think this information should be kept out

6 for a number of reasons including excessive prejudice.

7 THE COURT: Mr. Briggs.

8 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, Defendants' Exhibit A I put

9 up on the ELMO. We're specifically referring to the first

10 page of A. And what Mr. Stilley is concerned about is about

11 a third of the way down the page, I'll highlight it for the

12 Court. This is previously prepared, it's a form that

13 defendant sends to the parents who are considering enrolling

14 their children in Mountain Park. Since the purpose is to

15 minister to troubled youth, one of the things that Mountain

16 Park wants to find out is what the parents are concerned

17 about. There are several preset things; alcohol, drugs,

18 sexual activity.

19 THE COURT: Why are we concerned about it though?

20 MR. BRIGGS: Your Honor, I don't think we're

21 concerned about it at all. We aren't offering this or we

22 wouldn't offer this to prove the truth of the matter whether

23 Mr. Blair was engaging in pornography, depression of stolen

24 credit card or anything else. The only reason we might refer

25 to this exhibit would be specifically to identify what was

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1 presented to Mountain Park, what Pastor Gerhardt had as an

2 understanding that the parents believed Jordan was troubled.

3 That's the basis, not to prove that he necessarily was or to

4 establish that he necessarily was. So we aren't offering it

5 to prove --

6 THE COURT: Fine. That's excluded. What else?

7 MR. STILLEY: Your Honor, I didn't see Drew Parrish

8 here. Is Drew Parrish here?

9 MR. BRIGGS: No, he's not here yet.

10 MR. STILLEY: Your Honor, I'd move for default

11 judgment against Drew Parrish for failure to show up.

12 THE COURT: Denied.

13 MR. STILLEY: Okay. Thank you.

14 THE COURT: Anything else?

15 MR. STILLEY: That's all, Judge. Thank you.

16 MR. OLIVER: Could I have a minute? I need to

17 figure out a way to get this redacted. I'll figure it out.

18 THE COURT: Fine. Let's bring the jury on.

19 (The following proceedings continued within the

20 hearing of the jury:)

21 THE COURT: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of

22 the jury. Okay. We ready to proceed?

23 MR. STILLEY: Yes, Your Honor.

24 THE COURT: Call your first witness.

25 MR. STILLEY: Betty Sue Wills.

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1 BETTY SUE WILLS,

2 Having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as

3 follows:

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION

5 BY MR. STILLEY:

6 Q. Please state your name.

7 A. Betty Sue Wills.

8 Q. Where do you live?

9 A. Fort Meyers, Florida.

10 Q. And where do you work?

11 A. At Palm Lane in Mountain Park.

12 Q. What is the full legal name of Mountain Park?

13 A. Mountain Park Baptist Church and Mountain Park Boarding

14 Academy.

15 Q. Is that a formal organization or that just a doing

16 business as name?

17 A. It's an organization.

18 Q. Is it a corporation?

19 A. No, sir.

20 Q. Is it a partnership?

21 A. No, sir.

22 Q. Is it a sole proprietorship?

23 A. It's a church and a boarding academy.

24 Q. Okay. What is the organizational structure of the --

25 of Mountain Park?

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1 A. What is the structure?

2 Q. Right. Who owns -- let me put it like this. Who owns

3 the property that is used by this organization?

4 A. Mountain Park Baptist Church.

5 Q. Okay. Is there a legal entity called Mountain Park

6 Baptist Church?

7 A. It's a Mountain Park Baptist Church, yes, sir.

8 Q. But that's not a corporation?

9 A. No, sir, it's not a corporation.

10 Q. Whose name -- whose name is on the deed of the property

11 that the operation is on?

12 A. Mountain Park Baptist Church.

13 Q. Okay. So it's not in the name of any particular

14 individual?

15 A. No, sir.

16 Q. Okay, all right. If the operation were to dissolve and

17 cease operations, who would get the --

18 MR. OLIVER: Objection, Your Honor, where we going?

19 It's a church, not a 501c3 corporation. He's asking for

20 legal conclusions.

21 THE COURT: In the earlier ruling we were looking at

22 if there is an employer/employee relationship. We're trying

23 to -- I gave him some leeway to find out who would be the

24 employer. That's where we are with this.

25 MR. OLIVER: Well, for the record, Your Honor, then

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1 I object to inquiring tax status or tax ramifications, which

2 is all this is.

3 THE COURT: Well, maybe you all can reach an

4 agreement and make everybody happy.

5 MR. OLIVER: Your Honor, we offered to stipulate

6 it's an unincorporated voluntary association organized as an

7 independent fundamental Baptist church.

8 THE COURT: Come on up.

9 (The following proceedings were held at the bench

10 and outside the hearing of the jury:)

11 THE COURT: What I'm referring to and so I was

12 talking about earlier is if, in fact, there was a

13 determination that there was an employee/employer

14 relationship, who would be the employer.

15 MR. OLIVER: And with that regard, Judge, I don't

16 mind Mr. Stilley inquiring into who makes the decisions, who

17 had -- the criteria set out by the courts are clear it's who

18 hires and fires and sets salaries, not who gets the money if

19 the church dissolves.

20 MR. STILLEY: I want to know who has the assets on

21 that.

22 MR. OLIVER: The assets -- well, that's premature.

23 There's no judgment. There are no punitive damages in the

24 FLSA case.

25 THE COURT: I'm looking at allowing him to have some

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1 broad inquiry in terms of who the employer is. Now, one does

2 not have to admit that one is an employer. But, I mean, for

3 ownership purposes or whatever else, it could make it very,

4 very simple if you all would reach some kind of agreement.

5 Otherwise we're going to have to go through all this.

6 MR. OLIVER: I stated in opening statement

7 unequivocally that Pastor Wills, Betty Wills, and Sam

8 Gerhardt were the decision makers. They are the ones that

9 hire, fire, and set salaries. And that is the criteria, the

10 sole criteria under the pattern instructions definition of

11 who an employer is, the person who acts in the interest of

12 the employer and that's somebody who has power to fire, hire.

13 THE COURT: You all need to reach a stipulation to

14 tell this jury so there is no question about this.

15 MR. STILLEY: I think it would be in everybody's

16 advantage for them to just stipulate that all these

17 individuals are employers.

18 MR. OLIVER: We aren't.

19 THE COURT: They are not going to stipulate that --

20 MR. OLIVER: I don't agree that anybody is an

21 employer. But the people who had decision making are Pastor

22 Wills, Betty Wills, and Sam Gerhardt, that's pretty

23 straightforward.

24 MR. STILLEY: I'm going to be looking at who is

25 deriving the benefit from this, who gets the money from it.