California Evidence Code Section 240
And its description shows that Deb Daly, chief witness for this lawsuit does not meet the criteria of the
accommodation she was afforded. She was allowed to give a video taped deposition in the comfort of her apartment. Her apartment where she had lived for less than a year as opposed to the defendant's having lived there for over sixteen years. With barely any furniture...yet she had thought about buying patio furniture and could not because of the water of mass destruction from a lady watering her plants.
Now. This woman has something in common with the attorney for the landlady in that they both are so surprized that it ever rains in Beverly Hills. In fact she says she was so surprized to think it might be raining.
Almost as though she were coached. Now remember rain didnt wake her up...the noise of the neighbors loud parties didnt wake her up. The only thing that woke her up was that little plant waterer.And she even knows how many times it did. And the reason she didnt put patio furniture outside was because of that little plant waterer. She had no furniture in her house but she was thinking about patio furniture but that was OUT because of that weapon of mass destruction called a plant waterer. .So what is it about the water from that
little plant waterer. Its very simple. It was a convenient vehicle to harass and force a disabled lady to be evicted from her home where she had lived for more than 16 years and the tenant who lived right below her where the Ms Daly moved never complained about the little plant waterer. Does all of this add up to a conspiracy. ????
11:49:49 16 I noticed your apartment is rather
11:49:52 17 bare of furniture.
18 A. Yeah.
11:49:53 19 Q. What is that all about?
11:49:55 20 A. Money.
And then of course the attorney objected not to allow her to tell you it’s about money.
All the furniture in the patio belongs to the building. They were all here when we moved in 16 years and 9 months ago. People sit on them, and enjoy their weekends talking to their guests and family. There have been several parties in the patio. The elderly tenants, of whom the building still has many, walk around the patio all the time, the day you came to take photos, you saw one such elderly tenant who was walking around the patio until we came in. You inadvertently have her photo in one those photos you took of the backyard; she was by the door when you took the photo and I believe was in yellow t-shirt and she has white hair. Show that photo to the court please. Clearly they are in the backyard a lot for you to come across one of them randomly when you were here to take a photo. My next door’s neighbor kids sit there all the time and talk. How absurd to suggest otherwise, like saying you can’t walk on the pavement by my front door, from one borders of my house to the other end because it is in front of my house!
Daly said quite a few times that she did not know that the pot came from my apartment and in fact she said she believed it did not.
Page 11 lines 19 and 20
but I don't know that it was from that
10:20:24 20 apartment.
Page 36 lines 10 to 12
I don't think it -- frankly, I don't
10:45:41 12 think it came from above.
10:45:42 13 Q. Okay.
Page 8, line 8
but I would say at
10:16:32 8 least 10 times. Probably less than 25 times.
Page 78, lines 7 and 8
So, you know, 10 to 25 times
11:45:49 8 maybe over the past year.
Page 76, lines 1 and two
there's nothing for a week and a half or two
11:43:10 2 weeks.
Which is also consistent with 10 to less than 25 times.
Then on the stand when(Ed Sands) you mention the ten to 25 times she said that she thought about it after the deposition was taken and that that was not correct and when(Ed Sands) you asked her why she did not correct it, she said sincerely, emphatically, angrily that she was sure she could not change it. Well I remembered that off the record you took time to explain to her that she has three weeks to read the deposition and make corrections and then on the record:
Page 90, line 21
he will have three weeks to arrange for Ms. Daly to
12:02:17 22 go through the deposition, make any changes either
12:02:21 23 within the transcript or the back of it, sign it
12:02:25 24 under penalty of perjury.
Page 91, line 4
3 He will also, by the end of the three weeks
12:02:42 4 and no later, notify me of any changes or
12:02:44 5 corrections or additions that Ms. Daly has made.
Now I have but one ceramic pot which belonged to my grandmother and my mother brought from Iran with loving care which is hand painted and beautiful and even though it is only a pot we keep it inside under wraps as if it is a national treasure. I have no ceramic pots, the building however has many arranged around the small garden in the middle of the yard, I actually remember one that I used to see but was missing when I went around the yard to record the debris after the deposition. The reason why I remember it is that I found it pretty. But then again that might not be what happened to it.
The one pot that I had was secured professionally to the railing and was not put on top of it, and it is of plastic and has a small cherry tomatoes bush, nothing was ever set on the balcony railing, not even a hair.
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Page 1
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - BEVERLY HILLS COURTHOUSE
WOLF & ASSOCIATES, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. ) Case No. 12U00223
)
AFSANEH MOBASSER; and DOES ) Volume I
1 to 10; inclusive, )
)
Defendants. )
____________________________)
VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF DEBORAH DALY
Los Angeles, California
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Reported by: Alla Ponto
CSR No. 11046
NDS Job No.: 150205
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2 (Pages 2 to 5)
Page 2
1 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
2 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - BEVERLY HILLS COURTHOUSE
3
4
5 WOLF & ASSOCIATES, )
)
6 Plaintiff, )
)
7 vs. ) Case No. 12U00223
)
8 AFSANEH MOBASSER; and DOES ) Volume I
1 to 10; inclusive, )
9 )
Defendants. )
10 ____________________________)
11
12
13
14
15 VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF DEBORAH DALY,
16 taken on behalf of the Plaintiff, at 115 North
17 Doheny Drive, Unit 115, Los Angeles, California,
18 beginning at 10:13 a.m. and ending at 12:03
19 p.m., on Thursday, August 2, 2012, before Alla
20 Ponto, a Certified Shorthand Reporter No. 11046.
21
22
23
24
25
Page 3
1 APPEARANCES:
2
3 For the Plaintiff:
4 LAW FIRM OF HAROLD GREENBERG
BY: HAROLD GREENBERG, ESQ.
5 MARK E. BEALLO, ESQ.
2263 South Harvard Boulevard
6 Los Angeles, California 90018
(323) 732-9536
7 hglawfirm@aol.com
8
BRENNAN LAW FIRM
9 BY: MICHAEL A. BRENNAN, ESQ.
(Not Present)
10 67 East Live Oak Avenue
Suite 105
11 Arcadia, California 91006
(626) 294-0500
12 michael@mbrennanlaw.com
13
14 For the Defendants:
15 LAW OFFICES OF EDWARD I. SANDS
BY: EDWARD I. SANDS, ESQ.
16 835 South Lucerne Boulevard
Suite 110
17 Los Angeles, California 90005
(323) 931-6990
18 edsands@ca.rr.com
19
20 Also Present:
21 AFSANEH MOBASSER
22 CRAIG SCHUMACHER, The Videographer
23
24
25
Page 4
1 INDEX
2
3 WITNESS
4 DEBORAH DALY
5 EXAMINATION PAGE
6 BY MR. GREENBERG 6
7 BY MR. SANDS 14, 79, 88
8 BY MR. BEALLO 70, 87
9
10
11 EXHIBITS
12 MARKED DESCRIPTION PAGE
13 Exhibit 1 E-Mail from Justin to Deborah, dated 13
3/12/12
14
15
16 QUESTIONS WITNESS
17 INSTRUCTED NOT TO ANSWER
18 (None)
19
20
21 INFORMATION REQUESTED
22 (None)
23
24
25
Page 5
1 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA;
2 THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012; 10:13 A.M.
3
10:13:17 4 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good morning. We're on
10:13:18 5 the record at 10:12 a.m., August 2, 2012, for the
10:13:24 6 videotaped deposition of Deborah Daly.
10:13:27 7 We're taping this deposition at 115 Doheny
10:13:32 8 Drive in Los Angeles, California, in the action
10:13:35 9 entitled Wolf & Associates versus Mobasser, Case
10:13:39 10 No. 120 -- excuse me -- 12U00223.
10:13:45 11 My name is Craig Schumacher. I am the
10:13:47 12 video production specialist from Network Deposition
10:13:51 13 Services located in Century City, California.
10:13:53 14 This is Tape No. 1 of Volume I.
10:13:56 15 Would counsel and all present please
10:13:59 16 identify yourselves for the record.
10:14:00 17 MR. GREENBERG: Harold Greenberg for the
10:14:02 18 Plaintiff Wolf & Associates.
10:14:03 19 MR. SANDS: I'm Edward Sands for the
10:14:06 20 Defendant Afsaneh Mobasser. And next to me is
10:14:08 21 Ms. Mobasser.
10:14:10 22 THE WITNESS: Deborah Daly.
23 ///
24 ///
25 ///
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Page 6
1 DEBORAH DALY,
2 called as a witness by and on behalf of
3 the Plaintiff, being first duly sworn, was
4 examined and testified as follows:
5
6 EXAMINATION
7 BY MR. GREENBERG:
10:14:25 8 Q. Can you state and spell your name for the
10:14:28 9 record, please.
10:14:28 10 A. Deborah Daly, D-e-b-o-r-a-h, D-a-l-y.
10:14:33 11 Q. Have you ever had your deposition taken
10:14:35 12 before?
10:14:36 13 A. Once in a case in New York about 20 years
10:14:40 14 ago.
10:14:41 15 Q. You are under oath; and even though this is
10:14:44 16 a very informal setting today, it has the same force
10:14:49 17 and effect as though you were in court.
10:14:51 18 A. Okay.
10:14:52 19 Q. You have sworn to the tell the truth, the
10:14:54 20 whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
10:14:56 21 If at any time you cannot hear my voice,
10:14:58 22 please indicate, and I will speak louder. If at any
10:15:03 23 time you do not understand any question, indicate
10:15:06 24 that, and I will rephrase.
10:15:09 25 A. Okay.
Page 7
10:15:10 1 Q. As you are doing now, you are audibly
10:15:13 2 responding. The court reporter cannot interpret if
10:15:17 3 you nod your head, move it side to side, shrug, or
10:15:21 4 say "uh-huh" or "huh-uh." You've got to respond
10:15:24 5 audibly.
10:15:25 6 A. Okay.
10:15:26 7 Q. In addition to that, if at any time you
10:15:29 8 want to take a break, feel free. Just indicate --
10:15:32 9 for whatever reason you want to take a break -- and
10:15:35 10 we'll do so.
10:15:36 11 A. Okay.
10:15:37 12 Q. During the last 24-hours, have you taken
10:15:41 13 any alcoholic beverage?
10:15:43 14 A. No.
10:15:44 15 Q. Have you had any type of medicine of any
10:15:49 16 type which would affect your ability to relate,
10:15:53 17 remember, or to communicate?
10:15:55 18 A. No.
10:15:55 19 Q. Is there any reason why this deposition
10:15:59 20 should not go forward?
10:16:01 21 A. No.
10:16:02 22 Q. How long have you been a tenant at this
10:16:06 23 particular unit?
10:16:07 24 A. Just a little less than one year.
10:16:10 25 Q. And approximately when did you move in?
Page 8
10:16:13 1 A. I think it was August 6, 2011.
10:16:16 2 Q. Since that particular time, have you had
10:16:21 3 occasion when there have been water cascading from
10:16:26 4 above?
10:16:27 5 A. Yes.
10:16:27 6 Q. And approximately how many times?
10:16:29 7 A. It's hard to remember, but I would say at
10:16:32 8 least 10 times. Probably less than 25 times.
10:16:37 9 Somewhere in that range.
10:16:39 10 Q. In addition to that, do you on occasion
10:16:42 11 find debris on the outside of the property?
10:16:46 12 A. There's often leaves and twigs and debris
10:16:49 13 from plants on my patio. Yes.
10:16:51 14 Q. Any potting soil of any type?
10:16:54 15 A. Not really soil unless, you know, if
10:16:57 16 something has fallen, but mostly just leaves and
10:17:01 17 twigs.
10:17:02 18 Q. Just so we're clear on the record, when I
10:17:05 19 said "property," I mean this particular unit. I'm
10:17:07 20 not talking about the whole building.
10:17:09 21 A. Correct. I am just talking about my area
10:17:12 22 outside of my apartment.
10:17:14 23 Q. Correct. In fact, I notice debris outside
10:17:17 24 the unit today.
10:17:18 25 A. Correct.
Page 9
10:17:19 1 Q. When did that occur?
10:17:20 2 A. There was water coming down at 12:21 a.m.
10:17:23 3 last night.
10:17:26 4 Q. Now, in addition to, say, last night at
10:17:31 5 12:21 -- actually, I assume it would be this
10:17:34 6 morning, today's date?
10:17:35 7 A. Correct.
10:17:36 8 Q. On other occasions, have you had water
10:17:39 9 coming down on hours when you would normally be
10:17:44 10 sleeping?
10:17:45 11 A. Yes.
10:17:45 12 Q. And approximately what times?
10:17:48 13 A. Well, often there's watering at 1:00 a.m.
10:17:55 14 A couple of weeks ago, it was a couple of times at
10:17:57 15 4:00 a.m. It seems to vary. I mean, somewhere
10:18:02 16 between 9:30 and 4:00 a.m. tends to be the time that
10:18:05 17 I notice water coming down.
10:18:08 18 Q. In any manner has this affected your
10:18:11 19 ability to reside in this particular unit?
10:18:14 20 A. Well, I chose this unit because it had
10:18:19 21 outdoor space, and not only a balcony, but a patio,
10:18:20 22 which I really wanted. And I haven't been able to
10:18:22 23 utilize it really because I don't want to put
10:18:26 24 furniture out there that might get ruined by the
10:18:26 25 water. And I never know when the water is going to
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Page 10
10:18:29 1 come down; so I don't really go out there.
10:18:32 2 Q. Is that forcing you to leave at the end of
10:18:35 3 your lease?
10:18:35 4 A. It's one of the reasons.
10:18:37 5 Q. And as far as the material that comes from
10:18:44 6 above, has there also been water that has made
10:18:46 7 contact with you on your person?
10:18:48 8 A. The first time I heard the water, which was
10:18:53 9 probably in August of last year, I went out to see
10:18:55 10 what it was. I thought it was raining outside, and
10:18:58 11 I walked out, and I did get wet. And I didn't -- it
10:19:01 12 was pretty light at the time; then I realized it was
10:19:05 13 coming down harder; so I jumped back into my
10:19:07 14 apartment, and I yelled up, you know --
10:19:09 15 When I realized it was coming from an
10:19:10 16 apartment above, I yelled up, "Excuse me. You're
10:19:13 17 getting me wet."
10:19:14 18 But there was no response; so I just came
10:19:16 19 back in my apartment. And that's when I -- or
10:19:18 20 shortly after when I noticed it was consistent that
10:19:20 21 I contacted the building manager.
10:19:23 22 Q. When you say "the quantity of water coming
10:19:29 23 down," why did you think it was rain?
10:19:31 24 A. It sounded from inside like just rain on
10:19:34 25 the patio. You know, I was surprised that it was
Page 11
10:19:38 1 raining in L.A.; So that's why I went out and said,
10:19:41 2 "What is going on here? Is this rain?" And then I
10:19:44 3 realized it was coming from just the one described
10:19:45 4 area; so it couldn't have been rain. It was just
10:19:47 5 raining on my area.
10:19:49 6 Q. In other words, it was fairly heavy?
10:19:51 7 A. Yeah.
8 (Interruption in the proceedings.)
10:19:54 9 MR. GREENBERG: Excuse me. Hello? No. I
10:19:58 10 don't need them. That's okay. Thanks. Bye.
10:20:01 11 THE WITNESS: Actually, it always starts as
10:20:04 12 a trickle, and then it gets a little heavier, and
10:20:06 13 then it stops.
10:20:07 14 BY MR. GREENBERG:
10:20:08 15 Q. In addition to the water and the debris as
10:20:12 16 we see outside today, at any time has a pot come
10:20:17 17 down?
10:20:17 18 A. There was a pot that fell during one of the
10:20:21 19 windstorms, but I don't know that it was from that
10:20:24 20 apartment.
10:20:24 21 Q. Okay. But a pot did fall?
10:20:26 22 A. A pot fell and crashed in the middle of the
10:20:27 23 night, like, at 4:00 a.m. and woke me up. It was
10:20:29 24 one of those very severe windstorms that we had in
10:20:32 25 L.A., and I noticed a pot and the debris on the
Page 12
10:20:34 1 ground the next morning as well.
10:20:36 2 Q. Do you recall about when that occurred?
10:20:39 3 A. I really don't. I'm so bad with dates.
10:20:42 4 Q. As far as the water coming down which
10:20:44 5 actually made contact with you, when, if at all, did
10:20:47 6 that occur, if you recall?
10:20:49 7 A. I think the first time was truly very soon
10:20:52 8 after I moved in. So I would say August or
9 September of last year.
10:20:55 10 And then more recently, maybe three months
10:20:58 11 ago, there was another incident on a Saturday
10:21:00 12 afternoon when I was outside and just looking around
10:21:05 13 and, you know, investigating the flowers, and water
10:21:07 14 started coming down. And I looked up because now I
10:21:10 15 knew it was coming from the apartment above. And I
10:21:12 16 did yell to the tenant, "Excuse me. You're getting
10:21:14 17 me wet."
10:21:15 18 And she came to the railing and said, "Oh,
10:21:18 19 my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't notice. Let me
10:21:19 20 stop." And she stopped.
10:21:21 21 Q. You're referring to "the tenant." Is that
10:21:23 22 the lady sitting next to you?
10:21:25 23 A. Yes. I don't really recognize her because
10:21:27 24 I only saw her quickly over the edge, but, yes.
10:21:28 25 Q. In other words, she did apologize to you;
Page 13
10:21:30 1 is that correct?
10:21:30 2 A. She did. And she stopped.
10:21:33 3 Q. Other than that particular time, have you
10:21:34 4 had you any other contact with her?
10:21:36 5 A. No.
10:21:37 6 Q. It's the only time you discussed with her
10:21:41 7 water coming down?
10:21:42 8 A. Correct.
10:21:43 9 Q. I'm showing you what purports to be a
10:22:13 10 letter or e-mail dated March 12, 2012, at 5:53 a.m.
10:22:22 11 I'll have it marked as Plaintiff's
10:22:23 12 Exhibit 1 for identification.
10:22:25 13 I'm showing a copy to counsel.
10:22:32 14 (Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 was marked for
15 identification by the court reporter and
10:23:02 16 is attached hereto.)
10:23:02 17 BY MR. GREENBERG:
10:23:02 18 Q. Do you recognize it?
10:23:03 19 A. Yes.
10:23:04 20 Q. How do you recognize it?
10:23:05 21 A. I remember writing it to him.
10:23:09 22 Q. You --
10:23:09 23 A. I remember asking if I, you know, first
10:23:12 24 should confront her myself, and they told me "No,"
10:23:15 25 to let them know about it, and that they would
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Page 14
10:23:18 1 handle it.
10:23:19 2 Q. And the information concerned in
10:23:21 3 Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 for identification, you do
10:23:24 4 recognize it?
10:23:25 5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And the --
10:23:26 7 A. And that is my e-mail address.
10:23:28 8 Q. And the facts contained therein were true
10:23:30 9 and correct at the time you prepared it?
10:23:33 10 A. Yes.
10:23:33 11 Q. Is there anything on that particular
10:23:36 12 document which you feel is not accurate?
10:23:39 13 A. No.
10:23:45 14 MR. GREENBERG: I have no further
10:23:46 15 questions.
10:23:47 16 MR. SANDS: I've got several.
10:23:50 17 MR. GREENBERG: Please.
10:23:50 18
10:23:51 19 EXAMINATION
10:23:51 20 BY MR. SANDS:
10:23:58 21 Q. Ms. Daly, you have a lease at this
10:24:03 22 apartment?
10:24:03 23 A. Correct.
10:24:04 24 Q. It expires when?
10:24:05 25 A. I believe August 6 of this year.
Page 15
10:24:08 1 Q. That's beginning of next week?
10:24:11 2 A. Correct.
10:24:11 3 Q. Are you leaving?
10:24:12 4 A. No, not yet.
10:24:14 5 Q. You -- you've said that one of the reasons
10:24:20 6 that you are planning to leave -- if I understand
10:24:24 7 your testimony correctly -- was because of the water
10:24:27 8 and the other incidents from the apartment above;
10:24:29 9 correct?
10:24:29 10 A. It's one of the reasons. It's not the most
10:24:30 11 compelling.
10:24:32 12 Q. I understand that.
10:24:32 13 So first of all, you are definitely
10:24:33 14 leaving?
10:24:33 15 A. I'm on a month-to-month.
10:24:35 16 Q. I know that.
10:24:36 17 A. I'm looking for a place to possibly buy.
10:24:38 18 Q. Have you given notice?
10:24:39 19 A. No.
10:24:40 20 Q. And what are the other reasons than the
10:24:45 21 problems from the upstairs apartment that are
10:24:48 22 causing you to leave?
10:24:50 23 A. Basically that I might like to buy
10:24:52 24 something. There's a chance I may move back to New
10:24:58 25 York. But if I do find another apartment, outdoor
Page 16
10:25:02 1 space would be something that would be very
10:25:04 2 important to me.
10:25:05 3 Q. The e-mail -- Exhibit 1?
10:25:22 4 MR. GREENBERG: Yes.
10:25:22 5 BY MR. SANDS:
10:25:23 6 Q. Exhibit 1 to this deposition was sent by
10:25:26 7 you on March 11th --
10:25:27 8 A. Uh-huh.
10:25:28 9 Q. -- of this year?
10:25:29 10 A. Uh-huh.
10:25:30 11 MR. GREENBERG: "Yes"?
10:25:32 12 BY MR. SANDS:
10:25:32 13 Q. You have to say "yes" or "no."
10:25:33 14 A. I'm sorry. Yes, it was.
10:25:35 15 Q. By then you lived here --
10:25:40 16 A. Six months.
10:25:40 17 Q. -- about seven or eight months; correct?
10:25:43 18 A. I thought I said six months in here, but
10:25:47 19 maybe August, September.
10:25:49 20 Q. I am not haggling over that, but a number
10:25:50 21 of months?
10:25:51 22 A. Yeah.
10:25:52 23 Q. Had you reached out to the management of
10:25:57 24 this apartment house prior to March 11th regarding
10:26:03 25 whatever it was from the upstairs that was troubling
Page 17
10:26:06 1 you?
10:26:06 2 A. I reached out either verbally or in person
10:26:10 3 to, I believe, Justin, not Roger. Maybe I called
10:26:16 4 Rosalie, but I don't recall.
10:26:18 5 Q. Who -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.
10:26:20 6 A. I know I was concerned about it early on
10:26:23 7 because that's when I was ready to buy furniture and
10:26:27 8 set everything up. And as you can see, I ended up
10:26:31 9 not doing any of it.
10:26:32 10 But -- so I know I voiced concerns, but I
10:26:35 11 also wanted to go up and be neighborly and say
10:26:38 12 perhaps this woman doesn't know that it's raining
10:26:40 13 down on me, and I would like to just talk to her.
10:26:41 14 And I was told not to approach her.
10:26:43 15 Q. Who is Justin?
10:26:45 16 A. Justin was, I believe, the assistant
10:26:47 17 building manager who is no longer here.
10:26:48 18 Q. Was he living here?
10:26:49 19 A. Yes.
10:26:51 20 Q. Okay.
10:26:51 21 A. And he was aware of the problem. When I
10:26:53 22 mentioned it to him, he said --
10:26:54 23 Q. Do me a favor. Just answer my questions.
10:26:57 24 A. Okay.
10:26:57 25 Q. Thanks.
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Page 18
10:26:58 1 Who is Roger?
10:26:59 2 A. Roger is the current building manager.
10:27:03 3 Q. Did they overlap?
10:27:05 4 A. They were both here at the same time, yes.
10:27:07 5 Q. And both living here?
10:27:08 6 A. And both living here.
10:27:11 7 Q. Regarding water coming down, let me --
10:27:17 8 I'm looking out at the outside from your
10:27:20 9 apartment.
10:27:21 10 A. Correct.
10:27:21 11 Q. And you used the expression your "patio"
10:27:24 12 before.
10:27:24 13 Is there an area out there that is
10:27:26 14 delineated or set off as your patio as opposed to
10:27:31 15 the common outside patio not specifically to be used
10:27:39 16 exclusively by you?
10:27:40 17 A. I don't think it's formally delineated that
10:27:43 18 way, but I was told that -- as you can see how
10:27:46 19 people set things up, they sort of -- when their
10:27:49 20 window ends, they make their delineations there. So
10:27:53 21 I would assume mine was from here to where that
10:27:57 22 table is out there (indicating).
10:27:58 23 Q. Actually, I do see how people do set things
10:28:01 24 up.
10:28:02 25 A. Correct.
Page 19
10:28:02 1 Q. And I noticed right across the large -- I
10:28:06 2 will call this whole area the "outside." There's a
10:28:13 3 table and a number of chairs that are jetting out at
10:28:16 4 least six, seven feet back to the very edge of,
10:28:22 5 sort, a central area where you couldn't put anything
10:28:25 6 more.
7 A. Right.
10:28:25 8 Q. It's fair to say, isn't it, that whether
10:28:28 9 they are permitted to or not, people living in the
10:28:31 10 downstairs use that outside and put their furniture
10:28:36 11 any place that's convenient for them out there;
10:28:39 12 isn't it true?
10:28:39 13 A. I think any place that is outside their
10:28:42 14 space. I don't think somebody from that apartment
10:28:44 15 would put their -- I don't think the person next to
10:28:47 16 me would move his furniture right directly in front
10:28:51 17 of my patio doors.
10:28:52 18 Q. Prior to March 11th, the date of this
10:29:01 19 e-mail, on how many occasions would you say that you
10:29:04 20 were actually hit by water when you were outside of
10:29:09 21 your apartment?
10:29:09 22 A. I think this one probably refers to the
10:29:12 23 second time when I did call up and she stopped. So
10:29:15 24 I would say a total of two times. The first time
10:29:18 25 was very soon after I moved in when I went out to
Page 20
10:29:20 1 see if it was raining.
10:29:21 2 Q. That might have been August sometime?
10:29:23 3 A. Or September.
10:29:24 4 Q. Okay.
10:29:24 5 A. And then this must have been the second
10:29:27 6 time.
10:29:27 7 Q. And then is it a fair statement, based on
10:29:32 8 what you said earlier, that there would have been
10:29:34 9 another 8 to 23 times since March 11th where you
10:29:40 10 have been hit by water?
10:29:42 11 You know where I got those two numbers
10:29:44 12 from?
10:29:44 13 MR. GREENBERG: Objection; misstates
14 testimony.
15 MR. SANDS: That's why it was in the form
16 of a question.
17 BY MR. SANDS:
10:29:47 18 Q. Is that a fair statement?
10:29:48 19 A. I'm sorry. Could you repeat the statement?
20 Q. Sure.
10:29:51 21 Is it a fair statement that from March 11
10:29:53 22 until this day today, you've been hit by water with
10:30:01 23 water cascading down from above 8 to 23 times?
10:30:05 24 I'll tell you right now. That number --
25 you've testified that all together since you've been
Page 21
1 here, water has been cascading down from above 10 to
2 25 times?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. Two of those times you've identified as
10:30:18 5 from the date you moved in and the date of this
10:30:18 6 e-mail?
10:30:19 7 A. Correct.
10:30:20 8 Q. So is the 8 to 23 figure correct?
10:30:22 9 A. I have not been hit by water. Water has
10:30:26 10 come down.
10:30:26 11 Q. And in each of those 25 -- 10 to 25
10:30:28 12 occasions is the word -- I don't mean to be
10:30:33 13 patronizing to you, but my guess is you're an
14 intelligent, educated woman.
10:30:37 15 Is the word "cascading" a fair description
10:30:40 16 of each of those times when water came down?
10:30:43 17 A. Yes.
10:30:43 18 Q. Didn't drip down? It didn't fall down? It
10:30:50 19 cascaded down?
10:30:51 20 A. It starts as a dribble or a trickle, it
10:30:55 21 gets heavier like a cascade, and then it stops.
10:30:59 22 Q. And then explain -- you identified for
10:31:19 23 me -- you told me --
10:31:21 24 You told us that everything in this e-mail
10:31:22 25 is true, as far as you know, or as far as you're
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Page 22
10:31:26 1 concerned.
10:31:28 2 What did you mean in your e-mail by the
10:31:32 3 word "bucketful" and specifically "bucket"?
10:31:36 4 A. Just that there was a fair amount of water
10:31:44 5 that fell on my head, and it felt as if -- you know,
10:31:50 6 you kind of can feel like when somebody is watering
10:31:53 7 from a watering can sort of feels like. I don't
10:31:54 8 think she dumped a bucket over the top, but I think
10:31:57 9 there was enough force of the water coming over the
10:32:02 10 terrace that it just felt like somebody had poured a
10:32:03 11 bucked of water.
10:32:03 12 Q. Right. Now, I went on line after I got
10:32:08 13 this e-mail of yours, and I looked up the word
10:32:12 14 "bucket," and specifically the content, the size of
10:32:16 15 a bucket. And you may not wish to adopt this
10:32:21 16 definition, but the suggestion that I saw on line
10:32:23 17 was that a bucket generally holds about five gallons
10:32:26 18 of water.
10:32:27 19 Does that sound about right to you?
10:32:29 20 A. Yeah.
10:32:30 21 Q. Now, you said you didn't think that
10:32:33 22 somebody simply took a bucket or the equivalent
10:32:36 23 amount of water and --
10:32:38 24 A. No.
10:32:38 25 Q. -- dumped it? That was not your sense;
Page 23
1 right?
2 A. No.
10:32:40 3 Q. Rather an amount of water equal to a
10:32:43 4 bucketful that came down -- that's what you intended
10:32:46 5 to say in this e-mail; correct?
10:32:47 6 A. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't specifically trying
10:32:49 7 to be -- I wasn't parsing my words when I did this.
10:32:52 8 Q. No. I understand that.
10:32:53 9 A. It was just a simple e-mail.
10:32:55 10 Q. I guess the question I've got for you is
10:32:56 11 you are standing out on the -- what you described as
10:33:00 12 your part of the patio, and water is coming down.
10:33:04 13 It's not that somebody is emptying a huge bucket of
10:33:08 14 water so that you couldn't have a chance to get
15 inside.
10:33:10 16 Did you stand there while you supposed five
10:33:13 17 gallons of water fell on your head?
10:33:14 18 A. The second time --
10:33:15 19 Q. I'm talking about the time that you
10:33:17 20 described --
10:33:18 21 A. Yeah. I think that's the second time.
10:33:19 22 Q. Whatever it was --
23 A. Right.
10:33:19 24 Q. -- I am talking about specifically the time
10:33:21 25 that you are describing in your e-mail where you
Page 24
10:33:25 1 say -- I will quote it: "Last week I got a
10:33:27 2 bucketful of water on my head before I jumped
10:33:32 3 inside."
10:33:33 4 A. Yes. I think it was coming -- it comes
10:33:37 5 down slowly at first, and then it comes down more
10:33:39 6 quickly. I was standing out there, calling to her,
10:33:43 7 hoping that she would stop it, and a lot of water
10:33:46 8 was coming down while I was communicating with her;
10:33:49 9 and then, of course, I jumped back inside, and she
10:33:52 10 said she would stop.
10:33:53 11 Q. In other words, you were looking up, facing
10:33:54 12 outside or facing towards your apartment?
10:33:57 13 Do you recall?
10:33:57 14 A. Facing towards my apartment.
10:33:58 15 Q. Right.
10:33:59 16 Were you looking up there as water was
10:33:59 17 coming down relatively slowly? You were yelling at
10:34:02 18 her, or calling up to her --
10:34:04 19 A. Correct.
10:34:05 20 Q. -- while you permitted five gallons of
10:34:07 21 water, more or less, to fall on your head; is that a
10:34:09 22 fair statement?
10:34:09 23 A. I don't think it was a full five gallons of
10:34:12 24 water. Again, I think a bucketful was just a choice
10:34:14 25 of words that I made without a lot of consideration.
Page 25
10:34:18 1 It was a fair amount of water. It got me
10:34:21 2 wet, it got my hair wet, and, you know, I called out
10:34:25 3 to her, and she stopped.
10:34:27 4 Q. Who instructed you that you should not try
10:34:35 5 to reach out and communicate -- and these are my
10:34:39 6 words, not yours -- and try to seek some sort of
10:34:42 7 resolution or accommodation with your upstairs
10:34:45 8 neighbor?
10:34:45 9 A. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think it
10:34:48 10 was Justin because he was the person I was mostly
10:34:49 11 dealing with about this issue when I first moved
10:34:51 12 here.
10:34:52 13 Q. Let me be clear one more time about
10:34:56 14 something.
10:34:57 15 Between the day you moved in and
10:35:00 16 March 11th, and not counting the incident of the
10:35:04 17 night before March 11th, the ones that you referred
10:35:07 18 to in this e-mail, how many times was there any sort
10:35:10 19 of an incident involving your upstairs neighbor that
10:35:13 20 you found disturbing to you?
10:35:15 21 You mentioned there was one water incident,
10:35:17 22 I think?
10:35:17 23 A. One time that I got wet.
10:35:19 24 Q. Right. Any other incidents that were
10:35:22 25 disturbing to you?
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10:35:22 1 A. Well, it's disturbing that it wakes me up
10:35:23 2 at night, but I have not gotten wet by it because I
10:35:26 3 have not been outside at 1:00 a.m.
10:35:28 4 Q. Right. Once again, whatever the
10:35:30 5 incidents -- I will ask you what the incidents were
10:35:32 6 in a moment.
10:35:33 7 What incidents between the day you moved
10:35:35 8 in -- and I will call it "March 10th" -- not
10:35:39 9 counting the bucket -- and I know it's just a term
10:35:42 10 or phrase.
10:35:42 11 Not counting the bucket incident, how many
10:35:46 12 times was there some incident that you found
10:35:47 13 troublesome that you attribute to your upstairs
10:35:51 14 neighbor?
10:35:51 15 A. Once.
10:35:52 16 Q. And -- so is it also a fair statement that,
10:35:56 17 at most, between the date that you moved in and
10:36:00 18 March 10th, not counting the bucket incident, you
10:36:04 19 would have talked to or reached out to either Justin
10:36:09 20 or Roger only one time?
10:36:10 21 A. No. I talked to them about it.
10:36:13 22 Q. I'm talking about the six months now --
10:36:15 23 A. Yeah.
10:36:15 24 Q. -- more or less.
10:36:16 25 A. I mean, I was more vocal about it earlier
Page 27
10:36:19 1 on just, you know, continuing to tell them verbally
10:36:22 2 if I saw them in the hall, "Hey, by the way, what's
10:36:26 3 going on with the neighbor upstairs? I still hear
10:36:28 4 water coming down on my patio."
10:36:31 5 And they would say, "We're taking care of
10:36:33 6 it. Don't worry about it."
10:36:34 7 And at some point, I just resigned myself
10:36:36 8 to the fact that nothing was ever going to happen,
10:36:39 9 and I just didn't use my patio.
10:36:39 10 Q. Did you feel that you were actually under
10:36:42 11 some sort of a legal prohibition from talking to
10:36:46 12 Ms. Mobasser directly about whatever you felt was
10:36:49 13 troublesome?
10:36:50 14 A. I didn't feel like it was a legal
10:36:52 15 restriction. I just felt like if they said they
10:36:56 16 were handling it and they are the building
10:36:57 17 management, then I defer to them.
10:37:01 18 Q. Is it a fair statement that whatever
10:37:09 19 incidents up from the upstairs neighbor you found
10:37:13 20 troublesome were more frequent after March 11th, the
10:37:17 21 date of the your e-mail, than before?
10:37:20 22 A. I think it was consistent. I don't think
10:37:22 23 it got any worse.
10:37:24 24 Q. You said -- let me interrupt myself.
10:37:30 25 Let's take a look at that e-mail.
Page 28
10:37:31 1 You see where -- the paragraph that starts,
10:37:36 2 "Should I voice this to Roger and Rosalie?"
10:37:37 3 A. Uh-huh.
10:37:38 4 Q. It suggests to me -- tell me if I'm
10:37:40 5 wrong -- that until then, this e-mail, you had not
10:37:43 6 voiced your concerns to Roger?
10:37:45 7 A. Yes. That would probably make sense.
10:37:46 8 Q. So until then, you had only talked to
10:37:49 9 Justin?
10:37:50 10 A. Yes.
10:37:50 11 Q. And the e-mail is addressed to -- who is it
10:37:57 12 addressed to?
10:37:59 13 A. It's addressed to Justin on top.
10:38:02 14 Q. Okay. Who is Rosalie?
10:38:04 15 A. She is the building owner.
10:38:07 16 Q. You know her personally?
10:38:10 17 A. Yes. I met her several times.
10:38:12 18 Q. Did you know her at the time of this
10:38:13 19 e-mail?
10:38:15 20 A. Yes. I found that generally she doesn't --
10:38:19 21 Q. I'm sorry. I am raising my hand to you.
10:38:22 22 It's not my question.
10:38:23 23 You had known her personally?
10:38:24 24 A. Yes. I met her when I signed my lease.
10:38:27 25 Q. Got it.
Page 29
10:38:28 1 You say in that paragraph that we were just
10:38:31 2 starting to look at, "Should I voice this to Roger
10:38:36 3 and Rosalie? I'm going to need to step this up a
10:38:39 4 bit."
10:38:39 5 Now, first of all, what did you mean by
6 that?
10:38:42 7 A. That I -- if Justin wasn't able to make any
10:38:46 8 headway, I would like to maybe speak to his
10:38:49 9 superiors, which would have been Roger or Rosalie.
10:38:52 10 Q. Is that the only thing you meant by
10:38:54 11 "stepping things up"?
10:38:56 12 A. Yes.
10:38:56 13 Q. Then you say, "Seems really unfair that I
10:38:59 14 have to put up with this unruly tenant."
10:39:02 15 And, again, I'm not -- I appreciate your
10:39:06 16 writing is on the fly as it were, and you are not
10:39:10 17 super careful with your words, and I wouldn't expect
10:39:12 18 you to.
10:39:13 19 The word "unruly," though, what were you
10:39:15 20 trying to convey?
10:39:16 21 A. Just that, again, I felt like I wasn't able
10:39:19 22 to use my patio, and I was also fearful that
10:39:22 23 something might fall.
10:39:23 24 There's lots of hanging plants. I mean,
10:39:25 25 should there be an earthquake or something, that I
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Page 30
10:39:27 1 could be injured being out there.
10:39:29 2 Q. Your e-mail started off by asking Justin,
10:39:40 3 "Is there a two bedroom for rent? What is the
10:39:46 4 monthly rent? Is it open to see?"
10:39:46 5 This is a one-bedroom apartment, the one
10:39:52 6 we're in now? Yes?
10:39:54 7 A. Yes. I'm sorry.
10:39:54 8 Q. That's okay.
10:39:56 9 And you wanted a two-bedroom apartment?
10:39:58 10 A. I was thinking about it because a friend
10:40:00 11 was talking about moving here.
10:40:02 12 Q. Whatever happened to that?
10:40:04 13 A. She didn't move here.
10:40:05 14 Q. Was a two-bedroom apartment available so
10:40:09 15 far as you were told?
10:40:09 16 A. It was -- it's outside on the signage when
10:40:12 17 there's a two bedroom for rent, and I was mostly
10:40:15 18 interested in looking to see how much it cost. Is
10:40:16 19 it better if I found a roommate? Should I move
20 somewhere else?
10:40:18 21 But I did have somebody that was interested
10:40:19 22 in possibly moving; so I asked.
10:40:21 23 Q. Right. But did you get an answer to that
10:40:23 24 question?
10:40:24 25 A. I don't remember, and I didn't --
Page 31
10:40:26 1 Q. Didn't pursue?
10:40:27 2 A. It was moot because someone wasn't coming,
10:40:29 3 and I couldn't afford it myself.
10:40:32 4 Q. I got it. You were pointing to the --
10:40:54 5 earlier in this deposition -- to the debris. I see
10:40:58 6 some dead leaves and some smaller --
10:41:02 7 A. Correct.
10:41:03 8 Q. What shall we call it? Plant? Debris of
10:41:07 9 some sort?
10:41:07 10 A. Right.
10:41:10 11 Q. You agree with me that on the whole outside
10:41:12 12 area that we're now looking at, not just the part
10:41:15 13 that you feel is your patio, there's quite a few
10:41:18 14 plants; some, perhaps, better maintained than
10:41:20 15 others?
10:41:21 16 Are you in the position, right now as you
10:41:23 17 look at the area right in front of the sliding door
10:41:26 18 that we're looking at, to say definitively that all
10:41:28 19 of the things on those stone tiles are from the
10:41:35 20 apartment of Ms. Mobasser upstairs?
10:41:37 21 A. Yes.
10:41:38 22 Q. You know that definitively?
10:41:39 23 A. I wasn't watching it, but it's always the
10:41:42 24 result the next day --
10:41:43 25 Q. Sorry. Forgive me. I interrupted you, and
Page 32
10:41:45 1 that was rude of me.
10:41:46 2 As you now look at it, there's no question
10:41:51 3 in your mind that none of those -- it's dirt or dead
10:41:56 4 leaves or anything else that is there -- can come
10:42:00 5 from anyplace else, including from other areas of
10:42:09 6 this larger patio outside could have come from no
10:42:13 7 place else than from upstairs? That's your
10:42:15 8 testimony?
10:42:15 9 A. I can't account for every single leaf out
10:42:17 10 there.
10:42:17 11 Q. I'm asking you to do just that.
10:42:19 12 A. I can't answer that.
10:42:20 13 Q. Right. Meaning, you cannot say
10:42:22 14 definitively that the things we're looking at came
10:42:24 15 from upstairs; correct?
10:42:26 16 A. I believe they do.
17 Q. But --
10:42:30 18 A. Because the causation of hearing the water
10:42:32 19 and then seeing this the very next day causes me to
10:42:35 20 believe that that's where they came from; and
10:42:38 21 otherwise, they are not there.
10:42:39 22 Q. I'm not a horticulturist -- I think it's
10:42:46 23 the right word -- but I'm looking right outside, and
10:42:48 24 there's a tree in the corner with some sort of a
10:42:51 25 plant with a -- in a mauve pot or pinkish pot.
Page 33
10:42:54 1 That's yours?
10:42:54 2 A. Right. That's what I am looking at -- the
10:42:56 3 leaves as well. So that --
10:42:56 4 Q. Is that yours?
10:42:57 5 Hold on a second.
10:42:57 6 Is that yours?
10:42:58 7 A. I don't own it. No.
10:43:00 8 Q. Okay. Do you know who it belongs to?
10:43:03 9 A. I believe it belongs to the building owner.
10:43:03 10 Q. You see there's a large -- a branch
10:43:06 11 sticking out, and there's a plant or leaves at the
10:43:12 12 top of that branch including several dead leaves?
10:43:15 13 Do you see that?
10:43:17 14 A. Yes.
10:43:17 15 Q. Look at the large dead leaf that is at the
10:43:21 16 bottom.
10:43:21 17 A. Right.
10:43:22 18 Q. You see that?
19 A. Yeah.
10:43:22 20 Q. Is that from that plant, or you don't know?
10:43:24 21 A. I don't know. I would think it would be.
10:43:25 22 That one would be, yes.
10:43:27 23 Q. That is actually -- as I'm looking at it,
10:43:28 24 there's another one, as I turn my head a bit, that
10:43:31 25 looks identical.
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Page 34
10:43:32 1 So the two largest objects we're looking at
10:43:35 2 right now are leaves that at least -- I haven't
10:43:41 3 looked upstairs; so I can't tell what's going on up
10:43:42 4 there -- but at least it would appear to me to
10:43:43 5 easily have come from the plant that's in the corner
10:43:49 6 in front of your apartment.
10:43:50 7 You don't rule out that possibility, do
10:43:53 8 you?
10:43:53 9 A. Not that those leaves came from that
10:43:56 10 particular plant.
11 Q. Right.
12 A. But I think the other ones came from
13 upstairs.
10:43:59 14 Q. What other ones? I don't see any other --
10:43:59 15 A. Little pieces.
10:44:01 16 Q. Okay. Tell me again --
10:44:12 17 There was some incident that involves what
10:44:14 18 you had called "the severe windstorm" and something
10:44:17 19 came down.
10:44:18 20 Tell me about that incident.
10:44:20 21 A. There was a night when it was incredibly
10:44:22 22 windy.
10:44:24 23 Q. Forgive me for interrupting you.
10:44:26 24 More or less when was this?
10:44:27 25 A. I am terrible at dates.
Page 35
10:44:29 1 I would say six months ago, maybe. Three
10:44:32 2 months ago.
10:44:32 3 Q. So it could have been either before or
10:44:34 4 after the March e-mail?
10:44:36 5 A. Correct. I don't know.
10:44:37 6 Q. Sure.
10:44:38 7 A. I just remember it was windy; and in the
10:44:39 8 middle of the night, maybe at 4:00 a.m., Something
10:44:42 9 came crashing down really loud. It sounded like a
10:44:46 10 ceramic pot, and it broke, and I saw it on the patio
10:44:48 11 the next day.
10:44:50 12 I mentioned it to somebody -- I don't know
10:44:52 13 if Justin was still there -- because somebody had to
10:44:55 14 clean it up. And I don't know that it came from
10:44:58 15 upstairs.
10:45:04 16 Q. When it happened, it woke you?
10:45:08 17 A. Yes.
10:45:09 18 Q. What woke you was the -- not the windstorm
10:45:11 19 as much as the -- whatever it was that fell down?
10:45:13 20 A. Right.
10:45:14 21 Q. Okay. And did you go outside and look at
10:45:15 22 whatever it was?
10:45:16 23 A. No. It was 4:00 in the morning. I did
10:45:18 24 not.
10:45:18 25 Q. I understand.
Page 36
10:45:19 1 So you don't know exactly what the object
10:45:21 2 was, or it was an object or a number of objects?
10:45:23 3 It sounded to you it was some sort of a
10:45:26 4 pot?
10:45:26 5 A. Right. And the next day, there was a
10:45:28 6 broken pot somewhere out there in the patio.
10:45:31 7 Q. Where?
10:45:32 8 A. I don't remember. I think it was -- I know
10:45:33 9 part of the dirt was on my patio. I think it was
10:45:36 10 closer to the next door, but I don't know where it
10:45:38 11 came from. I don't think it -- frankly, I don't
10:45:41 12 think it came from above.
10:45:42 13 Q. Okay.
14 A. I don't know.
10:45:43 15 Q. By "above," you mean from Ms. Mobasser?
10:45:46 16 A. Uh-huh.
10:45:47 17 Q. Okay. I will read something to you, and I
10:46:31 18 am going to ask you if you have any knowledge of
10:46:34 19 what is being talked about. Let me identify it.
10:46:40 20 This is the beginning of what is called a
10:46:58 21 "Three-Day notice to perform conditions and/or
10:47:01 22 covenants or quit," and it purports to describe the
10:47:06 23 activities that Ms. Mobasser has engaged in as a
10:47:08 24 result of which she may be evicted unless she takes
10:47:13 25 some curative action.
Page 37
10:47:14 1 And here's the part I want to read to you.
10:47:18 2 It's in paragraph numbered 1. It says, "you,"
10:47:23 3 meaning, "she."
10:47:24 4 "You are disturbing and
10:47:27 5 endangering other tenants in the
10:47:28 6 building. Specifically, your
10:47:30 7 maintaining flower pots and planters
10:47:35 8 on your balcony, the balcony railing,
10:47:38 9 and the ceiling over the balcony area
10:47:41 10 railing, flower pots that have on
10:47:45 11 several occasions dropped from the
10:47:47 12 railing and smashed on the concrete
10:47:50 13 below."
10:47:51 14 Now, do you have any knowledge of that?
10:47:53 15 A. No.
10:47:54 16 Q. Let me switch subjects with you. We'll
10:48:16 17 discuss further matters, and I'll ask to take a
10:48:18 18 break while I collect my thoughts, and we may go
10:48:20 19 back to the actual incidents that have taken place.
10:48:25 20 Who has in any way related to the
10:48:29 21 management of the building or the lawyers have you
10:48:34 22 discussed Ms. Mobasser with?
10:48:37 23 So far you identified Justin?
10:48:45 24 (Interruption in the proceedings.)
10:48:45 25 THE WITNESS: I think that's the door.
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11 (Pages 38 to 41)
Page 38
10:48:46 1 Does that make any sense? Were you expecting
10:48:50 2 anybody?
10:48:51 3 MR. SANDS: I don't know.
10:48:53 4 Let's go off the record.
10:48:54 5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Off the record. 10:48.
10:56:45 6 (Recess.)
10:56:45 7 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Back on the record
10:56:49 8 10:56.
10:56:51 9 BY MR. SANDS:
10:56:51 10 Q. I will return momentarily to the subject
10:56:56 11 that I started talking to you about before we took
10:56:59 12 this break.
10:57:00 13 During the break, I asked you to come to me
10:57:02 14 in the hall, large outside area, and you did so; and
15 I appreciate that.
10:57:07 16 Let me ask you something you observed with
10:57:08 17 me, did you not, that throughout the area, I think
10:57:12 18 it's about five or six apartments?
10:57:15 19 A. There are four.
10:57:16 20 Q. Four apartments. But throughout that
10:57:19 21 outside area, there are various leaves, debris, and
10:57:22 22 also flower petals throughout that area.
10:57:26 23 You saw that with me, did you not?
10:57:28 24 A. There are some.
10:57:29 25 Q. Including well beyond the area immediately
Page 39
10:57:33 1 in front of your apartment?
10:57:34 2 A. Correct.
10:57:35 3 Q. You don't attribute -- I will ask the
10:57:37 4 question better.
10:57:38 5 Do you attribute all of that other -- I'll
10:57:40 6 use the general word -- plants, debris, as coming
10:57:43 7 from Ms. Mobasser's apartment?
10:57:47 8 A. No.
10:57:47 9 Q. Next, is it your understanding that all
10:57:50 10 that furniture out there, in the large area out
10:57:54 11 there, belongs to individual tenants, or you don't
10:57:57 12 know?
10:57:57 13 A. I don't know. I just think it does, but I
10:57:59 14 don't know.
10:58:01 15 Q. I also saw on the far side from where we
10:58:07 16 are a -- what's the word I'm looking for? -- a
10:58:14 17 refuse container with a bunch of leaves and other
10:58:17 18 plant material -- did you see that? -- and a broom?
10:58:19 19 A. No.
10:58:20 20 Q. Do people clean up this area during the
10:58:24 21 week?
10:58:24 22 A. Someone from the building cleans up this
10:58:26 23 area, not the individuals, as far as I know. I
10:58:30 24 don't clean up. It gets cleaned up.
10:58:32 25 Q. Right. But it's cleaned up by somebody
Page 40
10:58:33 1 from the building?
10:58:34 2 A. I believe, yes.
10:58:35 3 Q. On a daily or frequent basis?
10:58:37 4 A. I think weekly, maybe, or whenever it is
10:58:41 5 needed.
10:58:42 6 Q. Right. Back to before we had the break, I
10:58:53 7 started to ask you, I think, who you discussed this
10:58:57 8 entire matter with.
10:58:57 9 A. Correct.
10:58:58 10 Q. You mentioned briefly Justin and Roger.
10:59:07 11 Who else?
10:59:10 12 And let me backtrack a second.
10:59:13 13 When did you learn that your landlord, the
10:59:17 14 owner of this building, had filed a lawsuit to evict
10:59:20 15 Ms. Mobasser from this building?
10:59:22 16 A. I think only recently. I think when she
10:59:26 17 called me in June and asked me to be part of it.
10:59:29 18 Q. Who is "she"?
10:59:29 19 A. Rosalie asked me if I would be willing to
10:59:32 20 speak about it.
10:59:33 21 Q. That was about two months ago?
10:59:35 22 A. Yes.
10:59:36 23 Q. Until then, you hadn't spoken to any of --
10:59:39 24 her or the building's lawyers?
10:59:41 25 A. No.
Page 41
10:59:42 1 Q. And Rosalie, Justin, Roger had not
10:59:50 2 mentioned to you that there was a lawsuit to try to
10:59:56 3 evict Ms. Mobasser?
10:59:58 4 A. I don't remember when I learned of that. I
11:00:01 5 think I only learned of that two or three months ago
11:00:04 6 when they started talking about -- since I had these
11:00:06 7 issues, if I would be willing to discuss it with a
11:00:09 8 lawyer.
11:00:10 9 Q. This e-mail, the one that we looked at
11:00:13 10 earlier, Exhibit 1, did somebody ask you to write
11:00:17 11 this e-mail after you had complained to them orally?
11:00:21 12 A. No.
11:00:21 13 Q. Did you ever have -- other than this
11:00:25 14 e-mail -- any communications whatsoever regarding
11:00:29 15 Ms. Mobasser at any time other than this one e-mail?
11:00:36 16 A. I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?
11:00:38 17 Q. Have you had any written communications?
11:00:41 18 Have you -- first of all, that you made,
11:00:44 19 communication that you started, including e-mails or
11:00:48 20 anything or memos or anything else regarding
11:00:50 21 Ms. Mobasser, including the attempt to evict her,
11:00:53 22 other than this one e-mail, Exhibit 1?
11:00:56 23 A. I don't think so. I can't be 100 percent
11:01:00 24 positive, but I don't think so.
11:01:01 25 Q. Have you received any e-mails or
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Page 42
11:01:03 1 correspondence of any kind from anyone associated
11:01:05 2 with the building or its lawyers regarding this
11:01:09 3 entire "controversy," I will call it?
11:01:11 4 A. Not until the lawyers asked me if they
11:01:14 5 could speak with me, and I spoke to them.
11:01:16 6 Q. And you spoke to them. But have they
11:01:19 7 written to you concerning anything involving your
11:01:21 8 testimony or the entire controversy involving
11:01:26 9 Ms. Mobasser?
11:01:26 10 A. No.
11:01:26 11 Q. No e-mails?
11:01:28 12 A. Up until the point where they said, "Will
11:01:29 13 you testify? When can we set this up." That sort
11:01:34 14 of thing.
11:01:34 15 Q. Right. At that point, e-mail exchanges --
16 A. A lot, yes.
11:01:38 17 Q. Did those e-mails involve anything other
11:01:40 18 than trying to set up a time and a place for you to
11:01:44 19 give your testimony?
11:01:45 20 A. I don't think so.
11:01:47 21 Q. In any of those e-mails, for example --
11:01:49 22 By the way, we're talking about
11:01:51 23 Mr. Brennan? You know who he is?
11:01:52 24 A. Yes.
11:01:55 25 Q. Until -- strike that.
Page 43
11:01:57 1 Except for Mr. Brennan, with what other
11:02:01 2 attorneys have you discussed this entire matter
11:02:03 3 with?
11:02:03 4 A. I don't think any other attorneys. There
11:02:03 5 was somebody named Alex Mattel, who I think is his
11:02:06 6 legal assistant.
7 Q. Right.
8 A. I assume that's the person I was dealing
11:02:08 9 with.
11:02:08 10 Q. How about counsel here today?
11:02:10 11 A. I don't think so.
11:02:11 12 Q. Did you discuss this morning the testimony
11:02:14 13 you were going to give?
11:02:15 14 A. I briefly told him the story that I had
11:02:18 15 told Rosalie, what had happened and that I had told
11:02:21 16 Michael Brennan. And that was it.
11:02:23 17 Q. Let's -- was the first lawyer to whom you
11:02:26 18 ever told what you just described as your story was
11:02:29 19 Michael Brennan?
11:02:30 20 A. I believe so, yes.
11:02:31 21 Q. That's when they reached out to you a
11:02:34 22 couple of months ago, more or less?
11:02:37 23 A. Correct.
11:02:37 24 Q. At that time, when he called, he called
11:02:38 25 you?
Page 44
11:02:38 1 Well, let's back up.
11:02:41 2 Rosalie called you first and asked you if
11:02:43 3 you would be willing to testify?
11:02:44 4 A. Correct.
11:02:44 5 Q. What did you say to her?
11:02:46 6 A. I said, "Yeah. I'd be" -- "I don't have a
11:02:49 7 lot to say, but I will be happy to say honestly what
11:02:51 8 I know."
11:02:51 9 Q. Did you tell her what it was you did have
10 to say?
11:02:53 11 A. Yes.
11:02:53 12 Q. How about her now?
11:02:54 13 A. Yes.
11:02:54 14 Q. What did you tell her you had to say?
11:02:56 15 A. Basically that I have been annoyed by the
11:03:00 16 water coming down because it wakes me up all the
11:03:04 17 time and because my patio is dirty, and I have been,
11:03:08 18 you know, rained on twice. And that was the extent
11:03:09 19 pretty much of it. And I would like to be able to
11:03:11 20 use my terrace again.
11:03:14 21 Q. Look out there. You referred just now to
11:03:19 22 your terrace. And we've got smaller bricks, as I am
11:03:23 23 facing it, on the left side or smaller tiles, and
11:03:26 24 then larger tiles on the right side?
11:03:28 25 A. Correct.
Page 45
11:03:30 1 Q. Right?
11:03:30 2 Tell me, by counting bricks, as you are
11:03:33 3 looking at it right now, what you consider to be
11:03:36 4 your terrace, your patio.
11:03:37 5 A. I wouldn't do it by counting bricks, but
11:03:40 6 where that window ends, out there is the end of
11:03:43 7 their property; and where this wall ends, if I look
11:03:48 8 outside, is the end of their property; so that's my
11:03:51 9 delineation of what I would consider my patio.
11:03:54 10 Q. Okay. Just so we're clear, you're saying
11:03:56 11 in effect, as we're looking across the area now, you
11:04:01 12 are dividing mentally into two? Is that a fair
11:04:03 13 statement?
11:04:04 14 A. Yes.
11:04:04 15 Q. And half from the outside of your door to
11:04:08 16 the middle of that area --
17 A. Correct.
11:04:09 18 Q. -- you consider yourself?
11:04:11 19 A. Correct.
11:04:11 20 Q. And the second half you consider the --
11:04:14 21 belonging to the apartment opposite?
11:04:15 22 A. Correct. Which is basically the length of
11:04:18 23 this patio door to the end of that wall.
24 Q. Right. I get it.
25 And it's your sense that that's your
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Page 46
11:04:23 1 exclusive area the way -- it's not an exact analogy,
11:04:28 2 but the way that the upstairs patios exclusively
11:04:32 3 belong to those apartments.
11:04:33 4 You understand that?
11:04:34 5 A. Right. Right.
11:04:35 6 Q. Is it your sense that what you delineated
11:04:38 7 as your patio, your terrace, is exclusively yours,
11:04:41 8 and nobody else is allowed there?
11:04:42 9 A. I don't know that that's formally true, and
11:04:44 10 no one said it's true. I asked the building office.
11:04:49 11 They said, "That's your space."
11:04:51 12 But, again, I don't think formal -- I don't
11:04:53 13 know. I don't know how they delineate what your
11:04:56 14 apartment consists of if that is actually part of
11:05:00 15 the apartment. But everybody informally has taken
11:05:04 16 over their space that way.
11:05:04 17 Q. Taken it over how?
11:05:04 18 For example, the area across from us, how
11:05:07 19 have those people taken over that half of the --
11:05:09 20 A. She hasn't put anything out. But as you
11:05:12 21 can see, the people that are utilizing their outside
11:05:15 22 space have delineated it pretty clearly with
11:05:18 23 their --
11:05:18 24 Q. I didn't see that.
11:05:19 25 A. -- with their furniture.
Page 47
11:05:20 1 This gentleman has a bench that goes
2 across.
11:05:24 3 Q. That's his bench?
11:05:26 4 A. Yeah. I believe it's his bench.
11:05:26 5 Q. You don't know that?
11:05:26 6 A. I don't know that.
11:05:28 7 Q. And the furniture across and slightly to
11:05:30 8 the left as we're looking at it, there's quite a bit
11:05:33 9 of patio furniture there and a table.
11:05:35 10 Do you know that that's the furniture that
11:05:36 11 belongs to the apartment by that furniture?
11:05:39 12 A. I don't know, but it wasn't there before
11:05:40 13 she moved in.
11:05:42 14 Q. Before that person moved in?
11:05:43 15 A. Correct.
11:05:44 16 Q. You said somebody told you that that was
11:05:47 17 your area.
11:05:47 18 Who told you that?
11:05:48 19 A. I think it was the building manager prior
11:05:51 20 to Roger whose name was Roma who lived in one of
11:05:55 21 those apartments who is now gone.
11:05:57 22 Q. And he said that was yours?
11:05:59 23 A. He said, "This is your terrace, your little
24 area."
11:06:01 25 But I walk -- you know, you can walk
Page 48
11:06:03 1 through them to get to the door, but I would not go
11:06:06 2 and sit on somebody's furniture in one of the other
11:06:09 3 areas for sure. That feels like their domain.
11:06:11 4 Q. I know that you might not. But what if,
11:06:13 5 let's say, hypothetically, right now, without your
11:06:19 6 permission, I took my client outside about four feet
11:06:22 7 in and had a chat with her and smoked a cigarette or
11:06:26 8 did whatever -- I confess to that bad habit -- would
11:06:29 9 you think I was infringing or trespassing on your
11:06:33 10 space?
11:06:34 11 A. I would.
11:06:35 12 Q. Would you report it to somebody?
11:06:36 13 A. I would tell the building manager.
11:06:39 14 Q. Did that ever happen?
11:06:41 15 A. Nobody has ever stood in my space.
11:06:41 16 Q. Nobody has ever stood there?
11:06:41 17 A. Never.
18 Q. Got it.
11:06:42 19 A. Not that I have known.
11:06:43 20 Q. Have you ever been --
11:06:46 21 Have you ever been awakened during the
11:06:47 22 night by any incident other than something that you
11:06:51 23 attribute to the unruliness -- remember that
11:06:57 24 word? -- from your upstairs neighbor?
11:06:59 25 A. Ever while I have been living here?
Page 49
11:07:02 1 Q. Yes.
11:07:03 2 A. Noisy neighbors.
11:07:03 3 Q. Where?
11:07:04 4 A. I couldn't tell you. They have been noisy
11:07:06 5 enough to wake me up.
11:07:08 6 Q. Are we talking about upstairs, second and
11:07:10 7 third floors, or downstairs adjoining you?
11:07:13 8 A. Again, I don't know.
11:07:14 9 Q. How many times has that happened?
11:07:16 10 A. Maybe three or four times, mostly on a
11:07:22 11 Friday night.
11:07:23 12 Q. Across the way specifically, the apartment
11:07:28 13 across the way and to the left -- have you
11:07:31 14 encountered or sensed there was partying going on
11:07:34 15 during the night from time to time?
11:07:35 16 A. I think that may have been one of the
11:07:38 17 parties going on. But I think there is someone
11:07:41 18 above me as well that's often having a party.
11:07:43 19 Q. Enough to wake you?
11:07:45 20 A. Yeah.
11:07:46 21 Q. And who did you complain to about that?
11:07:48 22 A. Nobody.
11:07:49 23 Q. Why?
11:07:49 24 A. Because it's a Friday night, and it's a
11:07:52 25 one-time thing. It's not consistent, and I just let
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Page 50
11:07:56 1 it go.
11:07:57 2 Q. Got it.
11:08:00 3 So back to Rosalie: You told her what,
11:08:05 4 very specifically?
11:08:07 5 This is the first time she reached out to
11:08:09 6 you about possibly testifying.
11:08:10 7 A. What I told her when she asked me if --
8 Q. Yeah.
9 A. -- I was testifying?
11:08:14 10 I said I would be happy to help; tell what
11:08:16 11 I know. That's all I can say.
11:08:18 12 Q. Did you tell her what it is you knew? Did
11:08:20 13 she ask what would you be testifying about?
11:08:23 14 A. Yes.
11:08:23 15 Q. What did you say?
11:08:24 16 A. Basically that the consistent, you know,
11:08:30 17 downpour of the water wakes me up, that I -- you
11:08:35 18 know, I would like to be able to utilize that space
11:08:38 19 like the rest of the people on the courtyard and
11:08:41 20 that twice I've gotten wet.
11:08:42 21 Q. Did she tell you that she wanted you to be
11:08:47 22 a witness in a case where they were seeking to evict
11:08:50 23 Ms. Mobasser?
11:08:51 24 A. I think she said, "We are in the process of
11:08:54 25 trying to evict her."
Page 51
11:08:56 1 Q. And you know what that means?
11:08:58 2 A. Yes.
11:08:59 3 Q. Did you comment on whether you thought that
11:09:02 4 was or was not an appropriate remedy for whatever it
11:09:05 5 was that was troubling you?
11:09:06 6 A. No. I made no comment about that.
11:09:08 7 Q. Did she ask you about that?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Do you think that it is an appropriate
11:09:12 10 remedy, that she should be told -- not told, forced
11:09:13 11 by a court to leave?
11:09:13 12 A. I don't know.
11:09:14 13 Q. After you talked to Rosalie, who did you
11:09:21 14 next discuss the case with in your -- possibility of
11:09:24 15 your testifying?
11:09:26 16 A. This is hard for me to remember because
11:09:27 17 there was so many calls.
11:09:29 18 I think the next step was she said, "May I
11:09:30 19 have the lawyers call you?"
11:09:32 20 And I said, "Yes."
11:09:33 21 Q. At some point, Mr. Brennan called you?
11:09:36 22 A. I believe it was him, yes.
11:09:37 23 Q. Have you ever met him?
11:09:39 24 A. No.
11:09:39 25 Q. On the phone, at some point, did he ask if
Page 52
11:09:42 1 you would be willing to testify in court concerning
11:09:45 2 Ms. Mobasser's activities?
11:09:47 3 A. No. Actually --
11:09:47 4 Q. The answer is "no"?
11:09:48 5 A. The answer is no.
11:09:50 6 Q. Did he ask if you would be willing to give
11:09:53 7 a deposition?
11:09:54 8 A. No.
11:09:54 9 Q. Did he ask if you would be willing to make
11:09:55 10 a written statement?
11:09:57 11 A. I don't remember a written statement. No.
11:09:59 12 Q. You have not made a written statement, have
11:10:01 13 you, except for this one e-mail that we looked at?
11:10:04 14 A. Correct.
11:10:04 15 Q. Did he ever discuss with you, ever, the
11:10:07 16 possibility of your testifying in court regarding
11:10:11 17 the eviction proceedings against Ms. Mobasser?
11:10:14 18 A. No.
11:10:15 19 Q. He's never asked you?
11:10:16 20 A. Well, I've said I can only do this with a
11:10:19 21 limited amount of time, and that was the stipulation
11:10:22 22 for the testimony.
11:10:24 23 Q. I'm sorry. I don't understand.
11:10:26 24 You said you can only do this with a
11:10:27 25 limited amount of time?
Page 53
11:10:28 1 What did you mean?
11:10:28 2 A. I work at a very busy job at CNN. I said,
11:10:32 3 "I cannot take the time off to go to court. I would
11:10:34 4 be happy to help you if I can somehow give a
11:10:37 5 deposition." And he said that would be fine.
11:10:39 6 Q. I'm trying to understand how this works.
11:10:41 7 This morning, the reporter and the
11:10:45 8 videographer showed up at around 9:00. We're going
11:10:46 9 to be here until noon, hopefully no longer. That's
11:10:50 10 three hours. That time you have agreed to take out
11:10:56 11 of your busy CNN schedule; correct?
11:10:56 12 You have agreed --
11:10:57 13 A. With difficulty. Yeah, with difficulty.
11:10:59 14 Q. I'm not asking if it was difficult or not.
11:11:01 15 MR. GREENBERG: Let me interrupt.
16 MR. SANDS: Sure.
11:11:03 17 MR. GREENBERG: You guys are talking over
11:11:03 18 each other --
11:11:04 19 MR. SANDS: You are right.
11:11:04 20 MR. GREENBERG: -- continuously.
11:11:06 21 MR. SANDS: You are right. I apologize.
11:11:06 22 It's probably my fault. When I'm on a roll, I do
11:11:09 23 this sort of thing. I'm joking. I should be more
11:11:12 24 polite to you.
25 ///
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Page 54
11:11:12 1 BY MR. SANDS:
11:11:15 2 Q. You are taking three hours out of your
11:11:17 3 schedule this morning to testify here, to give your
11:11:20 4 deposition.
11:11:20 5 You were able to arrange that; correct?
11:11:22 6 A. I was told it was one hour, and, yes.
11:11:24 7 Q. Who told you it was one hour?
11:11:29 8 A. The lawyer.
11:11:29 9 Q. Who? Mr. Brennan or Alex?
11:11:30 10 A. One of them.
11:11:31 11 Q. Did you ever tell him that you were not
11:11:34 12 willing to testify in court?
11:11:37 13 A. Yeah, yes.
11:11:39 14 Q. Did you tell him why you were not willing
11:11:43 15 to testify in court?
11:11:44 16 A. Yes.
17 Q. What was the reason?
11:11:44 18 A. Because it's too much of an imposition for
11:11:47 19 me to take time off from work for this.
11:11:51 20 Q. Let me understand something about that.
11:11:53 21 "Too much of an imposition," by that you
11:11:58 22 refer to the fact that you've got a busy schedule at
11:12:01 23 CNN? That's right, isn't it?
11:12:03 24 A. Yes.
11:12:04 25 Q. What do you do there?
Page 55
11:12:05 1 A. I'm a booking coordinator.
11:12:07 2 Q. A what?
11:12:07 3 A. A booking coordinator.
11:12:10 4 Q. For a particular show?
11:12:10 5 A. Yes.
6 Q. What show is that?
11:12:11 7 A. "Piers Morgan Tonight."
11:12:13 8 Q. Does that air from here or back east?
11:12:18 9 A. Most of the staff except for me here is
11:12:20 10 back east; so I'm the only person here.
11:12:22 11 Q. He is back east?
11:12:23 12 A. Yes. He comes out here to tape the show;
11:12:26 13 and when he does, I need to be here.
11:12:28 14 Q. Right. When he's not here, your job
11:12:31 15 basically as coordinator suggests to me is booking
11:12:33 16 guests, interviewing them, getting them ready for
17 interviews?
11:12:37 18 Is that about --
11:12:37 19 A. That's part of it.
11:12:38 20 Q. Okay. What's the rest?
11:12:39 21 A. Doing logistics for all the guests.
11:12:43 22 Q. Travelling? Is that what you mean by
11:12:45 23 "doing logistics"?
11:12:45 24 A. Doing research for all the guests --
25 Q. Right?
Page 56
11:12:47 1 A. -- when they are here, greeting the guests,
11:12:49 2 arranging the production, booking the car, Tweeting
11:12:53 3 during the show.
11:12:54 4 Q. Did you weigh in your own mind when you
11:12:58 5 told Mr. Brennan that you were going to come to
11:13:00 6 court because it would be too much of an imposition,
11:13:03 7 the relative --
11:13:06 8 Did you have weight on the one hand being
11:13:09 9 imposed upon to testify in court, and on the other
11:13:12 10 hand, being able to help the owners of this building
11:13:17 11 evict Ms. Mobasser so that she will no longer be
11:13:21 12 living upstairs and causing you all the issues that
11:13:24 13 you testified about?
11:13:24 14 Did you do that weighing process?
11:13:25 15 A. I'm not sure I understand that question.
11:13:27 16 Q. Well, imposition, to me, is a relative
11:13:28 17 term. It's an imposition. I'd rather not do it,
11:13:36 18 meaning, testify in court.
11:13:38 19 On the other hand, you understood, did you
11:13:39 20 not, that you are being asked to testify in court in
11:13:42 21 order to help evict Ms. Mobasser; correct?
11:13:46 22 A. Yes.
11:13:47 23 Q. Didn't you want to assist them in that
11:13:49 24 process?
11:13:49 25 A. I don't think it's my role to assist them
Page 57
11:13:52 1 in that process. I think it's their role.
11:13:54 2 Q. But you understand that you were being
11:13:56 3 asked to do nothing more nor less than precisely
11:14:00 4 that -- to assist them in evicting her? That's your
11:14:03 5 only role?
11:14:04 6 You understand that, don't you?
11:14:04 7 A. My role is to tell the truth about my
11:14:06 8 experiences.
11:14:07 9 Q. But specifically it is in the context of
11:14:10 10 your -- of them trying to evict her?
11:14:12 11 You understand that, do you not?
11:14:13 12 MR. GREENBERG: Objective; argumentative --
11:14:15 13 this whole line of questioning.
11:14:16 14 BY MR. SANDS:
11:14:16 15 Q. Go ahead and answer.
11:14:17 16 MR. GREENBERG: You can answer.
11:14:18 17 THE WITNESS: I understand they are trying
11:14:20 18 to evict her, and I told them I would let them know
11:14:22 19 what I can say about my relationship with the
11:14:26 20 neighbor.
11:14:27 21 BY MR. SANDS:
11:14:28 22 Q. You know what a subpoena is?
11:14:29 23 A. Yes.
11:14:29 24 Q. Did Mr. Brennan ever discuss with you that
11:14:33 25 when this case comes to trial, that you can be
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Page 58
11:14:36 1 subpoenaed to testify?
11:14:38 2 A. No.
11:14:40 3 Q. You understand that you could be subpoenaed
11:14:44 4 to testify?
11:14:44 5 A. I thought the deposition was in -- the
11:14:50 6 reason that -- the deposition would be the reason
11:14:51 7 why I would not have to come to trial.
11:14:54 8 Q. I understand that, and we'll get to that in
11:14:55 9 a moment.
11:14:57 10 Do you understand that if you were served
11:15:00 11 with a subpoena either by the plaintiff, the owner
11:15:04 12 of this building, Mr. Brennan's office on the one
11:15:06 13 hand or by my side on the other hand, if you were
11:15:10 14 served with a subpoena, you understand that that
11:15:12 15 would be a court order requiring you to testify?
11:15:15 16 A. Correct.
11:15:15 17 Q. Okay. If you were served with a subpoena
11:15:18 18 ordering you to testify in court on a given day,
11:15:22 19 would you refuse to appear and testify?
11:15:27 20 A. I don't think one has that choice if they
11:15:30 21 are subpoenaed, do they?
11:15:30 22 Q. No, they don't.
11:15:32 23 A. Well, then, yes.
11:15:33 24 Q. You would testify?
11:15:33 25 A. I wouldn't break the law.
Page 59
11:15:34 1 Q. All right. Did Mr. Brennan tell you that
11:15:39 2 if you gave this deposition, that would be in lieu
11:15:43 3 of you having to testify in court, and you would not
11:15:45 4 have to testify?
11:15:45 5 A. I don't know if he stated specifically, but
11:15:47 6 I assumed that taking my testimony this way would
11:15:51 7 defer me from testifying in court.
11:15:53 8 Q. This is an assumption you made? He never
11:15:56 9 said that?
11:15:56 10 A. I don't know if he said that explicitly.
11:15:58 11 Q. Well, implicitly, did he say that?
11:16:01 12 A. He said, "We need your testimony. This is
11:16:03 13 how we can get it."
11:16:04 14 Q. Right. But he didn't say anything, or did
11:16:07 15 he, about that -- if you do this, that you won't
11:16:09 16 have to be imposed upon to testify in court?
11:16:13 17 A. I don't know if he said it. I understood
11:16:15 18 that that was the -- that would be the result.
11:16:16 19 Q. In fact, if you are -- just to be clear
11:16:19 20 about this, if you are served with a subpoena to
11:16:24 21 testify in court in this case, you will do that?
11:16:29 22 A. Unless there's some legal reason for not
11:16:31 23 doing it, I will do it.
24 Q. Right. And --
11:16:34 25 A. I have not consulted a lawyer to say, "Can
Page 60
11:16:36 1 I refuse a subpoena?"
2 Q. Right.
11:16:37 3 A. But from what you are telling me, the
11:16:39 4 answer would be yes.
11:16:41 5 Q. Right.
11:16:42 6 And as a matter of fact, you recall how
11:16:46 7 gracious everybody was -- I think it was a week or
11:16:48 8 maybe it's been two now when you were supposed to
11:16:52 9 testify in deposition in this case, and the Aurora
11:16:55 10 incident happened -- the day before I think you were
11:16:57 11 supposed to testify?
11:16:57 12 A. The day after.
11:16:59 13 Q. The morning -- yeah, I guess it was just
11:17:01 14 after midnight of that same day. You had to go -- I
11:17:05 15 think it was San Diego?
11:17:06 16 A. Correct.
11:17:07 17 Q. Somebody said, "Colorado." I think Alex
18 did by mistake.
11:17:13 19 And nobody raised a peep about that; right?
11:17:13 20 That happened?
11:17:14 21 A. That happened.
11:17:15 22 Q. Right. So let's assume the very, very
11:17:17 23 worst, and you were called upon to testify in court
11:17:24 24 on that particular day for a really momentous --
11:17:27 25 from a business standpoint of CNN and had to be in
Page 61
11:17:32 1 New York or God knows where, if arrangements were
11:17:37 2 made for you to come back at a later day, you would
11:17:39 3 certainly appreciate that and come on the next
11:17:43 4 appointed date, wouldn't you?
11:17:44 5 A. Again, I don't know if that's how it works;
11:17:47 6 but if I am legally obligated, then, yes.
11:17:51 7 Q. Okay. Don't take what I am about to ask
11:17:55 8 you in the wrong way. I am trying to figure out why
11:17:57 9 we're here in your apartment. Before that,
11:18:01 10 arrangements were made -- I shouldn't say
11:18:03 11 "arrangements."
11:18:04 12 My understanding is somebody -- tell me if
11:18:08 13 I'm wrong -- that you insisted that if there was
11:18:09 14 going to be a deposition of your testimony, it was
11:18:11 15 going to be done at your offices at CNN; is that
11:18:14 16 correct?
11:18:14 17 A. I offered that, and they said that was -- I
11:18:17 18 offered that to the lawyers, and they said that
11:18:19 19 would have been fine. But then CNN said it would
11:18:21 20 not be good to have personal business done on our
11:18:24 21 property.
11:18:24 22 Q. How did it come about that you offered?
11:18:27 23 Did Mr. Brennan or somebody from his office
11:18:29 24 ask you, you know, "Where can we hold this
11:18:33 25 deposition?" Or did he tell you the deposition will
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Page 62
11:18:35 1 be held at some lawyer's office?
11:18:37 2 MR. GREENBERG: Objection; relevancy.
11:18:38 3 BY MR. SANDS:
11:18:40 4 Q. Go ahead.
11:18:41 5 A. I asked that if I do this, if they could
11:18:43 6 make it as convenient as possible so that I can
11:18:45 7 insure that I can be present. So taking time off to
11:18:49 8 go somewhere -- I was trying to insure that we would
11:18:53 9 have the least amount of hours to do this, and they
11:18:55 10 agreed to do that.
11:18:57 11 Q. And then CNN said, "No"?
11:18:59 12 A. CNN said, "We'd prefer" -- I checked with
11:19:01 13 CNN, and they said, "We'd prefer you not have
11:19:03 14 personal business on site."
11:19:04 15 Q. Right.
11:19:04 16 MR. GREENBERG: If we could take a break.
11:19:06 17 MR. SANDS: We're almost done, but go
18 ahead.
11:19:07 19 MR. GREENBERG: I've got a hearing at 12:15
11:19:08 20 on an appeal that I've got to be at. So let's --
21 MR. SANDS: Yeah.
11:19:14 22 MR. GREENBERG: And I do apologize.
11:19:15 23 MR. SANDS: Yeah. Let's go off the record.
11:19:17 24 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Off the record. 11:18.
11:29:11 25 (Recess.)
Page 63
11:29:11 1 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Back on the record.
11:29:22 2 11:28.
11:29:25 3 MR. BEALLO: Can we put something on the
11:29:26 4 record regarding Mr. Greenberg's absence?
11:29:32 5 MR. SANDS: Sure.
11:29:32 6 MR. BEALLO: My name is Mark Beallo, "B,"
11:29:32 7 as in boy, e-a-l-l-o. I'm an attorney with the Law
11:29:36 8 Offices of Harold Greenberg.
11:29:37 9 Mr. Greenberg had to leave in order to
11:29:40 10 attend an appeal on another case. Our apologies.
11:29:44 11 And I am stepping up for Mr. Greenberg at this
12 point.
11:29:47 13 MR. SANDS: Just so we're clear -- because
11:29:49 14 during the break the reporter asked me about this --
11:29:51 15 you and Mr. Greenberg are appearing especially -- I
11:29:53 16 guess is the right way to put it -- for
11:29:55 17 Mr. Brennan's law firm; Mr. Brennan being the
11:30:00 18 attorney of record for the plaintiff. Is that fair?
11:30:02 19 MR. BEALLO: I suppose that would be the
11:30:04 20 proper way of identifying our situation.
11:30:07 21 MR. SANDS: Okay.
11:30:07 22 BY MR. SANDS:
11:30:16 23 Q. Did you ever take any photographs of any of
11:30:19 24 these things that we've talked about today
11:30:22 25 concerning Ms. Mobasser's alleged misbehavior?
Page 64
11:30:29 1 Either, rain, water, debris, leaves, flower pots,
11:30:35 2 shards -- anything like that?
11:30:36 3 A. I took one photo one night after water had
11:30:39 4 come down on my patio versus just the patio across
11:30:43 5 the way, and I have those two photographs. That's
11:30:45 6 it.
11:30:46 7 Q. You said "two photographs"?
11:30:47 8 A. One of my patio and one of that patio.
11:30:50 9 Q. It shows the area in front of you being wet
11:30:54 10 and the area across being dry?
11:30:54 11 A. Correct. The area having leaves all over
11:30:56 12 it and the area across having no leaves.
11:30:58 13 Q. Just like right now?
11:31:01 14 A. Yes. Just a little more severe, but, yes.
11:31:04 15 Q. You said -- I think you said that this pot
11:31:13 16 that fell down during the severe windstorm, you
11:31:17 17 don't attribute it to Ms. Mobasser. In fact, you
11:31:21 18 don't think it was her situation, that it was her
11:31:22 19 cause or pot.
11:31:23 20 But I think I recall you testifying that
11:31:25 21 the next morning you saw the debris in some part of
11:31:30 22 the patio; correct?
11:31:31 23 A. Correct.
11:31:31 24 Q. Let me ask you what you saw. Because, as I
11:31:34 25 recall your testimony again, you didn't identify,
Page 65
11:31:38 1 except at one point you used the word "ceramic," the
11:31:41 2 kind of pot it was.
11:31:43 3 Could you tell from the debris that you saw
11:31:44 4 what kind of a pot it had been?
11:31:46 5 A. I don't really recall it. Again, it wasn't
11:31:47 6 significant.
11:31:48 7 Q. Sure.
11:31:48 8 A. It was some sort of heavy pot, and there
11:31:51 9 was dirt on the ground from it.
11:31:53 10 Q. Was the pot shattered?
11:31:54 11 A. No. It was broken.
11:31:55 12 Q. Sorry?
11:31:55 13 A. It was broken. I don't know if it was
11:31:57 14 shattered into ten pieces, but it was definitely
11:31:59 15 broken apart.
11:32:01 16 Q. In more than one piece?
11:32:02 17 A. Yes.
11:32:03 18 Q. Okay. It wasn't a typical earth color
11:32:12 19 ceramic pot, or was it a glazed pot, or you don't
11:32:13 20 recall?
11:32:13 21 A. I don't recall.
11:32:15 22 Q. This will be my final question. This gets
11:32:22 23 a bit complicated.
11:32:22 24 A. Okay.
11:32:24 25 Q. This is the way I've got to do it.
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Page 66
1 A. Okay.
11:32:28 2 Q. By way of introduction, either side can ask
11:32:29 3 the other side questions in writing about a case.
11:32:31 4 They are called, "interrogatories."
11:32:33 5 Are you familiar with that term?
11:32:34 6 A. No.
11:32:34 7 Q. So I posed some written questions to the
11:32:38 8 plaintiff some time ago in this case.
11:32:39 9 A. Okay.
11:32:40 10 Q. And they are required to answer under oath
11:32:44 11 what the answer is. And the question -- my very
11:32:54 12 first interrogatory -- this is addressed to the
11:32:57 13 plaintiff, the owner of the building.
11:33:00 14 MR. BEALLO: Okay. I need to interrupt
15 here.
11:33:01 16 MR. SANDS: Sure. You have it?
11:33:01 17 MR. BEALLO: That's what I'm trying to find
18 out.
19 MR. SANDS: If not, you can read along with
11:33:02 20 me.
11:33:02 21 MR. BEALLO: Can you identify -- have you
11:33:06 22 done more than one set --
11:33:07 23 MR. SANDS: One set of interrogatories.
11:33:09 24 MR. BEALLO: -- of interrogatories?
11:33:09 25 And you are reading from the very first
Page 67
11:33:11 1 interrogatory from that first set --
11:33:13 2 MR. SANDS: I'm --
11:33:13 3 MR. BEALLO: -- first and only set?
11:33:15 4 MR. SANDS: That is correct. I'll share
11:33:17 5 the responses with you, if you don't have those.
11:33:23 6 MR. BEALLO: I believe all I have are the
11:33:24 7 responses. I'm not sure, at this point, if I have
11:33:27 8 the individual questions.
11:33:28 9 MR. SANDS: That looks like it's mine. The
11:33:31 10 document demand which I also made -- this is it.
11:33:35 11 I'm looking right at it.
11:33:38 12 MR. BEALLO: Okay.
11:33:38 13 BY MR. SANDS:
11:33:38 14 Q. Let me read to you the first question I
11:33:41 15 asked in writing of the owner of the building.
11:33:43 16 "State the date or the best
11:33:46 17 estimate of the date if the precise
11:33:48 18 date could not be stated of each of
11:33:51 19 the occasions referred to in numbered
11:33:54 20 Paragraph 1 of the notice."
11:33:57 21 I'll go back to that in a moment.
11:33:58 22 "When flower pots dropped from the
11:34:01 23 balcony railing and smashed on the
11:34:03 24 concrete below."
11:34:04 25 Let me interrupt myself.
Page 68
11:34:07 1 You may remember I asked you earlier -- I
11:34:08 2 read to you from this notice about pots supposedly
11:34:15 3 having fallen in the area below.
11:34:18 4 The answer from the landlord under oath
11:34:25 5 that somebody signed under penalty of perjury -- in
11:34:38 6 fact, it was Rosalie who signed under penalty of
11:34:41 7 perjury that the answer I'm about to read to you was
11:34:45 8 True. The answer to that interrogatory was as
11:34:47 9 follows:
11:34:49 10 "Flower pots have fallen from the
11:34:51 11 balcony more than once during 2011.
11:34:54 12 We" -- meaning the owners -- "are
11:34:56 13 currently attempting to ascertain
11:34:58 14 more definite dates. In the interim,
11:35:02 15 November 13, 2011, is an example of
11:35:06 16 the specific incident which led to
11:35:07 17 the notice of termination."
11:35:09 18 That's that notice that I read to you --
11:35:12 19 that I started to read to you earlier, telling
11:35:14 20 Ms. Mobasser she's got to move unless she takes some
11:35:17 21 corrective action.
11:35:19 22 It goes on to say:
11:35:22 23 "Additional discovery and
11:35:23 24 investigation into this matter
11:35:24 25 continue, and this responding
Page 69
11:35:26 1 party" -- that means the owner --
11:35:27 2 "reserves the right to supplement
11:35:31 3 this response promptly upon discovery
11:35:31 4 with any such responsive documents."
11:35:34 5 This all -- this lengthy question is all by
11:35:37 6 way of introduction. That was the first
11:35:38 7 interrogatory and the first answer. It asked about
11:35:41 8 incidents of pots falling.
11:35:42 9 And, in essence, the owner said the number
10 of incidents. "November 13 is the specific
11:35:48 11 incident. We're doing more investigation."
12 A. Okay.
11:35:50 13 Q. It's the second interrogatory that really
11:35:53 14 is what my question is about.
11:35:54 15 "As to each of the dates in the
11:35:58 16 answer to Interrogatory 1" -- the one
11:36:00 17 that we just discussed -- "identify
11:36:02 18 each person who witnessed the
11:36:04 19 occasion."
11:36:08 20 A. Yeah.
11:36:09 21 Q. Here's the answer, response to Special
11:36:12 22 Interrogatory No. 2: "Deborah Daly, Justin Eilie,
11:36:19 23 Enrique Panniada" (phonetic). And it goes on to
11:36:22 24 say, "We're doing additional discovery, and maybe
11:36:24 25 more answers will come up."
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Page 70
11:36:26 1 So your name is mentioned as having been a
11:36:29 2 witness to flower pots having fallen from the
11:36:36 3 apartment above Ms. Mobasser's apartment onto the
11:36:38 4 area below.
11:36:39 5 Do you understand that that's what is being
11:36:41 6 said?
11:36:41 7 A. Correct.
11:36:42 8 Q. That's not true, is it?
11:36:43 9 A. I didn't witness anything because it was
11:36:46 10 4:00 in the morning. I saw the aftermath. There
11:36:48 11 was something on the patio. I don't know where it
11:36:51 12 came from.
11:36:51 13 Q. Thank you.
11:36:52 14 I have nothing further at this time.
11:36:52 15
11:36:54 16 EXAMINATION
11:36:54 17 BY MR. BEALLO:
11:37:01 18 Q. I would like to follow up on just that last
11:37:04 19 particular question.
11:37:05 20 You testified that you did in fact see what
11:37:08 21 you believed to be a flower pot out in front of your
11:37:11 22 patio; is that correct?
11:37:13 23 A. It wasn't directly out in front of my
24 patio.
25 Q. But it was --
Page 71
11:37:16 1 A. Somewhere on this side of the building.
11:37:17 2 Q. Okay. And this was a flower pot? This was
11:37:19 3 a broken cracked flower pot?
11:37:22 4 A. Yes.
11:37:23 5 Q. And when you went to bed that night, was
11:37:26 6 that pot out there?
11:37:27 7 A. Not on the ground, no.
11:37:28 8 Q. Did you hear it fall?
11:37:30 9 A. I heard something crashing down like
11:37:33 10 4:00 a.m. in the morning from the wind.
11:37:35 11 Q. Did that sound wake you up?
11:37:38 12 A. Yeah. It scared me.
11:37:38 13 Q. Did you come up to investigate?
11:37:40 14 A. No.
11:37:41 15 Q. But at some point, you did see the pot?
11:37:44 16 A. The next morning when I came out and looked
11:37:46 17 to see what had fallen, there was dirt and a broken
11:37:49 18 pot.
11:38:15 19 Sorry. Give me one moment here.
11:38:17 20 MR. SANDS: We're in no hurry here.
11:38:19 21 THE WITNESS: Okay.
11:38:21 22 BY MR. BEALLO:
11:38:24 23 Q. So with the question being Interrogatory
11:38:26 24 No. 1, each occasion referred to in Paragraph 1:
11:38:35 25 "We noticed some flower pots
Page 72
11:38:35 1 dropped from the balcony railing and
11:38:38 2 smashed to the concrete below.
11:38:40 3 "2. As to each of these dates to
11:38:42 4 answer, identify each person who
11:38:45 5 witnessed the occasion."
11:38:46 6 So you are testifying that you did not
11:38:49 7 necessarily see the pot drop; is that correct?
11:38:52 8 A. Correct.
11:38:52 9 Q. You heard a sound?
11:38:54 10 A. Yes.
11:38:54 11 Q. And you believe that sound to be the pot
11:38:56 12 falling and crashing?
11:38:58 13 A. Yes.
11:38:59 14 Q. And you came out the next morning, and you
11:39:01 15 saw this flower pot out there in the patio area?
11:39:06 16 A. Correct.
11:39:07 17 Q. You earlier described what you considered
11:39:11 18 to be your patio area, patio -- I don't know the
11:39:16 19 other term that you used. I think patio --
11:39:18 20 MR. SANDS: Terrace.
21 BY MR. BEALLO:
22 Q. Terrace?
11:39:21 23 A. Patio or courtyard.
11:39:24 24 Q. So you specifically identified it having to
11:39:27 25 do with the extension of one of the walls and one of
Page 73
1 the windows.
11:39:30 2 Was this flower pot, at that time, within
11:39:33 3 the borders of what you're considering to be your
11:39:35 4 terrace?
11:39:36 5 A. I truly don't remember. I know it was on
11:39:38 6 the ground. I know it was on this side of the
11:39:40 7 building and not over there. I think it may have
11:39:43 8 been closer to my next door neighbor. But, again,
11:39:45 9 it wasn't significant. I didn't realize I would be
11:39:46 10 testifying about it six months later. So I wasn't
11:39:48 11 paying attention to it.
11:39:51 12 Q. Okay.
11:39:51 13 A. But, you know, from my deduction, it came
11:39:55 14 down in the storm. It was on the ground the next
11:39:57 15 day broken.
11:39:59 16 Q. And given the sound of the crash or the
11:40:03 17 intensity of the crash, you believe that it must
11:40:07 18 have fallen from somewhere above; is that accurate?
11:40:11 19 A. I don't know where it fell from.
11:40:13 20 Q. Okay. I'm sorry. What I am getting at is
11:40:16 21 this was not a pot which was already on the ground
11:40:21 22 and which somehow broke at some point?
11:40:23 23 A. No. It fell from somewhere where it was
11:40:26 24 hanging or it was above.
11:40:30 25 Q. How long have you been in this apartment?
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Page 74
11:40:33 1 A. Since August of 2011.
11:40:35 2 Q. I apologize. You probably answered that
11:40:37 3 question earlier.
11:40:38 4 A. That's okay.
11:40:40 5 Q. And it was your understanding, having been
11:40:43 6 told from a prior manager that the -- a certain
11:40:48 7 portion of the patio area was part of the rental
11:40:52 8 that you were paying on this apartment; is that
11:40:55 9 accurate?
11:40:55 10 A. Correct.
11:40:56 11 Q. And you described that particular space,
11:41:00 12 and that was a space that you believe you were
11:41:02 13 entitled to use?
11:41:03 14 A. Correct.
11:41:04 15 Q. So when you have described the debris,
11:41:14 16 plant debris, the water, the -- I suppose, dirt,
11:41:25 17 that you're describing -- that has appeared in your
11:41:30 18 portion of the patio; is that correct?
11:41:32 19 A. Yes.
11:41:33 20 Q. And it's your belief, at least that that's
11:41:38 21 coming from -- from Ms. Mobasser's apartment?
11:41:46 22 A. I didn't know her name, but it came from
11:41:49 23 the apartment upstairs, two floors up.
11:41:52 24 Q. You testified earlier regarding some other
11:42:08 25 additional noises that you heard in the apartment, a
Page 75
11:42:11 1 party on a Friday I believe was one of them, and
11:42:13 2 some additional things.
11:42:15 3 Again, forgive me. Have you testified
11:42:18 4 completely in terms of the noises that you heard
11:42:22 5 that you have attributed to Ms. Mobasser and her
11:42:25 6 presence on the third floor?
11:42:30 7 The noise of the water, the watering, I
11:42:33 8 believe, is something you testified to?
11:42:35 9 A. Correct.
11:42:35 10 Q. And that has occurred at night and has
11:42:38 11 awakened you?
11:42:40 12 A. Always awakens --
11:42:42 13 Q. And this has happened on more than one
11:42:44 14 occasion?
11:42:45 15 A. Yes.
11:42:45 16 Q. How many occasions?
11:42:45 17 Again, I apologize if you testified to this
11:42:46 18 already.
11:42:46 19 A. It's so hard, again, because I haven't kept
11:42:50 20 track. At one point, I was going to start writing
11:42:53 21 down just so I had some real record and -- I don't
11:42:56 22 know.
11:42:56 23 Q. Excuse me. Your best guesstimate.
11:43:00 24 A. At least once a week. There were weeks I
11:43:03 25 feel like it's every night, and then there are weeks
Page 76
11:43:08 1 when there's nothing for a week and a half or two
11:43:10 2 weeks.
11:43:10 3 Q. And how often during that time -- of those
11:43:11 4 instances with the noise did it wake you up?
11:43:15 5 A. It wakes me up because it's also outside my
11:43:17 6 bedroom window which is open. So when the water
11:43:20 7 comes down -- like last night at 12:21, I was
11:43:23 8 awakened, and I was -- I looked at my clock, and it
11:43:27 9 was 12:21, and the water started trickling, and then
11:43:31 10 it started getting heavy, and then it stopped. And
11:43:33 11 then I looked out, and there was debris this
11:43:36 12 morning. And --
11:43:36 13 Q. How many times --
11:43:43 14 How many times percentage wise do you hear
11:43:49 15 this noise when you are sleeping and it wakes you up
11:43:53 16 as opposed to you're hearing the noise and you are
11:43:56 17 awake -- you are already awake?
11:43:59 18 A. I would say now probably 60 to 70 percent
11:44:06 19 of the time it's during the night. I seem to
11:44:09 20 remember earlier when I first moved in, it was 9:30
11:44:14 21 at night, which is sometimes when I was awake. And
11:44:17 22 now it just seems to be more randomly at 1:00 a.m.
11:44:21 23 or 4:00 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.
11:44:22 24 Q. Of those times, how often do you
11:44:29 25 specifically identify the sound so that you will
Page 77
11:44:33 1 assure what you are hearing is water dripping from
11:44:36 2 the third floor?
11:44:37 3 A. Always. I mean, it's clearly identifiable.
11:44:39 4 It sounds exactly the same every time, and it's the
11:44:43 5 only water that's ever fallen with that amount of
11:44:45 6 force that I have noticed.
11:44:47 7 Q. And you have reported this to management;
11:44:51 8 correct?
11:44:51 9 A. I stopped reporting it after a while
11:44:54 10 because I just assumed that it was going to go on;
11:44:57 11 and, at some point, I was going to leave the
11:44:59 12 apartment.
11:45:00 13 Q. But you did report it?
11:45:01 14 A. I reported it obviously early on.
11:45:03 15 Q. How soon after it started?
11:45:05 16 A. I think the first time was in August or
11:45:08 17 September because I was just surprised that it was
11:45:10 18 happening.
11:45:10 19 Q. How soon after the first time it occurred
11:45:12 20 did you report it?
11:45:14 21 A. I don't remember. Obviously several times
11:45:17 22 that led me up to writing the note, but I couldn't
11:45:21 23 tell you how many times it was a year ago.
11:45:24 24 Q. Okay. And in addition to the problems with
11:45:27 25 the water, you also testified that there was debris,
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Page 78
11:45:31 1 plant debris, which you attribute to the third-floor
11:45:36 2 apartment; correct?
11:45:37 3 A. Correct.
11:45:37 4 Q. How often do you find debris in your patio
5 area?
11:45:42 6 A. It's absolutely consistent with every time
11:45:44 7 I hear the water. So, you know, 10 to 25 times
11:45:49 8 maybe over the past year.
11:45:50 9 Q. And you reported that to management as
11:45:52 10 well?
11:45:52 11 A. I think I complained about the water and
11:45:54 12 not about the debris on the patio.
11:45:57 13 Q. And do you --
11:45:57 14 A. That seems like a secondary effect.
11:45:59 15 Q. I'm sorry. Do you remember specifically
11:46:00 16 who you reported it to?
11:46:01 17 A. First I reported it to Justin, and I know
11:46:05 18 I've reported it to Roger; and I possibly left
11:46:08 19 e-mails -- voice mails for Rosalie.
11:46:21 20 I mean, at some point I stopped reporting
11:46:24 21 it because I know the building is aware of it.
11:46:25 22 Q. At this point, you said the only photos
11:46:27 23 that you have -- one photo of the debris on your
11:46:32 24 patio, another photo across the way where there was
11:46:35 25 no debris; is that correct?
Page 79
11:46:36 1 A. Correct.
11:46:37 2 Q. And you can make those photographs
11:46:40 3 available --
11:46:40 4 A. Sure.
11:46:41 5 Q. -- to us?
6 A. Sure.
11:46:49 7 MR. BEALLO: Nothing further.
8
9 FURTHER EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. SANDS:
11:46:51 11 Q. I have a couple of more questions. They
11:46:55 12 arise from what I perceive to be inconsistencies.
11:46:58 13 Although I've forgotten the famous philosopher that
11:47:03 14 said, "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little
11:47:06 15 minds."
11:47:06 16 In other words, I wouldn't expect you to be
11:47:07 17 100 percent consistent. I'm trying to get the best
11:47:11 18 sense of what's really happened here.
11:47:12 19 A. Okay.
11:47:13 20 Q. It is correct, is it not, that not all of
11:47:20 21 the debris that's in front of your apartment from
11:47:24 22 time to time -- you can't unequivocally attribute to
11:47:26 23 Ms. Mobasser?
11:47:27 24 A. Correct.
11:47:28 25 Q. Some of it comes from the plant that's
Page 80
11:47:30 1 right in your corner and from other areas of the
11:47:34 2 large patio down in front of us or even from
11:47:37 3 potentially other apartments; that's correct, isn't
11:47:40 4 it?
11:47:40 5 A. Correct.
11:47:41 6 Q. Remember early in this deposition you
11:47:48 7 expressed surprise at the water, and you said
11:47:52 8 something like, "It's Los Angeles. It shouldn't be
11:47:55 9 raining," or something like that.
11:47:56 10 Do you remember that?
11:47:57 11 A. Yes.
11:47:57 12 Q. L.A. does have rain, doesn't it?
11:47:59 13 A. I know.
11:47:59 14 Q. And sometimes really hard rain? Yes?
11:48:02 15 A. Yes.
11:48:02 16 Q. And those rains do wake you from time to
11:48:04 17 time, or do they not, or ever, or you don't know?
11:48:07 18 A. I don't remember ever being awakened by a
11:48:10 19 rainstorm, frankly.
11:48:11 20 Q. Let me ask you this: You are asleep --
11:48:13 21 actually, let me back up ever so slightly.
22 You're asleep -- sometimes you're asleep
11:48:20 23 and sometimes you're awake when the water comes
11:48:21 24 down?
11:48:22 25 A. Correct.
Page 81
11:48:22 1 Q. Let's talk about when you are asleep.
11:48:24 2 You're asleep, some water is coming down in
11:48:25 3 front of your apartment, and it wakes you up.
11:48:29 4 That happens -- that happened on a number
11:48:32 5 of occasions; correct?
11:48:32 6 A. Correct.
11:48:33 7 Q. Okay. Would you go out and try to identify
11:48:37 8 if this is water that is coming from upstairs or
11:48:39 9 from some other source or rain or just, "God darn
10 it," or whatever epithet you might want to use, and
11:48:46 11 then try to go back to sleep?
11:48:47 12 A. I don't try to identify it anymore because
11:48:49 13 it's so consistently the same. It starts small; it
11:48:53 14 only last two minutes. Most of the time it doesn't
11:48:57 15 rain for just two minutes, and most of the time it
11:48:58 16 doesn't get louder after two minutes and then just
11:49:01 17 stops.
11:49:02 18 So it's pretty much, for me, assumes that
11:49:06 19 that experience is exactly what -- the water is
11:49:10 20 coming from above.
11:49:11 21 Q. By the way, if you stand right in front of
11:49:13 22 your apartment, like the first two large squares,
11:49:16 23 maybe it's even three, that's an overhang from the
11:49:19 24 patio above; correct?
11:49:22 25 A. Yes, I think so.
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Page 82
11:49:24 1 Q. Did water ever hit you when you were
11:49:27 2 standing in front?
11:49:27 3 A. The water sometimes splashes -- if this
11:49:29 4 door is open, the water splashes into that little
11:49:31 5 rug there.
11:49:32 6 Q. Right. When it rains, that happens too,
11:49:34 7 doesn't it?
11:49:34 8 A. I haven't had it rain hard enough that
11:49:38 9 water has splashed into my apartment.
11:49:39 10 Q. Or you kept the door closed?
11:49:40 11 Do you keep your door open at night?
11:49:41 12 A. I keep the screen open almost every night.
11:49:43 13 I mean, the screen is closed, but the door is open
11:49:45 14 every night because it's warm.
11:49:47 15 Q. By the way, don't even dare to take this
11:49:49 16 the wrong way: I noticed your apartment is rather
11:49:52 17 bare of furniture.
18 A. Yeah.
11:49:53 19 Q. What is that all about?
11:49:55 20 A. Money.
11:49:56 21 Q. That's not as though you feel --
11:49:58 22 MR. BEALLO: I'm going to object. It's
11:50:00 23 irrelevant.
11:50:00 24 MR. SANDS: Sure.
25 ///
Page 83
11:50:00 1 BY MR. SANDS:
11:50:01 2 Q. It's not as though you started living here
11:50:04 3 temporarily until you get the other place, the house
11:50:04 4 that you want to buy?
11:50:05 5 A. No. Actually, I kind of became resigned to
11:50:09 6 leaving once I realized I couldn't use this. And I
11:50:11 7 felt, well, why bother furnishing the apartment if
11:50:13 8 I'm going to leave.
11:50:13 9 Q. Right. And that was last August or
10 September.
11:50:16 11 A. That was --
11:50:17 12 Q. So it's been a good nine months.
11:50:20 13 Why are you still here?
11:50:21 14 A. I didn't want to break my lease.
11:50:23 15 Q. Did you ever ask the landlord, based on the
11:50:27 16 terrible things that you thought you were
11:50:29 17 experiencing from Ms. Mobasser, if you can leave?
11:50:32 18 A. No.
11:50:33 19 Q. Did that occur to you?
11:50:34 20 A. No. I thought I was -- I thought the lease
11:50:37 21 was the lease, and I had to stay here.
11:50:38 22 Q. I'll put it differently: You think that
11:50:39 23 whatever it was you were experiencing was so bad
11:50:41 24 that if you didn't have a lease, you'd be out of
11:50:43 25 here in an instant; is that a fair statement?
Page 84
11:50:45 1 A. I would have started looking earlier. Yes.
11:50:49 2 Q. Thinking about Ms. Mobasser, other than
11:50:55 3 what you already testified to today, which, if I
11:50:57 4 understand it correctly, is basically water and
11:51:01 5 debris, the falling pot -- you don't have any
11:51:04 6 knowledge how it came down --
11:51:06 7 A. Right.
11:51:06 8 Q. Have you had any other complaints
11:51:08 9 whatsoever, as you think about it, about your
11:51:11 10 experience with living under Ms. Mobasser?
11:51:14 11 A. Besides also getting wet twice, no.
11:51:17 12 Q. I meant that.
11:51:18 13 A. No.
11:51:18 14 Q. I am including that.
11:51:20 15 A. I don't.
11:51:22 16 Q. Somebody told you this was your area, the,
11:51:28 17 sort of, fourth -- I'll call it "the fourth" of the
11:51:31 18 entire outside area was yours; right?
11:51:34 19 It is a fourth, is it not?
11:51:35 20 A. Yeah. I don't know if it's exactly -- I
11:51:38 21 think some apartments are bigger; so I think the
11:51:40 22 delineation might be different. So I don't know
11:51:42 23 exactly where. And no one has ever pointed out
11:51:43 24 where it is. Like, "This is your courtyard. This
11:51:46 25 is your patio."
Page 85
11:51:47 1 Q. "Courtyard," by the way is the word, darn
11:51:50 2 it, that I've been searching for.
11:51:51 3 A. I think the whole thing is a courtyard --
11:51:53 4 Q. Right.
11:51:54 5 A. -- and a portion is my patio.
11:51:55 6 Q. Who told you, "This is your patio. Nobody
11:51:58 7 else's. Nobody else can use this"?
11:52:00 8 A. I think -- I don't know that he said
11:52:02 9 "Nobody else can use this." He said --
11:52:04 10 Q. I asked you --
11 (Speaking simultaneously.)
12 (Whereupon the court reporter gives
13 an admonishment not to speak over
14 each other.)
15 BY MR. GREENBERG:
11:52:12 16 Q. I'll put the question in the same way.
11:52:14 17 Who told you that whatever that area and
11:52:20 18 however vaguely it was delineated was your area and
11:52:20 19 your area exclusively?
11:52:22 20 A. I believe that was Roma. I don't remember
11:52:24 21 his last name. He was the gentleman that showed me
11:52:27 22 the apartment, and he was the manager of the
11:52:30 23 building before he left.
11:52:31 24 Q. And Roma said that was your area
11:52:34 25 exclusively?
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Page 86
11:52:35 1 A. I don't know if he used the word
11:52:38 2 "exclusively." He said, "Here's your patio."
11:52:39 3 Q. As far as you're concerned, it's your area
11:52:43 4 exclusively such that if right now after this
11:52:44 5 deposition is over I take my client outside and I
11:52:48 6 have a chat with her, as far as you will be
11:52:50 7 concerned -- would be concerned, I would be
11:52:52 8 infringing on your exclusive domain; correct?
11:52:55 9 A. I believe that. I don't know if that's
11:52:58 10 absolutely true, but, yes, that's what I was led to
11:52:59 11 believe.
11:53:00 12 Q. And I'll ask about this pot that fell
11:53:02 13 again.
11:53:04 14 When you saw it in the morning, could you
11:53:07 15 tell whether any action or attempt had been made to
11:53:11 16 clean it up or push all of the debris into one pile,
11:53:16 17 or was it, as far as you can tell, exactly as it
11:53:18 18 must have been when it fell during the night?
11:53:20 19 A. I think it was exactly as it fell. And I
11:53:22 20 alerted somebody in the building, and they cleaned
11:53:25 21 it up.
11:53:25 22 Q. And you can't say for sure whether it was
11:53:27 23 on your patio or the one next door, meaning to my --
11:53:31 24 hold on a second -- left; correct?
11:53:32 25 A. I know it was not directly in front of my
Page 87
11:53:34 1 patio, but it was on this side of the building.
11:53:38 2 Q. Right.
11:53:39 3 A. This side of the building.
11:53:40 4 Q. I understand that. This side laterally?
11:53:42 5 A. Correct.
11:53:43 6 Q. Possibly in front of the apartment that's
11:53:46 7 immediately to my left --
11:53:47 8 A. Correct.
11:53:47 9 Q. -- right now?
11:53:48 10 I understand.
11:53:50 11 Who did you report this to?
11:53:52 12 A. I think it was Justin.
11:53:58 13 MR. SANDS: Nothing further.
11:53:59 14 MR. BEALLO: Just a few.
15
11:54:02 16 FURTHER EXAMINATION
11:54:02 17 BY MR. BEALLO:
11:54:03 18 Q. Regardless of what portion of that is your
11:54:05 19 patio or not, the sound of the water has awakened
11:54:09 20 you repeatedly since you moved here; is that an
11:54:12 21 accurate statement?
11:54:13 22 A. Absolutely.
11:54:15 23 Q. And although you testified that there may
11:54:19 24 be some degree out there in which you considered
11:54:22 25 your patio area that may not be attributed to
Page 88
11:54:25 1 Ms. Mobasser, you've also testified that there is
11:54:29 2 debris in your patio area immediately following the
11:54:33 3 cascade of water; is that --
11:54:35 4 A. Correct.
11:54:36 5 Q. -- also correct?
11:54:37 6 A. Correct.
11:54:38 7 Q. And the next morning, when you look
11:54:45 8 outside, is the patio still wet?
11:54:48 9 A. It's -- you can see spots of wetness on it.
11:54:51 10 It's not a pool of water, but it's -- you can tell
11:54:55 11 there's water on it that dries up.
11:54:57 12 Q. And that's mixed in with the debris?
11:54:58 13 A. Correct.
11:55:00 14 MR. BEALLO: I have nothing further.
15
16 FURTHER EXAMINATION
17 BY MR. SANDS:
11:55:02 18 Q. One last question. I swear.
11:55:03 19 A. Yes, sir.
11:55:03 20 Q. I am still hung up on this pot which --
11:55:06 21 this pot that fell.
11:55:07 22 A. I wish I remembered more about the pot.
11:55:10 23 Q. Right. I'm going to ask you one thing.
11:55:11 24 You have seen -- from downstairs, looked
11:55:15 25 up, and you've seen Ms. Mobasser's patio and the
Page 89
11:55:20 1 various plants and so forth; right?
11:55:22 2 A. Correct.
11:55:22 3 Q. Could you -- can you recall whether the pot
11:55:26 4 that you saw in pieces bore any resemblance to the
11:55:32 5 ones that you can see up there in any way?
11:55:34 6 A. I can't remember. I couldn't even tell you
11:55:35 7 what those pots up there looked like now that she
11:55:37 8 has. I know I have seen them, but I couldn't recall
9 them.
11:55:41 10 MR. SANDS: I have nothing further.
11:55:41 11 MR. BEALLO: I have nothing further.
11:55:43 12 MR. SANDS: Why don't you offer a
11:55:44 13 stipulation. It's your deposition.
11:55:46 14 MR. BEALLO: Well, I will be honest with
11:55:50 15 you, I'm not actually all that familiar with the
11:55:52 16 standard stipulation.
11:55:53 17 MR. SANDS: Then I will offer one.
11:55:53 18 MR. BEALLO: I would like to put on the
11:55:56 19 record my apologies to everyone. It's my
11:55:58 20 understanding that our office has been brought in in
11:56:01 21 conjunction with Mr. Brennan's office. As far as I
11:56:07 22 know, a copy of the transcript should go to his
11:56:12 23 office.
11:56:13 24 MR. SANDS: That makes sense to me.
11:56:15 25 MR. BEALLO: If that's not accurate, I'm
Network Deposition Services, Inc. • networkdepo.com • 866-NET-DEPO
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Page 90
11:56:18 1 assuming there's a method in terms of where we do
11:56:21 2 contact the court reporter and both sides are made
11:56:24 3 aware of the fact that there's been a change and
11:56:25 4 that the transcript will be sent to someone else
11:56:30 5 under different circumstances.
6 And I apologize. I'm just not --
7 THE REPORTER: Can we go off the record for
8 a second?
11:56:34 9 MR. SANDS: Yeah.
11:56:34 10 MR. BEALLO: Of course.
11:56:34 11 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Off the record. 11:56.
12:01:50 12 (A discussion was held off the record.)
12:01:50 13 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Back on the record.
12:01:53 14 12:01.
12:01:54 15 MR. SANDS: After consulting off the
12:01:57 16 record, I am now proposing the following stipulation
12:02:00 17 which I ask counsel to join: That we relieve the
12:02:02 18 court reporter of her duties under the Code; that
12:02:05 19 the original of the transcript be sent to
12:02:09 20 Mr. Brennan; that after Mr. Brennan has received it,
12:02:13 21 he will have three weeks to arrange for Ms. Daly to
12:02:17 22 go through the deposition, make any changes either
12:02:21 23 within the transcript or the back of it, sign it
12:02:25 24 under penalty of perjury.
12:02:26 25 Mr. Brennan is -- I'm prepared to
Page 91
12:02:31 1 stipulate -- is to retain custody of the original to
12:02:35 2 be made available at any time upon request.
12:02:39 3 He will also, by the end of the three weeks
12:02:42 4 and no later, notify me of any changes or
12:02:44 5 corrections or additions that Ms. Daly has made.
12:02:48 6 He will keep custody of the original. And
12:02:51 7 if for any reason the original is misplaced and not
12:02:54 8 available, a certified copy can be used in
12:02:57 9 its place.
12:02:59 10 Two words coming --
12:03:00 11 MR. BEALLO: So stipulated.
12 MR. SANDS: We are concluded. Off the
12:03:03 13 record.
12:03:03 14 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This concludes today's
12:03:05 15 proceedings. A total number of DVDs used was one.
12:03:07 16 We're going off the record. The time is
12:03:08 17 12:03.
18 (Whereupon, the deposition concluded at
19 12:03 P.M.)
20
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Page 92
1 PENALTY OF PERJURY CERTIFICATE
2
3 I hereby declare I am the witness in the within
4 matter, that I have read the foregoing transcript and
5 know the contents thereof; that I declare that the same
6 is true to my knowledge, except as to the matters which
7 are therein stated upon my information or belief, and as
8 to those matters, I believe them to be true.
9 I declare being aware of the penalties of perjury,
10 that the foregoing answers are true and correct.
11
12
13
14
15 Executed on the _____ day of _______________, ____,
16 at _________________________, _________________________.
17 (CITY) (STATE)
18
19
20
21 ______________________________________
22 DEBORAH DALY
23
24
25
Page 93
1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss:
2 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
3
4 I, ALLA PONTO, do hereby certify:
5
6 That I am a duly qualified Certified Shorthand
7 Reporter, in and for the State of California, holder of
8 certificate number 11046, which is in full force and
9 effect and that I am authorized to administer oaths and
10 affirmations;
11 That the foregoing deposition testimony of the
12 herein named witness was taken before me at the time and
13 place herein set forth;
14 That prior to being examined, the witness named
15 in the foregoing deposition, was duly sworn or affirmed
16 by me, to testify the truth, the whole truth, and
17 nothing but the truth;
18 That the testimony of the witness and all
19 objections made at the time of the examination were
20 recorded stenographically by me, and were thereafter
21 transcribed under my direction and supervision;
22 That the foregoing pages contain a full, true
23 and accurate record of the proceedings and testimony to
24 the best of my skill and ability;
25
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25 (Pages 94 to 95)
Page 94
1 I further certify that I am not a relative or
2 employee or attorney or counsel of any of the parties,
3 nor am I a relative or employee of such attorney or
4 counsel, nor am I financially interested in the outcome
5 of this action.
6
7 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have subscribed my name
8 this ____ day of _____________, ____.
9
10
11 ______________________________________
12 ALLA PONTO, CSR No. 11046
13
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Page 95
1 ERRATA SHEET
2
3 If any corrections to your deposition are necessary,
indicate them on this sheet, giving the change, page
4 number, line number and reason for change.
5 PAGE LINE FROM TO
6 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
7 Reason ________________________________________________
8 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
9 Reason ________________________________________________
10 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
11 Reason ________________________________________________
12 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
13 Reason ________________________________________________
14 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
15 Reason ________________________________________________
16 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
17 Reason ________________________________________________
18 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
19 Reason ________________________________________________
20 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
21 Reason ________________________________________________
22 ____ ____ _____________________ _____________________
23 Reason ________________________________________________
24
_________________________________ _____________________
25 Signature of Deponent Date
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