Griffin Transcript
Griffin Transcript
Griffin Transcript
1 APPEARANCES
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Reporter Note: Due to telephonic interference, some words
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1 PROCEEDINGS
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1 that are the witnesses you want to speak to. And those
2 residents have told Mr. Pastore that they don't want to
3 participate. They don't want to be interviewed.
4 Are you not --
5 MR. WARDEN: I've explained that clearly in
6 my motion, Judge. These people are very intimidated.
7 THE COURT: So Mr. Warden -- Mr. Warden --
8 MR. WARDEN: This is a very intimating
9 organization. These people are afraid that they will be
10 denied benefits, as I was. They would be kicked out of
11 the program that they are in.
12 THE COURT: Mr. Warden, when you say things
13 like "I have explained that clearly, Judge," to me that
14 sounds like you're telling me that you think I am not the
15 brightest bulb. It sounds rude to me. I don't know if
16 that's what you're trying to do, but it's turning me off.
17 I'm asking these questions to make sure that
18 I can get clarity on what is going on.
19 MR. WARDEN: I have nothing I can add other
20 than what is in the documents I presented to the Court.
21 These people are easily intimidated. They're afraid of
22 the arbitrary and capricious actions of the people that
23 run the organization that they were a part of. They're
24 afraid of being homeless again.
25 These people -- none of these people now
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1 in the program.
2 THE COURT: Mr. Pastore, are you
3 representing that your client has reached out to all the
4 potential witnesses that we're talking about here?
5 MR. PASTORE: All the residents, yes.
6 MR. WARDEN: May I respond?
7 THE COURT: One second, Mr. Warden.
8 MR. WARDEN: I didn't know in lawsuits
9 whether you had to get the agreement of somebody to
10 testify before you could subpoena them and bring them in
11 to testify at the trial. I have a right to subpoena
12 witnesses and to bring them into trial, whether or not
13 they want to testify at all.
14 Of course, I run the risk of getting ambush
15 testimony if I use them. But like I said, none of these
16 people wanted to be involved in any kind of court process.
17 E En E is simply shielding this information,
18 like they did for a resident named Bill, who actually
19 assaulted me on E En E property. And I simply tried to
20 get his last name so I could get a restraining order.
21 Went down to the police department, went down to the
22 courts, and they said we can't give you one without a last
23 name. E En E refused to give me this guy's last name. E
24 En E obstructed my action of getting a disclaim notice.
25 That I give them the last name who was on my property when
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1 he came to my apartment.
2 THE COURT: Mr. Warden -- Mr. Warden --
3 MR. WARDEN: They simply want to hide this
4 information.
5 THE COURT: Mr. Warden, we're talking about
6 interviewing witnesses. This is the first time I've heard
7 about subpoenaing witnesses. Those are two different
8 issues.
9 If we get back to interviewing witnesses,
10 looking through this joint statement, the defendants are
11 saying that you agreed in writing to the terms, and the
12 parties agreed to a script that would be used when the
13 defendant contacted residents, asked them for their
14 consent to disclose their contact information.
15 Did you agree --
16 MR. WARDEN: Judge, I objected to it every
17 step of the way. I said, (inaudible) -- I can't remember
18 whether I agreed to anything or not. I objected in every
19 way. It was like having a shotgun to my head. I said,
20 Well, try ten. They said, We'll try ten and see what
21 happens. And they tried ten, and that's all they tried.
22 We didn't get a positive response.
23 I knew, from the beginning, that any attempt
24 preventing me to contact these people before I contacted
25 them would lead to intimidation, and these people refusal
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1 that. The issue is: Was there a promise made? What was
2 the content of that promise? Whether E En E had a basis
3 to have plaintiff leave the program before 24 months.
4 And throughout this hearing, I haven't heard
5 Mr. Warden identify any -- back to that, what a resident
6 may have that is relevant at all to either of those
7 claims.
8 So I think asking for all this information
9 is really nothing more than a fishing expedition.
10 MR. WARDEN: It's not a fishing expedition
11 at all.
12 THE COURT: Here is my thinking here,
13 Mr. Pastore, is that Mr. Warden has a right to prove his
14 case. It seems reasonable to allow him to talk to people
15 that may have been told similar things that he was told.
16 That may have been relying on statements that may be able
17 to support his allegations, either directly or by
18 inference.
19 I mean, as I understand Mr. Warden, he wants
20 to talk to a former resident to say something along the
21 lines of: I spoke to the defendants. And, yeah, you
22 know, we were doing this because they were going to pay --
23 they told me they were going to X, Y, Z. That is
24 consistent with what Mr. Warden is saying. And it seems
25 to me that he should be able to at least try to talk to
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1 this up.
2 If the minute entry could reflect that the
3 deadline for the defendant to file the stipulated
4 protective order, or if it can't be stipulated, then at
5 least an update on that is -- I'm just pulling up my
6 calendar real quick.
7 Mr. Pastore, is two weeks enough time?
8 MR. PASTORE: Yes, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: Is June 13? And if the minute
10 entry could reflect that the Court is in no way ordering
11 any of these witnesses to participate in these interviews.
12 It is completely voluntary on their behalf. This is not a
13 Court order or a subpoena. This is simply disclosing
14 contact information so that witnesses can speak to people
15 if they want to. And I'm using the term "witnesses"
16 broadly. I'm not suggesting that they actually are
17 witnesses or do have any information that would make them
18 technically a witness.
19 Mr. Pastore, any questions?
20 MR. PASTORE: Your Honor, I do have one
21 other issue that just came up. I understand you have
22 another hearing, but this is somewhat urgent.
23 Yesterday, when the parties were
24 communicating about who would be contacting the Court,
25 Mr. Warden sent me a copy of a background search that he
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6 (Court adjourned.)
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1 CERTIFICATE
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16 /s/NICHOLE FORREST
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17 Nichole Forrest, RDR, CRR, CRC, CR #50862
Official Court Reporter
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