WHO’S TO BLAME?
Q. How has it changed?
A. Well, you could do that at one time, and then along comes the Internet, and the whole world can buy off the Internet. I used to go five, six days a week going all over the country, to Wyoming, to – I’ve been to New York to buy cars – all over. And the Internet comes along, and all the customers I was selling to go on the Internet, unlicensed, unbonded, and all that
stuff, and they got a business card that tells them, in Guatemala, they can buy cars.
Q. We have Al Gore to thank for that, right?
MR. SMITH: Especially Al Gore.
Therese Casterline, RMR, CRR The Colony, TexasWITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
Q. Have you gone by any other names?
A. Yes.
Q. What are those?
A. I haven’t gone by names, but other people have referred to me as other names.
Q. Nicknames?
A. Yes.
Q. What are some of your nicknames?
A. Well, a friend of mine calls me Road Kill.
Q. Okay.
A. He said he has seen road kill that looked better than me.
MR. SMITH: And that’s your friend, right?
THE WITNESS: My good friend, right.
Therese Casterline, RMR, CRR The Colony, TexasGULP
Q. Were you in the Harris County jail waiting to go to trial?
A. I was in Harris County jail, yeah, the whole time.
Q. Did you have to do any additional time?
A. No, sir.
Q. Okay. And you said tampering with evidence. What was it that they accused you of tampering with?
A. I had some marijuana, and I ate it.
Alan Turboff, RPR Houston, TexasNO QUESTION ABOUT IT
THE COURT: Mr. Rhodes, do you have any final questions before we move on to the next case?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah. I just want to say for the record that your court reporter is a fox.
THE COURT: Mr. Rhodes, that is not a question.
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah. There’s no question about it. She’s a fox.
THE COURT: Mr. Rhodes, you have three kids and no job. Trust me, you can’t afford her.
Nichole Thut, RPR Sacramento, Calif.DON’T GO BREAKING HIS HEART
Q. Okay. Would you say that the research indicates whether or not — and your experience with young children indicates whether or not — a child of the age about three, three and a half, is capable of outright lying like you could see in an adult?
A. I don’t think three-year-olds, they don’t outright lie. I mean, if they do, they do it poorly. You know, who took the cookie, and it’s like the monster did it. I mean, they don’t — they are not sophisticated liars at all.
Q. Okay. What about the capability of distinguishing truth from fantasy; reality of what occurred from something they saw on TV?
A. Well, this is when kids start to believe — you know, they believe in Santa Claus and things that aren’t real, but —
THE COURT: What?
THE WITNESS: Sorry, Your Honor. I’m sorry to break your heart.
MS. ANDREWS: Do you need a recess, Judge?
THE COURT: The Court’s in recess.
(Laughter.)
Vicki Hartmetz, RPR, CMRS, CLVS, CRI Centennial, Colo.AM I HERE?
Q. Now, go to Exhibit V.
A. (The witness complies.)
Q. Tell me when you’re at that exhibit.
Are you there?
A. Am I —
Q. At Exhibit V, is it opened in the book in front of you?
A. Yes. Am I here?
Q. Yes. Are you — Frank. These are simple questions. They’re not confusing.
A. Okay.
Q. Do you have the book open to Exhibit V?
A. Yes. Whoops.
Melissa Odens, RPR Armour, S.D.LOST IN TRANSLATION
Q. What did you do for the company in 1998?
A. I started as a butter man (phonetic), and then I put the barricades and check everything, all the barricades.
THE REPORTER: Started as a what?
THE INTERPRETER: Barricades.
A. The — those barricades that put you —separate one place or another.
MS. JONES: But you said something. He started out as a…
THE REPORTER: “Butter man”? That’s what —
THE INTERPRETER: “Butter man” is what he said.
MR. WITNESS: Bottom man. I’m working —
THE REPORTER: “Bottom”?
MR. WITNESS: — my union as a water man —
THE INTERPRETER: A water man.
MR. WITNESS: — sewer.
THE INTERPRETER: Water man.
MS. JONES: In Spanish. (Mr. Ross speaking in Spanish with the witness.)
THE INTERPRETER: He put the – the – the – all the pipes of water.
MR. ROSS: “Bottom”? Bottom man.
MR. WITNESS: Bottom man.
MR. ROSS: Not “butter,” but “bottom.”
THE INTERPRETER: Bottom man.
MR. ROSS: B-o-t-t-o-m.
THE INTERPRETER: Yeah.
MS. SMITH: I can’t wait to see this transcript.
MS. JONES: We’re testing your skills.
MS. SMITH: That’s right. I’m sorry they don’t have that section in the Texas Bar Journal for funny deposition transcripts.
Melanie Smith Longview, TexasREALITY TV
Q. Do you understand that this deposition today and your testimony is just the same as if you were sitting in a court of law in front of the judge?
A. I assume so, yeah. Never been to court either, so…
Q. All right. I’m sure in today’s world with all the court stuff on TV, you’ve seen some liveaction court proceedings, haven’t you?
A. Judge Judy.
Q. Well, I guess that’s still real.
Doreen Sutton, RPR Scottsdale, Ariz.