Date of Testimony 05.14.2014
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA – MAY 14, 2014
3 BEFORE THE HONORABLE BARBARA J. MALLACH, JUDGE, DEPT. 22
4 — Morning Session —
5 ROUGH DRAFT
6 THE COURT: Good morning. Before the plaintiff
7 calls the next witness, let’s go through the judicial
8 notice issues.
9 MR. ESSNER: Can you just give us a moment
10 Your Honor to locate it.
11 THE COURT: Sure. Me, too.
12 MS. YOB: Your Honor, we were able to meet and
13 confer regarding the request for judicial notice yesterday.
14 And my understanding is Mr. Buescher has no objection to
15 the items attached to our request for judicial notice. And
16 my understanding is that they wished to admit items one
17 through five in their exhibit binder as requests for
18 judicial notice and we have no objection to any of those
19 items being introduced.
20 MR. BUESCHER: Two brief points of clarification.
21 We disagree that some of the items that they requested are
22 relevant, but we understand that they’re proper subjects of
23 judicial notice. And it’s just exhibits 1 through 4 in the
24 plaintiffs binder and I believe both exhibits one and two
25 have already been admitted into evidence. So it would be
26 exhibits three and four that we would request judicial
1 notice of.
2 MS. YOB: Your Honor, there will be one
3 additional item that we will need to request judicial
4 notice of. And that’s a section of the county zoning
5 regulations. We don’t have a copy here today with us but
6 we will have one tomorrow.
7 THE COURT: Well, okay. I’m not sure I have to
8 take judicial notice of that, but okay. Alright.
9 MR. BUESCHER: That I have no thoughts on at this
10 point.
11 THE COURT: Okay. Well, you both are being more
12 generous than I would be, so there you are. That’s nice.
13 So are you ready to call your next witness?
14 MR. COTCHETT: To move this case along, plaintiff
15 rests.
16 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. So plaintiff
17 rests. Is the defense ready to proceed.
18 MR. ESSNER: Yes, Your Honor. We are call Rich
19 Deeney.
20 THE CLERK: Please raise your right hand.
21 Testimony of,
22 RICHARD DEENEY,
23 called as a witness on behalf of the Defendants, and
24 having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:
25 THE CLERK: Thank you. Please be seated.
26 Can you please state and spell your first and
1 last name for the record.
2 THE WITNESS: First name is Richard,
3 R-i-c-h-a-r-d. Last name is Deeney, D-e-e-n-e-y.
4 THE COURT: If you could move the microphone up
5 underneath your mouth. Thank you very much.
6 THE WITNESS: I may not hear very well. One of
7 my hearing aids quit so if I don’t come through right,
8 holler at me.
9 MR. COTCHETT: You’re not alone, sir.
10 THE COURT: It seems to be a prevailing problem.
11 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. ESSNER
12 BY MR. ESSNER:
13 Q. I’ll speak into the microphone. Can you hear me?
14 A. I can.
15 Q. Great. If you can’t just, let me know, and I’ll
16 repeat the question.
17 A. Okay.
18 Q. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Deeney.
19 A. Good morning.
20 Q. My name is Jeff Essner, and I represent Martins
21 Beach one and two?
22 A. Uh-huh.
23 Q. Thank you for coming today.
24 Now you are under a subpoena to appear and
25 testify; is that correct?
26 A. That’s right.
1 Q. Now, you were the seller of what we’ve been
2 calling here in this courtroom as Martins Beach, to my
3 client, Martins Beach one and two; is that right?
4 A. That’s correct.
5 Q. And do you recall approximately when that sale
6 occurred, just approximately?
7 A. It seems to me like September, 08.
8 Q. Okay. And do you recall the sale’s price for the
9 property?
10 A. Not exactly. But I know it was 32 maybe million.
11 Q. Approximately 32 million?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. And how long has the property been in your
14 family?
15 A. We owned that north parcel. I don’t know which
16 one is Martins Beach one or Martins Beach two, but the
17 north one close to the beach access. That one we owned
18 since 1902. And the south parcel, I believe was in the
19 family since 1865.
20 Q. Okay. So the parcel that Martins Beach Road runs
21 on is that the north or the south parcel?
22 A. The north.
23 Q. And that parcel that you’ve owned since the early 24 1900s?
25 A. Yeah, 1902.
26 Q. The south parcel you’ve owned since I’m sorry
1 when?
2 A. 1865.
3 Q. Okay. Thank you. So I’m sorry to ask you this
4 question, when were you born? 5 A. 12/20/48, 1948.
6 Q. And have you grown up living on the property that
7 we’ve called Martins Beach?
8 A. I did, yes.
9 Q. Okay. And you were born and raised on that
10 property?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. Okay. And where do you live now?
13 A. Straight east we own property across the highway,
14 and we bought a parcel that adjoined our preexisting
15 parcels a little further east. We’re on the Lobitas Creek
16 cutoff back there, probably about a mile away as the crow
17 flies from the beach.
18 Q. Okay. When you were alive, because I only want
19 to know about when you were alive, was the property used
20 for agricultural purposes?
21 A. Yeah. It’s always been, always been
22 agricultural.
23 Q. Could you describe for the Court the first
24 agricultural purposes used for the property?
25 A. Most everything I remember we, years ago, raised
26 dairy cows and we raised young heifers there. And then
1 when they got big enough to you know breed and stuff, we
2 moved them back to the ranches further inland and bred them
3 and sold them for replacement heifers.
4 Q. Let me just interrupt you. About when was that?
5 A. Ever since I was just a little — probably, I
6 mean, I know early in the 50s we were doing it. For as
7 long as I remember when I was a kid that’s what we did.
8 And we kept a couple of milk cows that we milked for our
9 own use and used the milk to raise those drop cows.
10 Q. And at the time that the cows were on the
11 property was the entirety of the property fenced?
12 A. Oh, yes.
13 Q. Okay. And was there a gate at the front of
14 Martins Beach Road at that time?
15 A. When I was young, there was — it seems — this
16 is just recollection. Maybe they put up a chain there.
17 Way back I know my dad talked about they had a wire gap
18 that they always used to close on the road. And then I
19 think when they opened it for public — you know, when Mr.
20 Watt, our previous tenant came in there, I believe he put a
21 chain across to close it on non-business hours.
22 Q. Okay. We’ll get into that. But was the property
23 fenced?
24 A. Oh, yes, yes.
25 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Asked and answered.
26 THE COURT: I’m sorry. What was the objection?
1 MR. BUESCHER: Asked and answered. It’s fine.
2 Q. (By Mr. Essner) You also mentioned that —
3 I’m sorry. Were there any other animals or other kind of
4 agricultural uses other than the heifers?
5 A. Well, yeah heifers were in the earlier years.
6 And then we got out of the Holstein replacement heifer
7 business, and we had previously had sheep across the
8 highway. And we were having such a predator problem over
9 there that we moved them to the west side of the highway,
10 and we kept sheep in there for — I can’t remember what
11 year we actually started them in there. Well, when we got
12 out of the Holstein thing, which is probably in the late
13 60s early 70s, then we moved sheep over there and kept
14 sheep for quite a few years. And then when we finally —
15 well, we just kept them until they, you know, gradually
16 died off. And then we started farming. And we would farm
17 it, and, you know, sometimes give it a year or two off and
18 then farm it again but it was always farmed. If we weren’t
19 farming it, we would put some animals in there.
20 Q. And do you know if the property is currently used
21 for agricultural purposes?
22 A. Yes, it is.
23 Q. And do you know what those are?
24 A. What the uses are?
25 Q. Yes.
26 A. It’s being used for raising hay, and we still use
1 hay on our cattle ranch and raise, you know — supplement
2 the cattle.
3 Q. So you had mentioned a little bit earlier in your
4 testimony that it was your belief that there was some type
5 of fence at Martins Beach Road that was a chain link fence?
6 A. I believe so.
7 Q. Okay?
8 A. And then — until they put in the steel swinging
9 gates which —
10 Q. Well, we’ll get to that in a second. I just want
11 to — we’ll start with the chain fence.
12 A. Sure.
13 Q. Do you recall when that was roughly?
14 A. You know, I don’t have much recollection of that.
15 I was pretty young. I just remember a chain there, you
16 know, and we had leased to another man, and I don’t know
17 all the details of that, but I just remember a chain.
18 Q. Okay. And then you had mentioned at some point
19 the chain fence was replaced with a steel fence?
20 A. Right.
21 Q. Or a steel gate?
22 A. Right.
23 Q. Do you remember when the steel gate went in?
24 A. I would say somewhere between 58 and 60. 25 Q. 1958?
26 A. Yes.
1 Q. Okay. And can you describe for the Court what
2 the steel gate looked like?
3 A. On both sides, there was a steel pipe. Probably
4 dug into the ground with concrete poured around the base.
5 Then it had a bigger sleeve pipe over the top with a long
6 pipe that could be swung around to close the gap off. You
7 know it swung like this and hinged off of the back, and it
8 had braces that came up. And then on the center of it, it
9 had a bigger sleeve that slid across with a couple of eyes
10 and a long neck lock that would latch and lock that.
11 Q. Let me make sure I understand. There was a lock
12 on gate?
13 A. Oh, yes.
14 Q. Okay. Could you describe how the gate locked?
15 THE COURT: Well, before you do that, just for
16 the record, can you describe what he did with his arms in
17 terms of the swinging of the gate, just for the record.
18 MR. ESSNER: Oh, I’m sorry.
19 Q. (By Mr. Essner) Could you describe for the
20 record —
21 A. Sure.
22 Q. — verbally what you were motioning with your
23 hands?
24 A. Yeah. It had, like I say two pipes, a bigger
25 sleeve on it with a bracket welded on the bottom of the
26 gate so this couldn’t slide up and down. And then a pipe
1 that ran to the center of the road. And it did that on
2 both sides. And then off the bottom, it had another sleeve
3 there, kind of — it was like a hinge type setup to where
4 it swiveled on the top of this pipe and braced from the
5 bottom. And then in the center it had two — the two sides
6 swung in together like this.
7 THE COURT: Like this, we can’t tell. So you’re
8 putting your fingers together, so they’re coming together.
9 THE WITNESS: Real close.
10 THE COURT: Okay.
11 THE WITNESS: And then over the top of that, they
12 had a bigger perimeter pipe that could slide over the top
13 of these two pipes coming in sideways. And on one side,
14 there was a stable eye welded and this other side it had
15 a — it slid back, and I believe the lock was — in fact, I
16 know it had a chain welded to the lock so that somebody
17 couldn’t just take the lock off and throw it away. More
18 than once we went over and welded it because it got broke,
19 whether it was cabin owners or who we don’t know. But it
20 would get broken once in awhile, so we would go over and
21 re-weld it for Ed Watt, our former tenant. And it had a
22 long necked lock that would latch through the eye on the
23 slider part to the solid ring on the one side of the gate,
24 and it was a keyed lock.
25 THE COURT: Thank you.
26 Q. (By Mr. Essner) That was going to be my next
1 question. It was a keyed locked?
2 A. A keyed locked, right.
3 Q. And who had keys to the gate?
4 A. Every tenant.
5 Q. Let me just stop. Those are the tenants?
6 A. Cabin owners.
7 Q. That lived in the cabins in the community?
8 A. Right right.
9 Q. And approximately — let’s talk about when the
10 gate first went in in the late 1950s. Approximately how
11 many cabins were down at Martins Beach?
12 A. Let’s see, one was lost — well, in the 50s, that
13 one still would have been there. So there’s probably 46.
14 Q. Okay. So each cabin owner had a key; is that
15 right?
16 A. Right.
17 Q. Okay. Who else had a key as far as you knew?
18 A. I don’t believe anybody. Even us, as property
19 owners, I don’t believe we had a key until later years you
20 know, when I got big enough where I wanted to drive down.
21 We didn’t even as owners have a key to it. It was just the
22 cabin owners, our tenant, Ed Watt.
23 Q. And Ed Watt was the gentleman that was operating
24 the property and managing the property?
25 A. That’s right.
26 Q. So he had a key as well?
1 A. Oh, yes.
2 Q. Okay. So it was the cabin owners and the
3 property manager that had a key?
4 A. Right.
5 Q. As far as you know, did anyone from the public
6 have a key?
7 A. No.
8 Q. As far as you know, other than the cabin owners
9 and Mr. Watt who was managing the property did anyone else
10 have a key?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Let’s talk about when the gate would be locked,
13 okay. So the gate would be locked at times; is that right?
14 A. Sure. Yeah.
15 Q. Can you tell the Court when the gate would be
16 locked?
17 A. Well, our tenant would usually open it in the
18 mornings when he was open for business. And he would latch
19 it, both sides open, and he would keep it open during
20 daylight and business hours. I believe he closed at like
21 four o’clock and then it would be latched back up. And
22 then, you know, I mean, there was times that he had other
23 things to do and stuff, and it was left locked all day as
24 well, you know. But for the days that it was open, he ran
25 and opened and closed it at his — whatever interval he
26 wanted.
1 Q. So is it your recollection that there would be
2 days that the beach was open and the gate would be open and
3 days that the beach would be closed and the gate would be
4 locked?
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. Okay. And it was Mr. Watt’s decision on when to
7 open and close the gate?
8 A. That’s right.
9 Q. Okay. Was the gate always locked at night?
10 A. Yes, it was. It was never — I don’t even
11 remember any time that he had outside parties or anything
12 in my own personal memory where he would have had it open
13 for other things. I just don’t recall any time.
14 Q. You said that Mr. Watt ran a business; is that
15 right?
16 A. That’s right, yeah.
17 Q. What was the business that he ran?
18 A. Well, he had — he collected the tolls for the
19 toll road, for cars coming down.
20 Q. Let’s just stop right there. How would you
21 describe that business? Would that be the business of
22 charging for access to the beach?
23 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Leading.
24 THE COURT: Objection is overruled. You may
25 answer the question. Go ahead.
26 THE WITNESS: Answer?
1 THE COURT: Yes you may answer.
2 THE WITNESS: Yes. He collected for cars. And
3 at that time, he didn’t collect them all the way at the
4 bottom. There’s old railroad tracks that ran through
5 there. He most of the time always had a collector up there
6 so you could see the coast highway. And it was the only
7 real access to the place, and he would have a person up
8 there collecting for him.
9 Q. And do you know whether Mr. Watt allowed
10 pedestrians to walk down the road to access the beach?
11 A. No, no, he never did.
12 Q. How do you know that?
13 A. Well, a lot of what went on down there we could
14 see from — we lived in the brick house by the highway and
15 at that time I was pretty young. And once in awhile we
16 would see — surfers were a pretty rare item. It’s not
17 known as a great surfing beach.
18 Q. What time frame are you talking about right now?
19 A. Oh, back in late 50s, mid 60s up to the 70s
20 probably. We can see — I mean we were feeding cattle,
21 working with cattle up around by the brick house, which is
22 the one closest to the access. We could see — I mean we
23 had dogs. Dogs would always bark if anyone would be
24 walking, and we would hear them bark and we would go look.
25 If they got caught down there, he would tell them, hey, you
26 got to go back and get your car and pay if you’re going to
1 enter.
2 Q. So if people walked down the road, they would be
3 asked to leave?
4 A. Yes. And go back and get their car. If they
5 were to enter, they had to bring their car in.
6 Q. Do you recall if you ever while you owned the
7 property had an occasion to call the sheriff to ask
8 trespasses to leave?
9 A. Yeah, we did multiple times.
10 Q. Multiple times?
11 A. Oh, yes.
12 Q. Explain some of the circumstances that would
13 occur?
14 A. Well, on a rare occasion, one would get down —
15 or usually what would happen, there were some older retired
16 cabin owners there were there all the time. One of them
17 worked out in the garden all the time. If he would see
18 anything, he was a great watch dog for us. He would give
19 us a call. There was like three and another guy who
20 actually watched the beach sometimes if we couldn’t be
21 there. He had a four wheeler. He actually patrolled,
22 watched the beach and collected cars sometimes if we
23 weren’t around. But they would all know if anybody
24 saw — most of the tenants didn’t even like — the cabin
25 area, they felt was kind of like their area. They didn’t
26 want nobody in there. They would, almost all of them would
1 call us if they saw anybody that happened to get by us, and
2 we would go — we would catch them, because there’s very
3 few — it’s very noticeable of anybody trying to walk in
4 there. Plus we had — down by the beach, we had a camera
5 up by the gate. We had two more down by the park at the
6 guest parking area. So we thought — every now and then we
7 would glance at it. It was right close to where we had the
8 cash register in our own business there. And we were
9 pretty well on top of anything of anybody ever trying to
10 come in and out.
11 Q. If someone came down the road without paying or
12 without the permission of the owner or the manager, what
13 would you do?
14 A. Well, I would confront them and tell them, hey,
15 you can’t just walk in here. It’s a toll road. If you
16 want to come in, go back, get your car, whether it’s a
17 surfboard they’re carrying or whatever, just tell them they
18 got to go get their car, and they’re welcome back down, as
19 long as we had parking room, we would tell them to head
20 back down.
21 Q. And as long as they paid?
22 A. Oh, absolutely. Yeah they had to pay.
23 Q. And what if they refused to leave?
24 A. I had a couple do that. And push come to shove
25 almost a couple of times and I said you know I’m not even
26 going to mess with you. I’ll just go call the sheriff and
1 I’m going to file charges against you. And I would walk
2 away and try not to even look back because they would think
3 I wasn’t serious if I was looking to see what they are
4 doing. When I would hook around the corner to go to the
5 store, they would scurry back up the road. They didn’t
6 want to have no confrontation with the sheriff, so they
7 would leave. And we had pretty responsive sheriffs that
8 were helping. If there was any problem we had, whether it
9 be there or up along the highway, if we had trespassers,
10 they were pretty good about being out there. I think
11 because they liked Martins Beach as well they used to, you
12 know, come in and out of there fairly regular.
13 Q. Did the sheriff ever refuse to enforce the
14 trespasser laws when you asked him to?
15 A. No, never.
16 Q. And were there occasions where the sheriff would
17 come out to enforce the trespass laws?
18 A. They came I would say only maybe a couple of
19 times in the years that we ran it that they actually had to
20 sit and confront. There was times that people would, you
21 know, give us a bad time, but they usually would turn and
22 they would be walking out, so the sheriff really didn’t
23 need to say much to them because they were leaving. They
24 didn’t — we never had anybody sit toe to toe and argue too
25 much. Maybe one or two times it got a little testy.
26 Q. Did the beach when it was open have operating
1 hours?
2 A. Yeah. We had certain hours for summer and winter
3 months.
4 Q. What were the hours in the winter months?
5 A. Well, they varied. I mean, a lot of times if
6 there was bad weather conditions that I didn’t like down
7 there or if we had other things to do, we would just close
8 it up and not open it up at all.
9 Q. Let me just —
10 THE COURT: Folks, please. You’re talking over
11 each other. The court reporter is trying to take down what
12 you say. She can’t do that if you’re both talking.
13 MR. ESSNER: I’m sorry. That was my fault. I
14 apologize.
15 THE COURT: Go ahead.
16 Q. (By Mr. Essner) So during the winter, you would
17 close the beach during bad weather?
18 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Vague as to time and
19 leading.
20 THE COURT: No. Objection is overruled. You may
21 answer the question.
22 THE WITNESS: Yeah we would close down any time
23 we can’t have somebody there to watch the property, keep an
24 eye on it, or if it was real bad weather, we didn’t want
25 anybody in there anyway. So, you know, we would just —
26 you know it wouldn’t be a problem, you know, I mean, many
1 reasons just wasn’t good to have them in there. So we
2 would just close it down for any period we felt like
3 closing it.
4 Q. Did anyone ever tell you you weren’t allowed to
5 close your beach?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Did the Coastal Commission ever tell you you had
8 to keep your beach open?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Did anyone from the County ever tell you you
11 needed to keep the beach open?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Did anyone from the sheriffs department tell you
14 you needed to keep the beach open when you closed it?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Did anyone from the Coastal Commission ever tell
17 you you needed to keep the beach open?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Did anyone from the Coastal Commission ever tell
20 you you needed to get a Coastal Development Permit when you
21 closed the beach?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Let me show you a picture. It’s in your binder.
24 It’s marked as Exhibit 1 49-six. It’s the — let me see if
25 you have it.
26 MS. YOB: Your Honor may I approach to help him.
1 THE COURT: Yes. Thank you.
2 Q. (By Mr. Essner) Do you recognize the picture? I
3 realize it’s a little blurry, but the picture of what is
4 depicted in Exhibit 149-six.
5 A. Yeah I recognize it.
6 Q. Can you describe for the Court what that depicts?
7 A. Well, it pretty much shows the gate. You can’t
8 see the signs because they’re shaded on the gate. But one
9 sides shows clearer than the other. But it shows the
10 swinging gate. One-half of that gate is still in place
11 now. The other half fell over. The side that is shown on
12 this picture, it’s been removed.
13 Q. It fell over?
14 A. Fell over, yeah.
15 Q. And so is that the gate that you installed in the
16 late 1950s?
17 A. Yeah. Mr. Watts installed that.
18 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Misstates —
19 thank you.
20 Q. (By Mr. Essner) Is that the gate you believe was
21 installed in the late 1950s?
22 A. That’s it.
23 Q. And is that the side of the gate that is fallen
24 over?
25 A. That’s the side of that has fallen over, yeah.
26 Q. Now, could you just flip the page one to
1 149-five.
2 MS. YOB: May I Your Honor?
3 THE COURT: Yes.
4 THE WITNESS: Got it.
5 Q. (By Mr. Essner) You got it. Do you recognize
6 that gate?
7 A. Yeah yeah that’s the gate that I put in.
8 Q. You put that gate in?
9 A. I did.
10 Q. Okay. And is that the gate that is currently
11 on — at the entrance of Martins Beach Road?
12 A. Yes, that’s it.
13 Q. And when did you put that gate in?
14 A. I would say 1992.
15 Q. 1992?
16 A. Maybe 91, but I would say 92. I don’t know an
17 exact date for that but right there. Right in that
18 neighborhood.
19 Q. And why did you put this gate in?
20 A. Well the other one, like I was saying, it was
21 kind of a problem gate. It hung off of two posts in the
22 ground, and you get wet and dry time of the season, it
23 would tend to start leaning. And it was hard to line up
24 those pipes. Tenants were complaining and having problems
25 with it. It was just failing.
26 So I figured it was time to put something in
1 safer and that wouldn’t be hard to control, you know, as
2 far as anybody manually latching things up, the safety end
3 of it. It was you know — they didn’t have to be out there
4 at nighttime you know trying to get in and out with a lock
5 or somebody maybe you know because people roaming around at
6 night you don’t know, and it’s right on the coastal
7 highway. It wasn’t the safest sight for a gate where they
8 had to get in and out to open and close.
9 Q. So the old gate was failing is that right?
10 A. Absolutely.
11 Q. And you put this in —
12 A. I did.
13 Q. To maintain a new gate?
14 A. Right.
15 Q. And when you put this gate in, did anyone from
16 the County tell you you needed a permit?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Did anyone from the Coastal Commission tell you
19 you needed a permit?
20 A. No. No. It was agricultural property. I never
21 thought about replacement of a gate. You know I just put
22 it in. Never thought about anything being needed.
23 Q. Why do you say it’s agricultural property you
24 never thought about replacement of a gate needed a permit?
25 A. I don’t know. We’ve replaced gates other places
26 on the coast and on our ranches we border — never heard of
1 anybody even getting a permit to replace a gate on their
2 you know ag. zone property, you know. Yet it’s under the
3 Williamson act it’s all ag.
4 Now, I think under the contract Martins Beach is
5 excluded from the Williamson Act but it’s you know on the
6 same access. We use the same access to go in and out to
7 get our hay out of the fields and do all of our
8 agricultural work. We use the same road.
9 Q. At the time that the old gate was falling apart
10 and you put in this new gate, were you using the property
11 for agricultural purposes?
12 A. We were, yeah.
13 Q. And at that time, what were the agricultural
14 purposes?
15 A. Might have had some pumpkins in there and hay. I
16 believe right along this road here I believe my son grew
17 some pumpkins. I’m not sure of the timing if it’s exactly
18 the time we — it may have been. He might have had
19 pumpkins right in this field here about the time we changed
20 that gate. And then we had hay. That was just a very
21 small section. The rest of it was all hay for our cows —
22 to supplement our cattle feed in the winter months.
23 Q. And when you put in this gate, did you continue
24 to open — when did the Watts stop operating the beach?
25 A. I believe 92.
26 Q. And in 92, who started operating the beach?
1 A. My family, not just me. Me — my wife ran the
2 store or was the manager of the store. My daughter at that
3 time I believe just my oldest daughter lived there. I’m
4 trying to think if my son lived there or not. I don’t
5 think he did quite then. But we as a family, everybody
6 chipped in, worked there everyday. Seven days a week we
7 were pretty well tied down to it as far as the family. And
8 it was good that we had as many people as we did you know
9 to see to it that all the needs were met and taken care of
10 and watched over.
11 Q. At some point in time when you owned the
12 property, did you find that the business of selling daily
13 access to the beach declined?
14 A. Yeah through the years it definitely declined.
15 Back when I was young, we used to go down there and we
16 could catch fish by the truckloads if you really wanted to
17 catch smelt.
18 Q. How many years ago was that?
19 A. I’m 65, so since the time I was maybe 12, we —
20 so that’s like 60 — on back in the 60s, it was a — it’s
21 always been noted as a fishing beach. And through the
22 years you know I think it’s just like a global warming and
23 everything else. It’s a cycle we’re going through and you
24 know it reverts back eventually but as of now the fishing
25 and all of that end of it, the real business part of the
26 public access, it had been slipping for a long time. It’s
1 not what it was years ago. They used to have large crowds
2 and big demand. I think food source, you know, people
3 didn’t buy it all out of the stores back then. They went
4 and fished and caught their own food you know.
5 Q. And when you began operating the business of
6 selling access to the beach, did you find that visitors
7 declined?
8 A. It was declining a long for quite a few years and
9 it continued to decline because we went some years there, I
10 would say sometimes two, three years with hardly any fish
11 at all. We had a few old diehards that would still come
12 pretty regular. I think more for the love of the beach
13 than just the fishing, you know, but the fishing business
14 was definitely on a big decline. And it still is. It’s
15 not good yet. I don’t know this year. There’s a few fish
16 being caught north but stripers I haven’t heard of any
17 smelts in yet. I don’t know where they’re going to spawn
18 now but they don’t seem to be coming there.
19 Q. What about surfers was this a big surf beach?
20 A. No. On normal — some days you wouldn’t see any
21 surfers at all. On our better days, you might see one or
22 two. The only time Martins Beach is known for a good surf
23 beach is if you get a south swell that might only happen
24 twice a year.
25 Q. Twice a year?
26 A. Yeah. For two — maybe a couple days at a time.
1 Very rarely you got that south swell. But when it would
2 come, we got a big influx of surfers.
3 Q. And did you continue to operate the beach when
4 your family took over so that when if you didn’t have
5 someone available you would close the beach.
6 A. Yeah. We closed you know on multiple occasions
7 you know for — you know anything taking place, and we also
8 occasionally had a private party that we would close it
9 down to the public and have that private party thing going
10 on. We had a location kind of on the south end there that
11 was kind of secluded and more to itself and a good area for
12 family parties or something like that. Sometimes like I
13 say we would have family that would — and there was other
14 groups in there too. I don’t know that it was all family,
15 but just a private party once in awhile.
16 Q. So at least once a month, you would close the
17 beach down and essentially rent it out to someone else?
18 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Misstates the
19 testimony and leading.
20 THE COURT: Objection is sustained.
21 THE WITNESS: Yeah.
22 Q. (By Mr. Essner) Let me rephrase the question?
23 A. Sure.
24 Q. How often would you close the beach down and rent
25 it out to a private party?
26 A. It kind of varied. You know, there was times it
1 would happen more often. And in sometimes it would go
2 quite a little while before we would do it. But you know
3 it was back and forth. There’s just no figuring how or why
4 there would be another need but whenever something like
5 that came up we closed.
6 Q. And on the occasions when you closed the beach to
7 the public and made a business decision to rent it out to a
8 private party, did anyone from the Coastal Commission
9 approach you and tell you you couldn’t do that?
10 A. No. No. There was nobody that ever questioned
11 us.
12 Q. Anyone from the County ever tell you you couldn’t
13 do that?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Anyone from the County or the Coastal Commission
16 tell you that you needed a Coastal Development Permit to do
17 that?
18 A. No.
19 Q. And when you and your family were operating the
20 beach after the 19 — after approximately 1990, is that
21 what you said 1990?
22 A. Yeah. I believe he ran it — see we gave new
23 leases to the cabin owners at that time, negotiated a new
24 lease. And we took it over directly instead of Mr. Watt
25 doing it. We leased directly to cabin owners. He
26 continued running the beach for one year. I would say we
1 actually took it over in 92 about.
2 Q. Did you continue to enforce the rules that no
3 pedestrians were allowed to walk down the road?
4 A. Yes, we did. It’s — yeah. There’s never been
5 anybody allowed to walk in. You create too big of a
6 nuisance and a problem. If we ever let it get started, it
7 would just develop and get worse. So we just never allowed
8 it to get started. I don’t know if we were more strict
9 than the previous owner or I mean previous tenant or less,
10 but I don’t think we were any less strict — you know
11 restrictive because we watched it real close. Most
12 everybody didn’t like the sound of a four wheeler coming.
13 Q. What do you mean by that, the sound of a four
14 wheeler coming?
15 A. Well, we had a little four wheeler that we used
16 as an off road vehicle. There’s only pretty much one way
17 to get down there is down that road. And if they did go
18 down the road, they can’t go you know and get around us
19 anywhere you know. And plus like I say, we had tenants up
20 there watching. We had cameras. If they would come down
21 that road, we were on them.
22 Q. And you would ask them to leave?
23 A. We would.
24 Q. You had mentioned that the business of charging
25 people access to the beach was in a decline over the years
26 is that right?
1 A. It was, yeah.
2 Q. Was that one of the reasons why you sold the
3 property?
4 A. It was.
5 Q. Okay. Thank you.
6 A. You’re welcome.
7 THE COURT: Alright. Cross-examination?
8 MR. BUESCHER: Yes, Your Honor.
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BUESCHER
10 BY MR. BUESCHER:
11 Q. Good morning, Mr. Deeney. My name is Eric
12 Buescher. I’m an attorney who represents the Surfrider
13 Foundation in this lawsuit. Please let me know if you
14 can’t hear any of my questions and I’ll try and speak up.
15 A. I may have to.
16 Q. Do you still have the photo of the gate that you
17 installed in front of you?
18 A. I do.
19 Q. And so I understand this, the old gate that had
20 been installed when you were a child, you completely
21 removed that gate, correct?
22 A. No. One half of it we removed. The other half
23 is still there. And you know, it gives you an idea where
24 it was at. It’s just east of where that — where this gate
25 here is pictured.
26 Q. I appreciate that clarification. The gate that
1 is currently there, that’s reflected in that photograph,
2 are both the north and south halves of that gate, were they
3 both installed in the early 90s?
4 A. Right.
5 Q. And half of the old gate is there just off to the
6 side?
7 A. Right. The other half fell over so I had to
8 remove it.
9 Q. But the current gate no part of it existed prior
10 to you installing it?
11 A. Possibly the pin and the north gate the pin that
12 pins it to the ground there. But I think there was a chain
13 off of the old one that lowered down, that connected to
14 that. I’m not I kind of forget to be honest.
15 Q. And what do you mean by the pin?
16 A. Well, there’s this north part is a swinging gate.
17 It swings in and out. It’s hinged it swings around. And
18 it has a drilled pin that goes through with two things up
19 in the side where a bolt goes through and latches and keeps
20 the bolt from coming up so the gate can’t be removed or
21 swung open.
22 Q. And I want to focus on the north half of the
23 current gate. Is that portion of the current gate
24 automated or motorized?
25 A. No.
26 Q. The south half of the current gate it slides
1 instead of swinging correct?
2 A. Right.
3 Q. And is that that portion motorized?
4 A. It is.
5 Q. And was it motorized when you installed it?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. You mentioned that there were cameras both at the
8 gate and down on the beach; is that correct?
9 A. The cameras were — one was at the gate. There
10 were two down where the road goes to the bottom road and
11 where it turns and goes up to the top road. There were two
12 down there and then down closer to the bathrooms at the
13 bottom we had a sensor. If people would walk through
14 there, a little buzzer would go off. It would clue us in
15 someone was passing. Quite often we would go out and it
16 was a cabin owner, something like that it was no problem.
17 But if somebody walked in, it gave us plenty of time to get
18 to them.
19 Q. I want to make sure I understand. There were
20 three cameras plus a motion detector?
21 A. Right.
22 Q. Okay. The camera that was at the gate, is that a
23 video camera or a still photography camera?
24 A. You know, I don’t remember much about it. I know
25 we had a camera there. But it was up on the post. It
26 wasn’t very visible, you know, as far as — you know, and I
1 don’t know that it worked 100 percent of the time. But
2 just even having a camera there made people — less likely
3 to fool with your gate, if they saw something there.
4 Q. I appreciate that. Do you know when the camera
5 that was at the gate was installed?
6 A. In the 90s — probably, probably mid 90s.
7 Q. After you built that current gate?
8 A. Right.
9 Q. Have you ever seen any photographs or video that
10 that camera took?
11 A. Back at the time but not — it’s nothing we kept.
12 Q. Do you know if that camera is still there?
13 A. No. No it’s gone.
14 Q. Do you know when it was removed?
15 A. I don’t.
16 Q. Do you know if it was removed before you sold the
17 property?
18 A. I don’t remember seeing it at that time so I’m
19 guessing that it either was removed or fell down.
20 Q. And then the two cameras that are at where the
21 road turns, you’re talking about Martins Beach Road goes
22 west toward the highway and then turns south correct?
23 A. If you’re driving down Martins Beach Road?
24 Q. Yes.
25 A. Yeah. It goes down, makes kind of a swing around
26 and then heads down to the beach. Well, just before the
1 bottom, it heads along the upper cabins, there was two
2 cameras there.
3 Q. And the same question. Do you know when those
4 cameras were installed?
5 A. Probably early 90s.
6 Q. About the same time as the one at the gate?
7 A. Roughly. The one at the gate might have been
8 just a year or so after.
9 Q. Thank you, sir. And, again, do you know if those
10 were video or still photography cameras?
11 A. I know they projected on a screen that we had
12 down at the store.
13 Q. And do you know if those cameras existed when you
14 sold the property?
15 A. I couldn’t answer that for sure. I think they
16 existed. I wouldn’t swear 100 percent that they were still
17 operational but I kind of think if they were turned on,
18 yeah, that they would still be. But I can’t swear to that.
19 Q. I appreciate that. You mentioned that your
20 family had leased the beach to Ed Watt and his wife,
21 correct?
22 A. Right.
23 Q. Do you know how long that the Watt family ran the
24 beach?
25 A. Ed Watts dad started it up. He worked as a black
26 Smith with my dad in Half Moon Bay. And my dad suggested
1 to him come down for a weekend job to collect cars at the
2 beach. Maybe you know he could strike up a little business
3 there. So that started in I believe he started it in ’22.
4 Didn’t move down thereto live and run it 100 percent of the
5 time until ’24. And then from then on he continued.
6 That’s when they built most of the cabins back in the ’20s.
7 Q. I apologize?
8 A. Pardon me.
9 Q. I apologize. Go ahead?
10 A. Well the last one that I know of I think was
11 built like in the 50s.
12 Q. It’s fair to say that the Watt family ran the
13 beach for about 70 years?
14 A. Close to it, yeah.
15 Q. And then your family ran it for between 15 and 20
16 after that?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Do you surf, sir?
19 A. No.
20 Q. Have you ever?
21 A. No. I went after abalones in the ocean but no
22 surfing. We went fishing though.
23 Q. I appreciate that. Were you ever asked — let me
24 back up. Do you know Mr. Baugher who is sitting in the
25 courtroom with us?
26 A. I do.
1 Q. Were you ever asked by Mr. Baugher when the
2 current gate was constructed?
3 A. I don’t recall if he mentioned it or asked. I
4 don’t know.
5 Q. Were you ever asked by any of the attorneys for
6 the LLC when the current gate was constructed?
7 A. I don’t know that they did. We talked about the
8 building of it but I didn’t know nothing about — I don’t
9 think any question of how or when it was constructed.
10 Q. What do you mean when you say we talked about the
11 building of it?
12 A. That I had put that gate there.
13 Q. And when was that conversation approximately?
14 A. Jeez, I guess a couple of weeks ago.
15 Q. You mentioned there was a store down on the
16 beach, correct?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. And both the Watt family and then eventually your
19 family I believe your wife ran that store.
20 A. Yeah. My wife ran it from the time we took it
21 over.
22 Q. Were there also restrooms for the public on the
23 beach?
24 A. There was.
25 Q. Was the store open at the time you sold the
26 property?
1 A. Yeah, I believe it still was. Usually only
2 summer months. The rest of the time, no. It was — it was
3 closed more than it was open, but we did open in the summer
4 months when we had people come fishing.
5 Q. Do you know if the restrooms functioned at the
6 time that you sold the property?
7 A. I think pretty much so, yeah. They were you know
8 in need of repair, but they were you know — I believe they
9 were still working.
10 Q. Did you ever provide any instruction to the Watt
11 family about the hours of operation that they would run the
12 beach?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Are you aware of whether anyone in your family
15 did?
16 A. Not that I’m aware of, no.
17 Q. So they made that decision as far as you know on
18 their own?
19 A. As far as how and when they open and closed and
20 all of that.
21 Q. Correct?
22 A. Yes, they did. I don’t know if I should add this
23 but they actually closed — had a shorter day than what we
24 did when we ran it.
25 Q. In terms of?
26 A. Hours.
1 Q. The hours?
2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. You mentioned that when your family ran the
4 beach, it was a seven day a week job?
5 A. For sure.
6 Q. Does that mean that the beach was open seven days
7 a week?
8 A. Not always, no.
9 Q. More often than not?
10 MR. ESSNER: Objection. Vague.
11 THE COURT: The objection is overruled.
12 THE WITNESS: It was open more than it was not
13 open, yes. On occasion, it was shut down completely as
14 well though.
15 Q. (By Mr. Buescher) Did you ever close the beach
16 permanently?
17 A. How do you define permanently.
18 Q. Did you ever make a decision that you were going
19 to close the beach and no longer allow the public to enter?
20 A. No we did not.
21 Q. And you indicated that there was some diehards
22 that would come down for the love of the beach correct?
23 A. Some of our fisherman, yes.
24 Q. Is it fair to say that there were people who
25 treasured Martins Beach and would come there?
26 A. Treasured it? The fishing, probably.
1 Q. And you — both you and the Watt family before
2 you, you provided this service to the public so that they
3 could use this beach?
4 A. Yeah. We provided access.
5 Q. With respect to the times that the beach was open
6 or closed, are you aware of any written documents that
7 reflected the hours of operation?
8 A. There were no written documents.
9 Q. Was there any written policy reflecting when
10 access would or would not be provided?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Do you know if there was anything in writing that
13 reflected that people were not allowed to walk down Martins
14 Beach Road?
15 A. On one of our signs we had written on it no walk
16 ins.
17 Q. Where was that sign?
18 A. Up by the highway up close to the road.
19 Q. Was it on the gate itself?
20 A. I don’t know if it was on the gate or posted like
21 maybe that first post right past, but it was right close.
22 It was visible from the gate area.
23 Q. You mentioned that a couple of times the sheriff
24 came down to the property when there was a dispute with
25 somebody who was there correct?
26 A. Uh-huh.
1 Q. Did you ever file charges against any individual
2 for trespassing on the property?
3 A. We never needed to, no.
4 Q. Are you aware of whether the County ever
5 prosecuted an individual for trespassing on the property?
6 A. I don’t believe for trespassing. There could
7 have been a disturbance a time or two.
8 Q. What happened do you mean by disturbance?
9 A. Well somebody on the beach getting into a tussle
10 with somebody else. I don’t know what took place in those
11 days. It wasn’t during the time that we ran it.
12 Q. But during the time that you ran the beach from
13 1992 or so until the sale, you never filed charges against
14 anyone for trespassing?
15 A. No. We did — through the Farm Bureau they gave
16 us citations for — in case somebody was trespassing on
17 your property. I would put one of those on a car one time.
18 Q. A trespassing citation?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. On a car that had parked on the beach?
21 A. No, up at the highway. I don’t know that they
22 were on the property, but I put it there anyway to kind of
23 defer them from ever thinking it, that they could go in. I
24 don’t know that the County followed up on those. I don’t
25 know how valuable you know they were.
26 Q. Fair enough. And during the winter months
1 when — let’s start with the time that your family ran the
2 property — the beach was open to the public sometimes?
3 A. On and off, yeah.
4 Q. But you didn’t close it for the entire winter?
5 A. Entire winter, no.
6 Q. Have you been to the property recently?
7 A. I go down there almost every day. Well I
8 shouldn’t say everyday. Probably three days a week.
9 Q. And do you go down the road?
10 A. I go as far as the water system. The old
11 railroad tracks across at the end of the first straightaway
12 they go to the north and south.
13 Q. You go past the gate?
14 A. Oh yes.
15 Q. The sun — I apologize?
16 A. Oh, I’m sorry. I also you know watch the fields
17 as we always have, because I don’t want people going out
18 into the fields and messing up our farm crops.
19 Q. Are the crops that are grown at Martins Beach
20 your family’s property?
21 A. The crop itself, yes.
22 Q. Are you aware as to whether the signs that are
23 just past the gate that you described, the one that used to
24 say no walk ins for example, of whether those signs still
25 exist now?
26 A. You know, I don’t know. I’m not sure. I kind of
1 don’t watch it the way I used to. My son kind of watches
2 over and manages it. If I see something kind of out of
3 line, I always try to inform them. But I try not to get
4 too involved in it. I don’t want to say the wrong thing.
5 Q. I just want you to be honest with me?
6 A. Sure.
7 Q. You mentioned that you used to get large crowds
8 down at the beach sometimes as well, correct?
9 A. Uh-huh.
10 Q. That would be for fishing or certain times when
11 the surf was very good?
12 A. Usually the large crowd days were I would say on
13 holiday weekends like fourth of July. The fishing thing
14 depleted considerably. There was never, when we had it,
15 large crowds from fishing crowds, which — the history of
16 the beach is the fishing part of the beach. That’s what
17 people wanted to go there for.
18 Q. Going back all the way to the 1920s?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. And you mentioned that periodically you would
21 close for private events and that sort of thing?
22 A. Right.
23 Q. What kind of events are we talking about?
24 A. Oh, there were parties, like organizations that
25 had parties there. We closed for those. There were
26 occasions that a family member who was watching at the time
1 couldn’t watch it we would close for that period. If I was
2 gone and any time something didn’t you know work out good
3 for us to have people watching, we would just lock it up
4 for the day.
5 Q. But it was always your intention to reopen it to
6 the public?
7 A. Yeah. We usually always reopened back
8 eventually, you know. I mean at the end of whatever the
9 reason for closing was.
10 Q. So somebody may rent it out for a Friday
11 afternoon party or that evening but then that weekend it
12 would be reopened?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. (By Mr. Buescher) I have no further questions?
15 THE COURT: Thank you. Redirect.
16 MR. ESSNER: Just a couple of quick questions.
17 Q. Did you ever have occasion to have cars towed
18 that were parked at Martins Beach if they didn’t pay the
19 admission fee?
20 A. Right. We did — we had it posted for — with a
21 local towing companies number. And you know, I forget
22 exactly what it said. But if your car has been towed
23 please contact whatever the company’s name was. But we had
24 several towed through the years.
25 Q. So if they didn’t pay, they would get towed?
26 A. Right.
1 Q. And let me ask you to turn to Exhibit 1 48?
2 MS. YOB: May I approach Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Yes.
4 MR. BUESCHER: I’m going to object, Your Honor.
5 This document was not introduced to us during discovery.
6 It was produced in other litigation. They’ve had it for a
7 substantial amount of time. The first time we saw it was
8 when they disclosed their exhibit list the day of trial.
9 THE COURT: Your response?
10 MR. ESSNER: This document is available on Web
11 pages and it’s just a publicly available document.
12 MR. BUESCHER: We produced several photos that
13 were publicly available on Web pages. We have never seen
14 this document before trial.
15 THE COURT: So the issue is why didn’t you
16 produce it?
17 MR. ESSNER: I didn’t know it existed until I did
18 the Web search.
19 MR. BUESCHER: Your Honor, it has a Bates stamp
20 FMB 31. That’s Friends of Martins Beach. That’s the other
21 litigation that Ms. Essner and Ms. Yob represent the
22 defendants in.
23 MR. ESSNER: I don’t see any Bates stamp.
24 THE COURT: I don’t either.
25 MR. BUESCHER: In the lower right-hand corner, of
26 the bottom right parking pass it says FMB 31.
1 THE COURT: Mine just says Defendants’ Exhibit.
2 Anyway. Okay.
3 MR. BUESCHER: Will you agree with me that it’s
4 Bates stamped?
5 MR. ESSNER: I didn’t see it. I agree with you.
6 THE COURT: So any further response?
7 MR. ESSNER: No. I think it should be admitted.
8 THE COURT: Alright. Well, no. The Court is
9 going to deny that request.
10 MR. ESSNER: Would the Court allow me to ask
11 questions about this.
12 THE COURT: Yes you can.
13 MR. ESSNER: Thank you.
14 Q. (By Mr. Essner) When a car entered the property
15 and they paid their fee were they given some sort of piece
16 of paper to place on their windshield to indicate that
17 they had paid?
18 A. Right. The guest — at the bottom, we usually
19 had multiple colored parking tickets we would use, and we
20 would trade them off certain days. And a lot of times, it
21 would be dated so we knew it was good for that date. I
22 mean occasionally somebody would try to come in and falsify
23 one, but it’s not something that work. But we always gave
24 them tickets — entry tickets.
25 Q. And the tickets had a coloring system so, for
26 example, on a certain day, you would give out red tickets
1 and then on a different day, you would give out a different
2 color?
3 A. Right. It made it easy to spot, you know, if
4 they came in, we could tell which color and whether it was
5 current.
6 Q. And were the licensees, the people paying the
7 money to come onto the beach were they told to display the
8 ticket on their dashboard?
9 MR. BUESCHER: Objection. Legal conclusion as to
10 licensees.
11 THE COURT: Restate the question please.
12 Q. (By Mr. Essner) The people that paid the money
13 to come onto the beach for the day were they told to place
14 the ticket on their dashboard?
15 A. Yeah. We preferred they put it on their
16 dashboard instead of putting it under the windshield wiper
17 because it’s too easy for somebody to grab it and hand it
18 off or whatever.
19 Q. If the car didn’t have the ticket displayed it
20 was at risk of being towed?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. And you did tow cars?
23 A. Oh yes.
24 Q. Frequently?
25 A. It varied. We would run in streaks, sometimes
26 you wouldn’t have a problem for a long time. Pretty soon
1 you would get a few.
2 Q. When you sold the property to my client, were
3 there any contents inside the store, do you recall?
4 A. I don’t believe very much. I think we cleaned
5 the place out pretty much. I don’t know. There might have
6 been an old stove or something.
7 Q. Thank you.
8 MR. BUESCHER: Nothing further, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: I will indicate that I do see about I
10 would say two-inches from the bottom there there’s the FMB
11 31. So I do see that.
12 MR. BUESCHER: Thank you, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: Thank you sir. You may step down.
14 THE WITNESS: That does it?
15 THE COURT: Yes. Thank you. Next witness?
16 MR. ESSNER: Yes. We’re going to call Jimmy
17 Deeney. Actually, I think we’re going to change our order.
18 I didn’t know we had another witness that arrived. And so
19 I think I’m going to ask — let me just check and make sure
20 she’s outside, if I may.
21 THE COURT: Sure. Yes.
22 MR. ESSNER: Thank you.
23 THE CLERK: Please stand and raise your right
24 hand.
25 Testimony of,
26 JOAN GALLO,
1 called as a witness on behalf of the Defendants, and
2 having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:
3 THE CLERK: Thank you. Please be seated.
4 MR. ESSNER: Your Honor, before we get started, I
5 would just like to move to admit pictures that I referred
6 to during Mr. Deeney’s testimony into evidence. Exhibit
7 149-five and Exhibit 149-six.
8 THE COURT: Any objection?
9 MR. BUESCHER: No objection, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: Alright. Exhibits 149-five and
11 149-six will be admitted.
12 (Defendants’ Exhibit No. Was Admitted Into Evidence.)
13 THE CLERK: Can you please state and spell your
14 first and last name for the record.
15 THE WITNESS: Yes. My name is Joan Gallo,
16 J-o-a-n, G-a-l-l-o.
17 MR. ESSNER: If I may, Your Honor, I’m just going
18 to switch binders because that one is not going to be
19 relevant.
20 THE COURT: Thank you. You may go ahead.
21 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. YOB
22 BY MS. YOB:
23 Q. Good morning, Ms. Gallo.
24 A. Good morning.
25 Q. Can you tell the Court what your current
26 occupation is?