3508 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X 3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : CR 96 1016(S-1) 4 v. : U.S. Courthouse 5 Uniondale, New York BRUCE W. GORDON, WHO'S WHO 6 WORLD WIDE REGISTRY, INC., : STERLING WHO'S WHO, INC., 7 TARA GARBOSKI, ORAL FRANK : OSMAN, LAURA WEITZ, ANNETTE 8 HALEY, SCOTT MICHAELSON, : STEVE RUBIN, and MARTIN 9 REFFSIN, : TRANSCRIPT OF TRIAL 10 Defendants. : February 10, 1998 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X 9:30 o'clock a.m.
12 BEFORE:
13 HONORABLE ARTHUR D. SPATT, U.S.D.J. and a jury 14 APPEARANCES: 15 For the Government: ZACHARY W. CARTER 16 United States Attorney One Pierrepont Plaza 17 Brooklyn, New York 11201 By: RONALD G. WHITE, ESQ. 18 CECIL SCOTT, ESQ. Assistant U.S. Attorneys 19 For the Defendants: NORM
AN TRABULUS, ESQ. 20 For Bruce W. Gordon 170 Old Country Road, Suite 600 21 Mineola, New York 11501
22 EDWARD P. JENKS, ESQ. For Who's Who Worldwide 23 Registry, Inc. and Sterling Who's, Who, Inc. 24 332 Willis Avenue Mineola, New York 11501 25 (cont'd)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3509
1 APPEARANCES (cont'd):
2 GARY SCHOER, ESQ. For Tara Garboski 3 6800 Jericho Turnpike Syosset, New York 11791 4 ALAN M. NELSON, ESQ. 5 For Oral Frank Osman 3000 Marcus Avenue 6 Lake Success, New York 11042
7 WINSTON LEE, ESQ. For Laura Weitz 8 319 Broadway New York, New York 10007 9 MARTIN GEDULDIG, ESQ. 10 For Annette Haley 400 South Oyster Bay Road 11 Hicksville, New York 11801
12 JAMES C. NEVILLE, ESQ. For Scott Michaelson 13 225 Broadway New York, New York 10007 14 THOMAS F.X. DUNN, ESQ. 15 For Steve Rubin 150 Nassau Street 16 New York, New York 10038
17 JOHN S. WALLENSTEIN, ESQ. For Martin Reffsin 18 215 Hilton Avenue Hempstead, New York 11551 19
20 Court Reporter: HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR United States District Court 21 Two Uniondale Avenue Uniondale, New York 11553 22 (516) 485-6558
23 Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography, transcript 24 produced by Computer-Assisted Transcription 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3510
1 M O R N I N G S E S S I O N
2
3 (The following takes place in the absence of the
4 jury.)
5 THE COURT: Do you want to see me, Mr. White?
6 MR. WHITE: I have an evidentiary issue, but if
7 the jury is waiting, we can take it later.
8 THE COURT: All right.
9 (Whereupon an unrelated matter is taken up by the
10 Court.)
11 THE COURT: Is the
jury here?
12 THE CLERK: The jury is here, but we are missing
13 a defendant, your Honor.
14 THE COURT: All right.
15 We have some time now, Mr. White. What is your
16 problem?
17 MR. WHITE: It is not a problem, I don't think.
18 Can we proceed in the absence of one of the
19 defendants?
20 MR. SCHOER: I will waive her appearance, your
21 Honor.
22 THE COURT: It is a question of law, right?
23 MR. WHITE: Yes. 24 THE COURT: All right. 25 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, it has to do with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3511
1 something we touched upon last week, and at the time I
2 didn't have full research to present to the Court. It has
3 to do with the admissibility of complaint letters sent by
4 customers to the company. This is going to arise in a
5 couple of instances, I think, and perha
ps with one of the
6 customers today, your Honor, who sent a letter of
7 complaint to the company, complaining basically that she
8 was told that she was selected by this exclusive process,
9 and in fact now she realizes that anyone who has
10 incorporated a company or has any sort of a degree has
11 received the same sort of nomination letter that she got.
12 At the time it was raised the last time, the
13 government's argument was that the defendants were on
14 notice that customers were being misled by the
15 solicitation letter, and that customers were dissatisfied.
16 At the time I didn't have any law to cite to your
17 Honor, but I did the research last night.
18 First, from Judge Weinstein's evidence treatise,
19 he says that a writing may be admitted to show the effect
20 on the hearer or reader when this effect is relevant. The
21 policies underline the hears
ay rule do not apply because
22 the utterance is not being offered to prove the truth or
23 falsity of the matter asserted. 24 For example, statements of complaint may be 25 admitted to show that the recipient knew that customers
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3512
1 were generally dissatisfied.
2 Your Honor, there is a whole series cases from
3 different circuits, including the Second Circuit, that
4 hold that.
5 The main one I found in the Second Circuit was
6 United States v. Press, P R E S S, 336 F.2d 1003, Second
7 Circuit, 1964.
8 The case is similar to this, your Honor. It is a
9 conspiracy and mail fraud prosecution. There the
10 defendants are charged with fraud in connection with mail
11 order marketing sales. And there the Court let in
12 complaints that were received from customers by the local
13 chamber of commerce and then forwarded on to the defendant
14 and the defendant corporation in that case. The
15 defendants were convicted and appealed.
16 The Second Circuit said, your Honor, of course --
17 reading from page 1011, of course, evidence that
18 complaints had been received would not have been
19 admissible to show that members had in fact not received
20 catalogues, merchandise, or refund, which is what the
21 alleged fraud was.
22 THE COURT: What exactly were you referring to
23 that you attempted to admit, Mr. White? 24 MR. WHITE: The last time it came up, your Honor, 25 was the woman who had from the law firm library, who
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3513
1 received a letter addressed to dear Mr. Library, and wrote
2 a letter back saying I think this is misleading that you
3 are tellin
g someone they are nominated based on individual
4 experience and there is no such person.
5 THE COURT: Letters by customers to the
6 defendant?
7 MR. WHITE: Correct.
8 THE COURT: I will have to take a look at it.
9 MR. WHITE: If I can make one other distinction?
10 This case and the others are complaint letters
11 which are just forwarded to the company or received by the
12 company, and are not necessarily ones where that customer
13 actually comes and testifies at the trial. I am not
14 asking to even go that far. I only want to put in the
15 complaint letter when this customer who wrote it comes in,
16 identifies the letter and says I sent it to Who's Who. So
17 if there is any question about the truth of it, they can
18 cross-examine him or her.
19 I have other cites, if you wish them.
20 THE COURT: If you have them you will submit it
21 to me a
nd I will take a look at it.
22 Right now the jury is here. And the defendant
23 who was not here on time is here. 24 MR. GEDULDIG: We are still missing my client, 25 your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3514
1 THE COURT: Please advise all the defendants that
2 I expect them to be on time and not late.
3 MR. GEDULDIG: I understand from Ms. Garboski who
4 came in that the Meadowbrook is jammed up.
5 THE COURT: The Meadowbrook can be jammed up
6 every day of the week and they are to be here on time. If
7 you leave early enough you don't have to worry about
8 jammed up. Every road is jammed up from time to time.
9 You all got here on time. I expect everybody to be here
10 on time.
11 Now, as far as this is concerned, I am still wary
12 about this. I don't know what the relevancy of those
13 lette
rs are even if they are admissible not for the truth,
14 what is the relevancy?
15 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I believe the relevancy
16 is this: As I understand the defense proffered here by at
17 least Mr. Gordon, and perhaps the corporations, that we
18 don't think there is anything misleading by telling people
19 they were nominated even telling them it came from a
20 mailing list. Therefore we lack the intent to defraud.
21 The government has to prove that he had an intent
22 to defraud, and as a subsidiary, that they knew that this
23 HAS misrepresentations about the mailing list. If they 24 are getting letters in saying that I was nominated and I 25 wasn't, that is notice, your Honor, to them by saying at
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3515
1 least some people were misled with respect to what we are
2 putting out there.
3 THE COURT: I feel the prejudice is minimum,
4 the -- evidence is minimum and the prejudice is maximum.
5 And 403 is also in effect. How can any reasonably
6 prudent, intelligent person not believe, by telling people
7 you are nominated, and only seven percent or ten percent
8 are accepted and you are the honored few, how could they
9 not believe that that was material?
10 MR. WHITE: You mean the people making it or the
11 customer?
12 THE COURT: The people making it.
13 MR. WHITE: I am glad you feel that way. I don't
14 know how the jury will -- how to prove it to the jury.
15 THE COURT: Common sense will let people believe
16 that it is material. You don't have to prove the obvious,
17 Mr. White.
18 MR. WHITE: I wanted to be safe, your Honor.
19 THE COURT: I will take a look at it. If anybody
20 wants to show me cases to the contrary.
21 Br
ing in the jury.
22 THE CLERK: We are missing Ms. Haley.
23 THE COURT: I am going to tell the jurors that it 24 was because of my other case -- forgive me, lord -- it is 25 because of my business that we are waiting. I don't want
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3516
1 to have to do that again.
2 (The following takes place in the jury room.)
3 THE COURT: Every once in a while I have to come
4 in to see that you are all alert and not sleeping or
5 anything like that, not playing cards, not eating oranges
6 and pears, or working crossword puzzles.
7 I have some other matters that were on and it is
8 taking me a little longer than I thought. I am sorry
9 about that. So it will be a little while longer. I must
10 apologize for keeping you waiting. I don't like to keep
11 you waiting, just as I don't like to be kept waiting
12 myself. I like to make that very clear. I don't wait on
13 movie lines or restaurant lines or anything like that. I
14 just walk away. That's how I deal with that. But you
15 can't walk away.
16 We will see you in a very short time. Thank you
17 very much for your punctuality.
18
19 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.)
20
21 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
22 place in open court.)
23 THE COURT: When I discussed Mr. White's latest 24 evidentiary venture, I didn't know that Ms. Haley was 25 missing as well as Ms. Garboski. I didn't get a waiver
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3517
1 from her lawyer not to be present for those discussions.
2 Therefore, in the absence of a waiver which I hope to get
3 now nunc pro tunc, I will have to do it all over again.
4 MR. GEDULDIG: Ms. Haley a
sked me to give the
5 waiver you just asked about. She apologizes for being
6 late today in addition. There was a bad accident on the
7 Meadowbrook, backing up the southern state. Ordinarily
8 she is here 15 minutes early.
9 She also said if something like that happens in
10 the future, she is willing to waive her appearance so the
11 trial doesn't start on time and inconvenience anybody.
12 THE COURT: We don't want to do that. We want
13 her during the trial.
14 It is understandable that accidents occur and the
15 Meadowbrook Parkway, like any other parkway in New York,
16 and other major cities, and highways get crowded from time
17 to time. But lawyers and the defendants have to get early
18 in case of that contingency. A lot of people are
19 waiting. We don't want to keep them waiting. And I
20 accept the apology.
21 Bring in the jury.
22 MR. WHI
TE: I have a list of the cases here.
23 THE COURT: Did you make copies to counsel? 24 MR. WHITE: I have the copies and I will hand it 25 out right now.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3518
1 THE CLERK: Jury entering.
2 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
3 courtroom.)
4 THE COURT: Good morning again, members of the
5 jury.
6 Please be seated.
7 I am very sorry that I had to keep you waiting.
8 But when I went into the jury room and saw all
9 the methods of entertainment and diverse actions that are
10 going on there -- all perfectly proper -- I am somewhat --
11 well, it is easier for me to come in and see that you have
12 been kept waiting when you have some things to do.
13 You may proceed.
14 MS. SCOTT: The government calls Reid Rotatori,
15 R O T A T O R I.
16 THE CLER
K: Please raise your right hand.
17
18 R E I D R O T A T O R I ,
19 called as a witness, having been first
20 duly sworn, was examined and testified
21 as follows:
22
23 THE CLERK: Please state your name and spell your 24 last name for the record. 25 THE WITNESS: Reid Rotatori, R O T A T O R I.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3519
1 THE COURT: Have a seat, Mr. Rotatori.
2 You may proceed.
3 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, your Honor.
4
5 DIRECT EXAMINATION
6 BY MS. SCOTT:
7 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori.
8 Can you tell us where you live?
9 A 12th South Bury Road, Cumberland, Rhode Island.
10 Q What do you do for a living?
11 A Construction manager. I am a project executive for a
12 construction manager that builds high tech projects for
13 the computer and pharmaceut
ical industries.
14 Q What is the name of the company you work for?
15 A It has since changed. It used to be Marshal
16 Contractors. It is now ADT Marshal, Subsidiary Fluor,
17 F L U O R, Daniel.
18 Q How long have you held that position?
19 A Approximately fourteen years.
20 Q And what are your responsibilities?
21 A I oversee the construction project from a technical
22 and administrative point of view; help with procurement,
23 scheduling, and managing the day to day project and 24 technical staff on the construction site. 25 MR. LEE: I have an application, a limiting
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3520 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 instruction. I apologize for the interruption.
2 THE COURT: Limits instruction?
3 MR. LEE: I am willing to approach, your Honor,
4 if you require that, to make myself clear.
5 THE COURT: All right. Come up.
6
7 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
8 at the sidebar.)
9 MR. LEE: I apologize. I only knew now who the
10 witness was, and who the salesperson is, and it is not one
11 of the defendants here on trial for this case. I know you
12 gave the instruction yesterday. Each witness is
13 different. They have an instruction perhaps that this is
14 only admissible to the corporation. It may not be clear
15 because each person is different.
16 THE COURT: Is this a customer?
17 MS. SCOTT: A customer of Who's Who Worldwide.
18 The salesperson is not one of the defendants.
19 THE COURT: All right. I will give a limiting
20 instruction.
21 It is against Who's Who Worldwide Registry,
22 Inc.?
23 MS. SCOTT: Yes. 24 THE COURT: That's the proper name? I have to 25 make sure it is the proper name. Or e
lse Mr. White will
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3521 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 give me a memorandum in the morning.
2 MR. WHITE: I am just trying to be helpful, your
3 Honor.
4
5 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
6 place in open court.)
7 THE COURT: Members of the jury, this testimony
8 is being offered against the defendant Who's Who Worldwide
9 Registry, Inc. only.
10 You say you manage the day to day construction of
11 a project?
12 THE WITNESS: Correct.
13 THE COURT: Is that like what they are doing at
14 Central Islip in building a federal court there?
15 THE WITNESS: I am sure I am doing a much better
16 job.
17 THE COURT: Did you ever hear of Turner
18 Construction Company?
19 THE WITNESS: Yes, they are a competitor.
20 THE COURT: They do the same kinds of
thing that
21 you do?
22 THE WITNESS: To some extent. My division we
23 specialize in high tech work. Turner is not considered a 24 competitor and in cases, but in some cases they are. 25 THE COURT: The person of your equivalent with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3522 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Turner is doing the same thing you are doing in managing
2 the building.
3 THE WITNESS: Don't confuse it with the
4 superintendent managing the building. I am in the
5 administrative role.
6 THE COURT: We are just trying to see to it to
7 slow it down because I don't want to leave here.
8 THE WITNESS: Make changes. That will do it.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, does your job involve supervising other
10 people?
11 A Yes, mostly people with engineering and
12 administrative backgrounds.
13 Q How many people do you
normally supervise in a
14 project?
15 A Depending on the size of the project, I would say it
16 could be as little as two or three. But in recent years
17 it usually ranges from 30 to 70.
18 Q Now, have you ever been contacted by a company called
19 Who's Who Worldwide?
20 A Yes, I have.
21 Q Did you eventually purchase a membership from them?
22 A Yes, I did.
23 Q Can you tell us approximately when you were first 24 contacted? 25 A I believe it was in June of '93, I received
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3523 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 information in the mail and then was contacted a short
2 time thereafter. And basically the information said that
3 I was nominated for acceptance into Who's Who. And I
4 received a phone call asking if I had received the
5 information. I said I had.
6 They as
ked me if I forwarded the card that came
7 with the nomination. And I didn't at the time. I was
8 kind of curious as to what it was and how I got nominated,
9 associating Who's Who with Who's Who in America. And I
10 asked at the time who had nominated me. And they told me
11 that the members who nominated people were -- it was their
12 policy to keep it private, to protect the member's
13 privacy, and that the nomination would go before a
14 selection board. Once the board had approved the
15 nomination, if it got approved, then it was at the
16 member's discretion if they wanted to make it public as to
17 who nominated me.
18 Q Going back to the first communication which you say
19 you received in the mail --
20 A Yes.
21 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-H, as in
22 Howard, for Identification.
23 (Handed to the witness.) 24 Q Can you tell
us what that is? 25 A Dated June 17th, 1993, that's the letter I received.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3524 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 It is addressed to me. Addressed to my home address.
2 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, I offer
3 Government's Exhibit 60-H.
4 THE COURT: Any objection?
5 MR. TRABULUS: No.
6 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-H for How, in
7 evidence.
8 (Government's Exhibit 60-H received in evidence.)
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, would you read aloud for us the first
10 three paragraphs of that letter.
11 A Dear Mr. Rotatori.
12 You were recently nominated for possible
13 inclusion in the Who's Who Registry for global business
14 leaders. We are pleased to inform you that on June 15th
15 the office of public affairs accepted your nomination for
16 the Who's Who Registry of global business leaders.
17 Since the majority of new candidates who are
18 nominated are not approved, we wish to extend our
19 congratulations for this coveted event on behalf of the
20 board of public affairs.
21 Q Can you tell us the date appearing on that letter?
22 A June 17th, 1993.
23 Q Now, did you return the enclosed card? 24 A No. As I recall I didn't recall it right away. I 25 was somewhat curious, as I mentioned, how the heck I got
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3525 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 nominated into Who's Who. I started formulating all
2 possibilities in my own mind as to how I possibly got
3 nominated. I was asking around a little bit.
4 Again, a follow up phone call a short time after
5 I received a letter indicated that someone had nominated
6 me, a member had nominated me. And I accepted that, and a
7 series of cir
cumstances surrounding my work. I had just
8 come off of a prestigious project. I built a new research
9 facility, a national research facility, called the
10 National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida. It
11 was a consortium of universities, Florida State
12 University, the University of Florida and Las Alamos
13 National Labs, and this consortium had won a grant from
14 the National Science Foundation to build a new research
15 laboratory. And there were scientists involved with the
16 project from all over the world, scientists from Las
17 Alamos, scientists from Grenoble, France, and from MIT.
18 And I was interfacing with these people day to day.
19 Dr. Jack Crowe --
20 THE COURT: Spelled how?
21 THE WITNESS: C R O W E.
22 He headed up the program and was director, and
23 was also a nationally renown scientist. 24 In my mind, I am saying, gee, on
e of these guys 25 probably put in this nomination.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3526 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 The fact that they called me at a construction
2 trailer, a temporary office for me. I had been located
3 there on and off for about six months, said, well, they
4 must have given Who's Who my new temporary office number,
5 and that's how I kind of formulated the nomination
6 possibility.
7 Q You mentioned that you asked around about who
8 nominated you. Who did you ask?
9 A Fellow workers. I asked my boss. I did ask the
10 director of facilities at the laboratory.
11 I don't know the time frame, if I asked the
12 director of the laboratory, if he was the one who
13 nominated me, if he would confess up and say he was the
14 person.
15 I asked my boss. My boss said he didn't. But he
16 said
he heard of it, and he heard of one person who had in
17 fact joined as a member, that we both knew in the
18 industry.
19 Q Were you able to find out who had nominated you by
20 asking around?
21 A No.
22 Q Now, did you at some point return the card to Who's
23 Who Worldwide? 24 A After the phone conversation, and speaking with the 25 lady on the phone I decided to return the card and see
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3527 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 what happened, see if I get nominated.
2 Q All right.
3 I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-F as in
4 Frank, for Identification.
5 (Handed to the witness.)
6 Q Can you tell us what that is?
7 A That looks like the card, and my printing. It
8 basically gives some information on my career position,
9 what I did, what our company does, where the
y are
10 located. I don't see any date on here that I signed it.
11 Q If you flip the card over --
12 MS. SCOTT: Before I do that, I offer 60-F, as in
13 Frank.
14 THE COURT: Any objection?
15 MR. SCHOER: May we see the original, Judge? It
16 is hard to read some of the printing on our copy.
17 THE COURT: Very well.
18 (Document handed to Mr. Schoer.)
19 THE COURT: Any objection?
20 MR. JENKS: No objection.
21 MR. TRABULUS: No.
22 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-F, for Fox,
23 in evidence. 24 (Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence.) 25 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3528 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Government's Exhibit 60-H and 60-F?
2 THE COURT: Yes.
3 Q Would you read the postmark that appears on the back
4 of 60-F?
5
A It looks like July 8th, 1993.
6 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
7 to the jury.)
8 Q You mentioned some phone conversations you had with
9 someone about the membership.
10 Did that person indicate they were calling from
11 Who's Who Worldwide?
12 A Yes.
13 Q How many conversations did you have with that person
14 approximately?
15 A The first person, I don't recall the name. I know,
16 again, it was a female. I had one conversation with her,
17 and that is what initiated me sending in the card, because
18 I had not forwarded the material until that conversation.
19 Sometime later, about week later after the postmark I
20 received another call informing me that the selection
21 board had in fact nominated me for membership into Who's
22 Who.
23 Q You mean nominated you? 24 A Excuse me, that my nomination had been accepted.
25 Q Can you tell us anything else that was told to you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3529 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 over the telephone about Who's Who Worldwide and the
2 membership?
3 A Well, before I sent in the card, again, the person on
4 the other end of the phone kind of reiterated that it was
5 prestigious, an honor to get nominated, and even more so
6 the get selected based on the committee's review of your
7 qualifications. And that it was a very low percentage of
8 the nominees who actually got into the Who's Who
9 organization. That's pretty much as I recall it.
10 Q What, if anything, did they tell you would you get
11 for your membership?
12 A They said that you would become added to their
13 Registry and published in the book, that you would get a
14 wall plaque; you would have opportunities to associate
15 with members through business meetings, conferences,
16 seminars, etcetera, with the membership; and you would
17 receive notification when these events would take place.
18 That is pretty much what swayed me to join the
19 organization. I thought it would be an opportunity to
20 move my career and associates with members who had
21 distinguished business careers and a chance to network
22 with people.
23 Q You mentioned you thought this was Who's Who in 24 America? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3530 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Q Can you tell us why you thought that?
2 A It is just a strange coincidence way back when I was
3 in junior high several years ago, there was a librarian,
4 and I will not use the word fanatical, but very pro active
5 in promoting Who's Who in America; always pulled out the
6 books, showed us the books, showed us where they could be
7 found in the library; encouraged us to use them in papers,
8 term papers, etcetera. So, I was familiar with the term
9 Who's Who, Who's Who in America, and I immediately
10 associated Who's Who when they called me and sent me the
11 literature with Who's Who in America.
12 Q Did you discuss Who's Who in America with the person
13 who called you?
14 A Yes. They asked me when they called, if I heard of
15 Who's Who, Who's Who in America.
16 They said, well, we are a similar branch. We are
17 Who's Who Worldwide, which is based on business leaders.
18 I had mentioned that Who's Who in America, I knew
19 that they had a lot of distinguished people from the
20 academic community, medical careers in the community.
21 They said we are kind of the business branch.
22 Q Now, what was the most important thing
that was said
23 to you that led to your purchase of the membership? 24 A I think the fact that my ego got stroked a bit by the 25 fact that I got nominated by a member, and I thought that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3531 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 the members all themselves must be quite distinguished. I
2 thought the opportunity to meet and associate with these
3 people would be a real rewarding experience, and certainly
4 had the possibility of career enhancement just with the
5 exchange of knowledge, experiences, and developing broader
6 working relationships with more people associated around
7 the United States and the world.
8 Q Now, how, if at all, did your perception that you and
9 the others had been nominated relate to your perception
10 that these other people were people you wanted to meet?
11 A I figured if they
themselves were members, they had
12 to have been nominated, and they had to achieve certain
13 levels of competence and prestige in their careers, so
14 they must be highly intelligent and interesting people.
15 So I naturally wanted to associate with that type of what
16 I thought was a professional organization.
17 Q Now, if in fact your name was obtained not by a
18 mailing list -- not by nomination from other people, but
19 by a mailing list, would that have affected your decision
20 to buy the membership?
21 A Absolutely, I wouldn't have bought it.
22 Q Why is that?
23 A It is a mailing list. It is just people who are a 24 computer selecting names off of a list, doing a sort, and 25 no one was really -- no one would have been selected and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3532 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 nominate base
d on their accomplishments or achievements.
2 It would have been an entirely different perspective on
3 how the membership was formulated. It would have been
4 just a list of names.
5 Q Can you tell us what kind of membership you
6 purchased?
7 A I got a five year membership. Initially I was
8 looking at the minimum membership. But when I got the
9 second phone call, which was again about a week after I
10 had turned in the card, forwarded the card in, I was
11 communicating with a person by the name of Jill Barnes.
12 THE COURT: Jill?
13 THE WITNESS: Yes, J I L L, and I believe it is
14 B A R N E S.
15 The only reason I know that is I must have been
16 on the phone, or out in the field, and my secretary took a
17 phone message that she had called, and could I return her
18 call, Jill Barnes from Who's Who.
19 Q Can you tell us what kind of membershi
p you bought?
20 A After speaking with her I ended up going with a five
21 year membership.
22 Q How much did you pay for that?
23 A It was about $290, so I thought. 24 Q How did you pay for it? 25 A Credit card.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3533 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Q How did you give the credit card number to the
2 company?
3 A I forwarded it over the phone.
4 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-B, as in
5 Boy, for Identification.
6 (Handed to the witness.)
7 Q Do you recognize that document?
8 A Yes. That's the invoice I was sent after that phone
9 conversation. It says effective date of the membership
10 was July 15th, 1993.
11 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 60-B.
12 THE WITNESS: And it was for $290 plus --
13 MS. SCOTT: Wait for a second for the judge to
14 rule on the offer.
15 THE COURT: Any objection?
16 MR. TRABULUS: No.
17 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-B, for Baker,
18 in evidence.
19 (Government's Exhibit 60-B received in evidence.)
20 THE COURT: You may proceed.
21 A With the shipping charges it came to 297, and the
22 invoice date was July 18th, 1993.
23 Q Other than the conversations you described to us a 24 moment ago, did you have any other conversations with 25 anybody about your nomination?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3534 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 A I continued to ask around, as to potentially who had
2 nominated me. I was very, very curious, but, again, just
3 after I got the letter, which was dated June 17th, my
4 mother and father's anniversary was June 18th, and it
5 would have been their 44th anniversary. I did have a
6 conversation with my father, and I am going to guess and
7 say June 18th must have been a Friday or Saturday. He was
8 living in Florida at the time with my mother. And we
9 called them that weekend, that Sunday.
10 MR. SCHOER: Objection.
11 A And one of the last things I mentioned to him --
12 MR. SCHOER: Objection to the conversation.
13 THE COURT: Yes.
14 What is the question, Ms. Scott?
15 MS. SCOTT: The question was: Did you speak to
16 anybody else about your nomination?
17 THE COURT: Outside of Who's Who Worldwide?
18 MS. SCOTT: Yes.
19 THE COURT: The answer is yes, you did?
20 THE WITNESS: Yes.
21 Q Who did you speak to?
22 A My father.
23 Q What happened in your conversation? 24 MR. SCHOER: Objection. 25 THE COURT: Sustained.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3535 Rotatori-direct
/Scott
1 Q Without telling us what, if anything, anyone said,
2 can you tell us what you told anybody about your
3 nomination?
4 A I told my father in that conversation to kind of
5 congratulate them on their wedding anniversary. And one
6 of the last things I did say is: Can you believe, I got
7 nominated for membership into Who's Who? And that's one
8 of the last things I said to him.
9 Two days later he died suddenly, and I just
10 recall that as one of the last things I said to him.
11 Q Now, did you receive a plaque?
12 A Yes, I did.
13 Q Did you make any additional payments to the company
14 after that?
15 A Yes, about mid-November, 1993 I got another phone
16 call saying that that the Registry was ready to go into
17 publication, and in order for me to get my name printed in
18 the next annual publication, another payment was due.
19 I was taken back by this a little bit, because I
20 thought I had paid in full the amount for the five year
21 membership.
22 I was told, no, that it was actually a split
23 payment, another $97 was due. 24 Again I kind of repeated to myself, I said, I 25 thought it was covered the first time.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3536 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 They said, no. If I wanted to get into this
2 coming year, which was the 1994 printing, that I had to
3 hurry up and get the payment in. I had received the
4 invoice in the mail before I got the call. And it was for
5 $97 for the final payment, plus another $97 for the
6 CD-ROM.
7 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-D, 60-G, and
8 60-E, all for Identification.
9 (Handed to the witness.)
10 Q Can you tell us what those documents are?
11 A Ye
s. This is the invoice I received. The invoice is
12 dated November 12th. It was, again, $97 for final payment
13 in the membership then there was another $97 -- $97.50,
14 for a CD-ROM.
15 Q Can you tell us briefly what the other two documents
16 are?
17 A A copy of the check for $97 for the final membership.
18 Q Is that the check you wrote to them?
19 A Yes. Dated September 22nd, 1993.
20 Q And what is the third document?
21 A The third document is an order form of final
22 membership payment with more lines for additional CD-ROM
23 software, another custom engraved wall plaque, the 24 Registry, and leather jotted memo pad with additional 25 pricing.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3537 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 In the order form I crossed out everything but
2 the final membership payment, and recalculated th
e value
3 at 97 bucks -- dollars.
4 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 60-D,
5 60-E and 60-G.
6 THE COURT: Any objection?
7 MR. TRABULUS: No.
8 THE COURT: Government's Exhibits 60-D, 60-E, and
9 60-G, in evidence.
10 (Government's Exhibit 60-D received in evidence.)
11 (Government's Exhibit 60-E received in evidence.)
12 (Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence.)
13 MS. SCOTT: May any publish this to the jury,
14 your Honor?
15 THE COURT: Yes.
16 MS. SCOTT: I also publish 60-B.
17 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
18 to the jury.)
19 Q Mr. Rotatori, did you receive a directory?
20 A Yes, eventually I did receive a directory.
21 Q What was your reaction to it?
22 A Disappointment.
23 Q Why was that? 24 A It was just a list of names. I knew that there would 25 be no phone numbers in
it, because, again, they insisted
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3538 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 on membership privacy. But it was just a list of names.
2 It didn't appear to be sorted by industry or business
3 types. It didn't have any real information as far as I
4 was concerns. It gave basically the member's name, where
5 he lived, and maybe a brief description of his job title.
6 Q Could you find the person who had nominated you?
7 A No.
8 Q Did you use the book for networking?
9 A No.
10 Q Did you get any other items from the company?
11 A I would say over the course of that summer to the
12 following year different brochures and information, always
13 pushing the CD-ROM, always asking if you wanted to procure
14 the CD-ROM; different offers to procure such things as
15 credit cards, with the Who's Who insignia, ag
ain, note
16 pads, discount cards for different offers for things like
17 restaurants, commercial stores, where you could buy
18 things. But it was always to purchase something.
19 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, Mr. Rotatori.
20 I have no further questions.
21 THE COURT: Cross-examination.
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3539 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. TRABULUS:
3 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori.
4 A Good morning.
5 Q You indicated in your testimony before you heard of
6 Who's Who Worldwide you were yourself familiar with Who's
7 Who in America, correct?
8 A Yes.
9 Q I take it when you were in junior high school your
10 librarian would show you as well as other students copies
11 of Who's Who in America?
12 A Correct.
13 Q
Did he or she show you other Who's Who publications
14 in the junior high school library?
15 A Other publications? I don't know what you mean by
16 that.
17 Q Were there any other Who's Whos you were shown, or
18 just Who's Who in America?
19 A As I recall it was just Who's Who in America.
20 Q Since you left junior high school did you have
21 occasion to look at any Who's Who publications in any
22 library or any other place?
23 A I think through high school I always knew where those 24 volumes were. 25 Q Is it correct that Who's Who in America contains
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3540 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 information of the people listed there in alphabetical
2 order?
3 A I don't know.
4 Q Do you recall when you looked at Who's Who when you
5 were in junior high school or high school that
the
6 listings were alphabetical?
7 A Don't know.
8 Q Do you recall if they were sorted by industry or any
9 other category?
10 A It wouldn't have been a concern to me at that time,
11 so I don't know.
12 Q When you spoke to, I believe you said her name was
13 Jill Barnes, did she tell you that the book you were going
14 to be getting was to be sorted by any particular category
15 of business?
16 A No. Just that it would be business leaders.
17 Q Did she talk to you about the CD-ROM?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Did she explain to you that by utilizing the CD-ROM
20 you would access members by business category?
21 A I don't recall.
22 Q Are you yourself familiar with what a CD-ROM is?
23 A I am. 24 Q At the time you spoke with Ms. Barnes, were you a 25 rare that the CD-ROM would enable you to access any of the
HARRY RAPAPORT,
CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3541 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 information on the CD-ROM by any one of a variety of
2 parameters?
3 A During that era I probably would not have been quite
4 as familiar with the operation of CD-ROM.
5 Q Was it explained to you that the CD-ROM would be more
6 flexible in enabling you to utilize the information in the
7 book than simply going to the book itself?
8 A I don't think it was explained that elaborately, no.
9 Q Was it explained that it was used for networking?
10 A No.
11 Q Did you ask any questions about the CD-ROM?
12 A No. I didn't care about it. I didn't own a
13 computer.
14 Q Did you have access to a computer at work?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Is it fair to say that the networking you were hoping
17 to do was networking in connection with your work?
18 A Yes.
19 Q So, it would have
been an appropriate use of the
20 computer at work to utilize the CD-ROM for networking, if
21 you chose to do so; is that correct?
22 A No, that is not correct because I didn't have a
23 computer terminal at my desk. And I was not very computer 24 literate at that time. So I had no desire to use a 25 CD-ROM.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3542 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q And I take it that is the reason you did not ask
2 questions about what the CD-ROM could do; is that correct?
3 A Correct.
4 Q It was your decision not to ask questions about it;
5 is that correct?
6 A It was my decision not to purchase the CD-ROM.
7 Q Now, before you ever heard from Who's Who Worldwide,
8 did you consider yourself to be Who's Who material?
9 A No.
10 Q And after you heard from Who's Who Worldwide did you
11 conside
r yourself to be Who's Who material?
12 A No.
13 Q Now, the letter you received, which is in evidence, I
14 think it is 60-H, talks about the publication being the
15 Who's Who Registry of Global Business Leaders.
16 When you received that letter, did you read that?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Did you consider yourself to be a global business
19 leader?
20 A I thought the possibility existed because of the most
21 recent project I completed at Florida State.
22 Q Well, did you consider yourself to be a global
23 business leader? 24 A I considered myself the potential, yes. 25 Q So, you considered yourself suitable to be in a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3543 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 directory for global leaders; is that correct?
2 A I considered myself for the opportunity to join that
3 group.
4 Q Qui
te apart from the fact that you received the
5 solicitation letter and the card, what I am asking you
6 is: Did you consider yourself to be suitable for
7 inclusion in a directory of global business leaders?
8 A Based on my recent career experiences, I considered
9 the possibility now to exist.
10 Q So, is the answer yes?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Before you got what you described as ego stroke from
13 receiving a letter and being nominated, did you consider
14 yourself at that point suitable for inclusion in a
15 directory of global business leaders?
16 A I am not clear on the time frame you are referencing.
17 Q Before you heard from Who's Who Worldwide did you
18 consider yourself suitable for inclusion in a directory
19 for global business leaders?
20 A Before that time I didn't know that they existed, so
21 I didn't give it any thought.
22 Q Is it fair to
say when you joined Who's Who Worldwide
23 you assumed that the other people who might be members, 24 would be persons like yourself? 25 A I assumed the person who nominated me knew me, and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3544 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 they considered me qualified to join their membership.
2 MR. TRABULUS: Move to strike, your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Motion granted. Strike the answer as
4 not being responsive. The jury is instructed to disregard
5 it.
6 Q Mr. Rotatori, did you consider the other people who
7 were members, would be people like yourself?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Now, when you received the directory, did you look
10 through it?
11 A Once.
12 Q You say you looked through it once?
13 A Once.
14 Q Did you look through the people listed there?
15 A I received the directory. I looked
at it. If I
16 looked at it for five minutes, that was a long time.
17 Q During those five minutes did you notice that there
18 were people in there with backgrounds similar to yourself,
19 or even higher positions in various companies, including
20 companies other than your own?
21 A I didn't look.
22 Q You didn't look to see that?
23 A No. 24 Q Is it your testimony that once you saw the listings 25 were alphabetical, you were disappointed?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3545 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A I looked at the page I was on. I looked at a few
2 names above, a few names below, tried to get a feel of the
3 content, and was very disappointed; flipped through a few
4 pages, and never really looked at it again.
5 Q Now, Mr. Rotatori, the book you received, was it one
6 with this color cover (indicating)
?
7 A Yes.
8 Q You say you looked through the listing yourself and
9 it was disappointing; is that correct?
10 A Correct.
11 Q Were you disappointed in the particular listing that
12 was for yourself?
13 A Umm --
14 Q Yes or no, sir.
15 A Yes.
16 Q Was any of the information in that listing incorrect?
17 A No. It appeared to be copied off the card I
18 submitted.
19 Q It was based upon the information which you had given
20 on the card; is that correct?
21 A Correct.
22 Q And was it also based on the information which was
23 confirmed in your telephone conversation with Ms. Barnes? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And when Ms. Barnes spoke to you, did she ask you ask
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3546 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 you to go through the various items you put on the card to
2 see if they were accurate?
3 A I don't remember.
4 Q Besides the information on the card that you went
5 over with Ms. Barnes, was there any other information
6 which you had furnished to Who's Who Worldwide about
7 yourself?
8 A Not that I can recall.
9 Q And did Ms. Barnes tell you that she had any other
10 information concerning yourself besides what was being
11 gone over with you, yes or no?
12 A Not that I can recall.
13 Q Did you ask her when you spoke to her whether the
14 entry for you would include any other information besides
15 the information she was verifying when she was speaking to
16 you?
17 A It never occurred to me to question what was going to
18 be published.
19 Q So, at the point in time that you spoke to her, you
20 did not inquire concerning the way the Registry would be
21 organized, or what would be publi
shed in it concerning
22 yourself; is that correct?
23 A That's correct. 24 Q And she did not tell you anything which turned out to 25 be incorrect concerning the nature of the listings or the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3547 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 way the Registry would be organized; is that correct?
2 A Again, I did not ask.
3 Q You didn't ask?
4 A Correct.
5 Q And she didn't tell you anything which turned out to
6 be incorrect in that respect; is that correct?
7 A That I don't know. I can't recall what she told me.
8 Q Okay.
9 As you sit here today you can't point to
10 anything, however, can you?
11 A Nope, no.
12 Q You testified in your conversation with Ms. Barnes
13 the subject of Who's Who in America came up; is that
14 correct?
15 A Yes.
16 Q She raised that
subject?
17 A She said do you know who is Who's Who? And I said,
18 yes.
19 Q You raised something about Who's Who in America?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Did you specifically mention Who's Who in America
22 when speaking with her?
23 A Yes, I did. 24 Q Did she tell you that Who's Who in America was a book 25 publisher, but this was something different, a membership?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3548 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A I don't recall anybody saying that Who's Who in
2 America was a book publisher. But something was said in
3 terms of, well, that's Who's Who in America. This is
4 Who's Who, a publication of global business leaders.
5 Q Did Ms. Barnes say to you that Who's Who in America
6 publishes personal information such as marriages,
7 divorces, children, and so forth, which you might not want
8 to
have published in a directory? Do you recall that?
9 A Let me clarify. I don't think it was Ms. Barnes who
10 got into the detail. It was the caller before Ms. Barnes.
11 Q Whoever the person was, the caller before
12 Ms. Barnes --
13 A Nothing mentioned along those lines.
14 Q Was that the person with whom you discussed Who's Who
15 in America?
16 A Correct.
17 Q The person before?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Let me just see if I hear you correctly.
20 Did that person in talking to you distinguish
21 Who's Who in America by what you were going to be getting
22 by, saying Who's Who in America publishes personal
23 information, and Who's Who Worldwide Registry did not? 24 A Never had a conversation along those lines. 25 Q Now, if the directory you had received had been
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3549 Rotatori-cross
/Trabulus
1 organized by business category as opposed to alphabetical
2 order, would you have regarded it -- I think you indicated
3 that the fact that this directory was organized
4 alphabetically limited its value to you; is that correct?
5 A Uh-huh.
6 Q And I think you mentioned it was organized by
7 business category; is that also correct?
8 A That's correct.
9 Q And if it would have been organized by business
10 category, would it have been of value to you in terms of
11 the type of information that is in it?
12 A I can't say by answering yes or no. I would really
13 have to see the content to judge whether it was. Because
14 my assumption was that the information provided in the
15 book was all part of the qualifying information that the
16 member had sent to the board, the selection board. And
17 all of that added information would be part of the<
BR> 18 publication.
19 Q So, it is your testimony that you had assumed that
20 there would be additional information from whoever
21 nominated you?
22 A Correct.
23 Q That would be listed for you; is that correct? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And Ms. Barnes didn't tell you that, did she?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3550 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A Again, I didn't ask that question.
2 Q Did you ask what information had been -- withdrawn.
3 What information about yourself did you believe
4 would have been appropriate for listing, a listing of that
5 sort?
6 A I would think maybe some detail in the type of
7 business activities, past experiences, maybe some
8 technical information.
9 Q Did you ask Ms. Barnes -- withdrawn.
10 Did you volunteer that information to Ms. Barnes,
11 something about you
r past experience, technical
12 information?
13 A Absolutely not. I didn't think it was necessary. I
14 thought they had it all.
15 Q She was asking to verify very simple bits of
16 information concerning you, hobbies, your address,
17 business address, the name of the corporation, the
18 industry, the geographical area that your company
19 serviced; is that correct? Is that what she was doing?
20 A I can't remember that detail.
21 Q Well, do you recall that she asked you where your
22 company -- what your company's geographical area of
23 service was? 24 A No, I don't. 25 Q Do you recall telling her that it was nationwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3551 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A At that time it was for the most part nationwide,
2 except for some defense work that was done worldwide.
3 Q You d
o recall she was verifying with you certain
4 limited types of information; is that correct?
5 A In all honesty, I don't recall what she was
6 verifying.
7 Q Did you ask her -- withdrawn.
8 Did you attempt to find out from her whether any
9 other information that you believed she may have had about
10 you was accurate?
11 A No. I didn't think there was a need.
12 Q Did it occur to you why she might be -- withdrawn.
13 Did it occur to you that it would be most
14 peculiar for her to be verifying simple things, such as a
15 name and address, and not verifying more detailed
16 information such as your background, work background and
17 technical experience?
18 A No, I --
19 Q Yes or no, sir.
20 A No. I didn't think that, no.
21 Q Now, did you receive any magazines called Tribute?
22 A I believe I received one copy.
23 Q And after recei
ving that one copy, did you change 24 your address at all? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3552 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did you read that copy?
2 A I recall flipping through it. I didn't read it in
3 any detail.
4 Q Did you see in that copy of the magazine information
5 concerning the members of the very type that you said you
6 were hoping to see in the directory, more detailed
7 information concerning the person's background, work
8 experience, etcetera?
9 A I recall seeing something to that nature, yes.
10 Q And did it ever -- did you ever contact Who's Who
11 Worldwide to see if you yourself, or your company, might
12 have been profiled or referred to in the magazine?
13 A No, I didn't see a need to.
14 Q Did it occur to you that if you could do that it
15 might be a value to you in n
etworking?
16 A I saw -- we got the magazine early on after the
17 acceptance of the nomination. And I just thought that
18 maybe somewhere down the line that might be a
19 possibility. But at the time I received the first
20 magazine the thought didn't occur to me.
21 Q So, you didn't pursue it?
22 A No.
23 Q You received a plaque; is that correct? 24 A I did. 25 Q When you received the plaque, did you hang it on the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3553 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 wall?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Where was the wall?
4 A In the family room.
5 Q And did it remain there for a considerable period of
6 time?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Is it still there?
9 A It is still there.
10 THE COURT: We will take a ten-minute recess.
11 Please do not discuss the case. Keep an open mind.
12 Please recess yourselves.
13 (Whereupon, at this time the jury leaves the
14 courtroom.)
15
16 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.)
17
18 THE COURT: Mr. Rotatori, is that the correct
19 pronunciation?
20 THE WITNESS: Yes.
21 THE COURT: We are sending you to Central Islip
22 from here. Is that all right?
23 THE WITNESS: That would be close to home. 24 THE CLERK: Jury entering. 25 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3554 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 courtroom.)
2 THE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
3 jury. I am sorry, I didn't see you waving your hand
4 earlier, juror number 7.
5 You may proceed.
6 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you.
7 Q Mr. Rotatori, I will show you Defendant's Exhibit V
8 for Victor, a blank plaque. Is this the k
ind of plaque
9 you received?
10 A Not that color, not the first time.
11 Q Was the second one like this, this color?
12 A It might have been. I don't recall.
13 Q Aside from the color, was this basically the type of
14 plaque you received, and one of the decorations fell off
15 here?
16 A Basically, yes.
17 MR. TRABULUS: I would offer this, your Honor.
18 THE COURT: Any objection?
19 MS. SCOTT: No objection.
20 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibit V for Victor in
21 evidence.
22 (Defendant's Exhibit V received in evidence.)
23 MR. WHITE: Mr. Trabulus, can we see it first? 24 MR. TRABULUS: Sure. 25 (Exhibit V handed to Mr. White.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3555 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 THE COURT: What are you doing, Mr. Trabulus?
2 MR. TRABULUS: Publishing it to the jury.
3
THE COURT: You don't do it before you say
4 something. Are we departing from our custom in the past?
5 MR. TRABULUS: At least I am handing it to the
6 correct juror. With the Court's permission I am handing
7 this to the jury for publication.
8 THE COURT: Very well.
9 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
10 to the jury.)
11 THE COURT: Members of the jury, that is not
12 because I have to actually give permission to do it. But
13 the record reflects everything that happens in the trial.
14 And if the lawyer just gave the exhibit without saying
15 anything to the jury, one who would read the record would
16 never know that the jurors saw that exhibit.
17 Go ahead.
18 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you, your Honor.
19 Q Now, Mr. Rotatori, one of the plaques that you have
20 is hanging in your family room?
21 A Correct.
22 Q Is the family room
a room used for entertaining in
23 your home? Friends, neighbors, etcetera? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And when you have business -- do you ever do any
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3556 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 business entertaining in your home?
2 A No.
3 Q And you mentioned before that on the project you were
4 working on in Florida, there were many people from
5 Las Alamos National Laboratory; is that correct?
6 A Not many, but some.
7 Q Can you tell the people of the jury what you
8 understand Las Alamos National Laboratory to be?
9 A They are a government research facility.
10 Q Did any of the following people come to know you
11 while you were down there: John Alexander, the manager of
12 non-lethal weapons?
13 A No.
14 Q Andrew Andrews, a project leader?
15 A No.
16 Q Bruce Freeman?
17 A No.
18 Q Damon Giovanelli, G I O V A N E L L I?
19 A No.
20 Q Richard Herbst, H E R B S T?
21 A No.
22 Q Michael Hynes, H Y N E S, Donald Landry, L A N D R Y?
23 A No. 24 Q Kenneth McKenna? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3557 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Anthony Muscatello, M U S C A T E L L O?
2 A No.
3 Q Billy Powell?
4 A No.
5 Q Dr. Thomas S C H R O E D E R, Schroeder?
6 A Not from Las Alamos. There was another
7 Dr. Schroeder, but he was from California Polytech.
8 Q Was he involved in that project?
9 A He became what we would consider a user, scientist.
10 Q Do you know if his first name was Thomas?
11 A No.
12 Q Robert Selden, S E L D E N?
13 A No.
14 Q Oland, O L A N D, Thompson, T H O M P S O N. Any of
15 those names f
amiliar?
16 A No.
17 Q Did you in the course of looking through the
18 directory to see if there was anybody in there that had an
19 affiliation with Las Alamos?
20 A No.
21 Q In talking with Jill Barnes, did you ever ask if
22 there were any people affiliated with Las Alamos in the
23 book? 24 A I didn't feel there was a need to ask that question. 25 Q You mentioned one of your interests in becoming a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3558 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 member was to attend meetings and seminars; do you recall
2 that?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Do you recall if any of the Tribute Magazines you
5 looked at contained advertisements for meetings and
6 seminars?
7 A I don't recall anything specific. But I think there
8 was mention of future events that would be published and
9 we would be n
otified on.
10 Q And this was in 1993 -- this would have been in July
11 of 1993 that you spoke to Jill Barnes and she mentioned
12 this?
13 A I wouldn't venture to tie it down to that date.
14 Q When you say it was mentioned, are you talking
15 about --
16 A I am saying it may have been mentioned in the
17 publication Tribute.
18 Q I see.
19 Did you pursue it at all when you received the
20 publication?
21 A No. I figured I would get specific information in
22 the mail when they scheduled any of those types of --
23 Q Do you recall seeing in the Tribute an actual 24 advertisement with a form for you to send in? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3559 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did you ever receive from Who's Who Worldwide a
2 document called a nomination ballot?
3 A Yes.
4 Q This is a ballot by which you would have the option
5 of nominating one or two other members; correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Did you yourself make any nominations?
8 A No.
9 Q That was your decision not to do so; is that correct?
10 A Correct.
11 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions.
12
13 CROSS-EXAMINATION
14 BY MR. JENKS:
15 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori. My name is Ed Jenks.
16 You said you received a nomination ballot in the
17 mail to one of Mr. Trabulus' last questions; is that
18 correct? Or you received a nomination ballot?
19 A Correct.
20 Q How did you receive that nomination ballot?
21 A It must have come in the mail with literature I
22 received from Who's Who.
23 Q Literature you received after you became a member? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And on the nomination ballot, do you recall the
HARRY RAPAPORT
, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3560 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 ballot itself?
2 A Vaguely. It was an oversized piece of paper, like an
3 oversized business envelope. It was a postcard type
4 ballot.
5 MR. JENKS: Let me mark this as
6 Defendant's Exhibit W.
7 Your Honor, give me one moment.
8 THE COURT: Mr. Trabulus, would you want to pick
9 up this plaque?
10 MR. TRABULUS: Certainly, your Honor.
11 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
12 proceedings.)
13 Q Mr. Rotatori, I will show you Defendant's Exhibit W
14 for Identification.
15 (Handed to the witness.)
16 Q Does that look like the nomination ballot you
17 received in the mail?
18 A It is not quite like the one I got, no.
19 Q Does it contain similar information requesting you to
20 do something similar to the one you got in the mail?
21 A It is similar.
22 Q It is similar to the one you got?
23 A Similar. 24 Q And is it similar in that it gives room for you to 25 provide your signature and to present to the company, if
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3561 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 you wish, two nominee's names?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And that's what was on your ballot; is that correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q So substantively what is on this would be very
6 similar, if not identical to what is on your ballot?
7 A Certainly not identical, this is prettier.
8 Q This is prettier?
9 A Yes, more gold.
10 MR. JENKS: I will offer Defendant's Exhibit W.
11 MS. SCOTT: Can we just see it?
12 MR. JENKS: Sure.
13 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
14 proceedings.)
15 MS. SCOTT: No objection.
16 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibi
t W, for William,
17 in evidence.
18 (Defendant's Exhibit W received in evidence.)
19 Q You say you got this nomination ballot in the mail
20 subsequent to becoming a member; is that correct?
21 A After I became a member I got a ballot in the mail,
22 yes. And I believe it was in with other literature.
23 Q About the company? 24 A Some more things they offered to purchase. 25 Q When you received this nomination ballot, did you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3562 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 understand that you would be able to use the ballot to
2 nominate other qualified members of Who's Who?
3 A Yes.
4 Q In this, if you so chose as a member, you would be
5 able to nominate somebody from your construction site or
6 from your contracting position to be included along with
7 you as a member?
8 A If I so chos
e. But I didn't choose.
9 Q Okay.
10 But if you so chose you would have been able to
11 select two people, sign it and send it back to the
12 company, am I right?
13 A That was the purpose of the ballot.
14 Q When you received this ballot, would it lead you to
15 the conclusion that perhaps people in that book, including
16 yourself, that were in fact anonymously nominated?
17 A It reinforced my thought, yes.
18 Q The answer is yes or no. It would have suggested to
19 you, a person with common sense, that there could be a
20 number of people in the Registry who were in fact
21 nominated for inclusion by other members; is that right?
22 A Sure.
23 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, I will ask to publish 24 Defendant's Exhibit W to the jury. 25 THE COURT: Very well.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3563 Rotatori-cross/Je
nks
1 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
2 to the jury.)
3 Q You testified you received two plaques from Who's
4 Who; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And you weren't charged anything additional for
7 another plaque, were you?
8 A Not accurate. I was told I was getting a second
9 plaque when the request came in for the additional $97.
10 Q That's the additional $97 for the purchase of the
11 Registry; is that correct?
12 A Correct.
13 Q You have already had a plaque; is that correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q You availed yourself the use of the original plaque
16 by leaving it in the den in your home; is that correct?
17 A There is a reason why it is still in the den. It has
18 nothing to do with the awards.
19 Q It is still hanging in your den?
20 A Yes, for peculiar circumstances, yes.
21 Q From time to time do you ha
ve business people coming
22 to your home?
23 A Not usual. I separate business from social. 24 Q When you first got your membership in July of 1993, 25 shortly thereafter you received your plaque, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3564 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A I don't know if it was shortly. Maybe a couple of
2 months passed.
3 Q Were you satisfied with the quality of the plaque?
4 Did it meet your expectations?
5 A It was okay.
6 Q It was acceptable to you, correct?
7 A Acceptable.
8 Q You weren't disappointed as you were when you
9 received the Registry?
10 A It was before I received the Registry. So I will not
11 say I was disappointed. It was acceptable.
12 Q It was acceptable?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Did there come a time you received another plaque
15 from Who's Who Worldwide?
16 A Correct.
17 Q That was after you paid your membership for the
18 Registry?
19 A Correct.
20 Q And where is the second plaque?
21 A Still in its box sitting on I believe my bedroom
22 closet shelf.
23 Q Did you open it up and look at the second plaque? 24 A Actually, I didn't open it up. It came into my 25 office, which was at the time located in the corporate
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3565 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 office. As usual, I was away on assignment, and an
2 assistant opened it up.
3 Q Did you see the plaque at some point? Yes or no.
4 A At some point I saw the plaque.
5 Q Let me show you Defendant's Exhibit X for
6 Identification.
7 (Handed to the witness.)
8 Do you recognize that?
9 A No.
10 Q Is this plaque similar in nature to the second plaque
11
that you received, or the first plaque you received?
12 A Don't know.
13 Q You don't know?
14 A Don't know.
15 Q You don't know whether the second plaque has this
16 brass and green marble on it?
17 A I looked at it once and put it away. It came in a
18 later time frame. And I was beginning to be suspicious of
19 the situation surrounding my membership, and never put it
20 up and just filed it away in the closet.
21 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, I move to strike the last
22 portion of the answer as unresponsive.
23 THE COURT: Can I hear the question, 24 Mr. Reporter. 25 (Whereupon, the court reporter reads the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3566 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 requested material.)
2 THE COURT: Strike out everything after the
3 original yes or no was. I don't remember if it was yes or
4 no.
It was no, right?
5 THE WITNESS: I didn't remember, no.
6 THE COURT: All right.
7 Everything else is stricken. The jury is
8 instructed to disregard it.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, you said you received after you became
10 a member, literature from the company; am I correct?
11 A Correct.
12 Q You also said that at the time you received the
13 Registry, you were disappointed in it; am I right?
14 A Correct.
15 Q Well, sir, when you applied for a membership and
16 expecting a membership, you were expecting a book, right?
17 A Not initially. Not initially I was expecting a
18 book. The book was not really the focus of what I was
19 anticipating the membership to be.
20 Q Well, I think you told us you bought the membership
21 for ego; am I correct?
22 A No.
23 Q For vanity or ego purposes? 24 A No. 25 Q Wasn't that one of the primary r
easons that you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3567 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 bought the membership?
2 A I said that was one of the motivators for joining
3 what I thought to be an illustrious membership.
4 Q Right, because when you were in school, in junior
5 high school, the librarian was telling you, this is where
6 you go to look up important people; is that right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q So, when you got the offer to become a member, part
9 of your ego appealed itself to the offer of membership; am
10 I right?
11 A Sure.
12 Q I mean, you wanted to see your name in print in a
13 book; am I right?
14 A I wanted to be associated with those type of people.
15 And I was flattered by the thought that one of them
16 nominated me.
17 Q Right.
18 You thought one of them nominated you, you said;
19 is
that right?
20 A That is correct.
21 I was told -- the letter I was given said that I
22 had been nominated by a member.
23 Q Did you ever look up the word "nominated" in the 24 dictionary? 25 A Never had a need to.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3568 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q If I told you that the word "nominated" has been
2 defined as selected, chosen or appointed, would that
3 change your opinion as to whether or not you feel you may
4 have been nominated?
5 A I don't know. I would have to look up the definition
6 in the dictionary for myself.
7 Q As you sit here today, has the government shown you
8 anything to suggest that you were in fact not actually
9 nominated by an anonymous nomination or any other form of
10 nomination?
11 A I have no idea.
12 Q Even as you sit here today, you do
n't know whether
13 your name came from a mailing list, or perhaps someone
14 that you haven't been able to speak to actually nominated
15 you via a ballot to include in you the Registry; is that
16 correct?
17 A After extensive questioning of associates, that's
18 correct.
19 Q See, what I don't understand is you make the
20 statement that you were disappointed when you received the
21 Registry, correct?
22 A Correct.
23 Q Did you ever look at Marquis Who's Who in America, or 24 Who's Who in America? 25 A It's been a long time. Like I said, the junior high
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3569 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 school era.
2 Q Nobody ever represented to you in the telephone
3 conversation you had with the representative of the
4 corporation that this was the Who's Who in America; am I
5
right?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q So, nobody told you where Who's Who in -- we are
8 Who's Who in America, right?
9 A No.
10 Q When you accepted your membership and decided to be a
11 member, were you aware that there are thousands of Who's
12 Who publications in America?
13 A Thousands of which Who's Who? Who's Who in America
14 or Who's Who Worldwide?
15 Q All types of Who's Who publications in America, by
16 all different publishers, were you aware of that?
17 A No.
18 Q You thought that Marquis or Who's Who in America, was
19 the only publisher of Who's Who in America?
20 A Yes. I thought the Who's Who in America was
21 affiliated with all Who's Who.
22 Q Did you bother to inquire of the salesperson as to
23 whether or not they were the Who's Who in America that you 24 thought you had seen when you were in junior high school? 25 A
Yes, by describing it to her.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3570 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q And she said we are a similar branch of Who's Who was
2 your testimony?
3 A Yes, she --
4 Q Excuse me, let me finish the question, and just
5 answer it yes or no.
6 Did she say we are a similar branch of Who's Who
7 in America? Yes more no?
8 A I don't know if she used the term "branch."
9 Q Did you testify earlier you were told that this was a
10 similar branch of Who's Who in America?
11 A Branch or affiliation. I forget the term they used.
12 Q You say you were disappointed when you got the book,
13 right?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Your name appeared in the book, correct?
16 A Yes.
17 Q All the biographical data you had given to the
18 company through the lead card you had returned back and
19 the tel
ephone interview was stated fairly and accurately
20 inside the Registry; is that right?
21 A I don't recall the telephone interview. I recall
22 that what I put on the card was correct.
23 Q All right. 24 Well, there is nothing that appeared in the 25 Registry under your name that is in fact inaccurate; is
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3571 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 that correct?
2 A No.
3 Q Well, once again, you made the statement that you
4 were disappointed, correct?
5 A Correct.
6 Q It doesn't mean you were defrauded, does it?
7 MS. SCOTT: Objection.
8 THE COURT: Sustained.
9 Q Would you agree with me everyday of the week people
10 buy things that they are disappointed with? Did you ever
11 buy something and take it home and then disappointed with?
12 A Yes.
13 Q It doesn't mean
you were defrauded by someone in the
14 store, does it?
15 MS. SCOTT: Objection.
16 THE COURT: Sustained.
17 Q Mr. Rotatori, you said you received literature from
18 the company after you paid your invoice fee via credit
19 card in 1993; is that correct?
20 A Correct.
21 Q I am going to ask you to take a look at
22 Defendant's Exhibit U, for Identification.
23 (Handed to the witness.) 24 Q And just look at it first. 25 Did you receive a form letter such as this, or
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3572 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 this particular form letter in packaging you received
2 after becoming a member?
3 A I honestly can't recall yes or no.
4 Q You don't know then?
5 A Right.
6 Q Do you recall receiving something that would say that
7 your listing as it appears in the enclosed docum
entation,
8 meaning the invoice Ms. Scott had shown you, will appear
9 in each annual updated edition of Who's Who for the term
10 of your membership? Do you recall receiving something
11 like that?
12 A I may have, but I can't say positively yes or no.
13 Q Do you recall, do you recall receiving literature
14 that says that the biographical information is the only
15 literature you will receive prior to the publication?
16 A Again, I may have. I can't recall yes or no.
17 Q Did you receive everything you were supposed to
18 receive from the company when you ordered your
19 membership -- withdrawn.
20 You bargained for a membership for five years; is
21 that correct?
22 A I didn't bargain.
23 Q You purchased the membership for Who's Who? 24 A Yes. 25 Q You were in fact published in the Registry?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL
COURT REPORTER 3573 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes.
2 Q You received a wall plaque; is that right?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You hung the wall plaque, right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you receive camera ready art or a logo for the
7 pumper of your vehicle?
8 A No. I don't think I received that.
9 Q Did you get anything you could put on a resume to use
10 from the company?
11 A I think something came through as literature to
12 procure something to that effect.
13 Q All right.
14 Did you intend at any point to use this on a
15 resume, your membership in Who's Who?
16 A No.
17 Q Now with respect to your dissatisfaction with the
18 Registry, did you ever write the company or call?
19 A No, because the company --
20 Q The answer is yes or no. Try to answer the question
21 I asked.
22 A No.
23 Q Did you ever write
the company? 24 A No. 25 Q Did you ever complain to the company, either orally
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3574 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 or in writing that you felt you had been ripped off?
2 A No.
3 Q Did you ever write a letter to any federal, state or
4 local agency or better business bureau, that you felt you
5 had not received what you had bargained for?
6 A No.
7 Q In fact, is it fair to say that you never voiced any
8 concern or dissatisfaction to any authority until you
9 received the questionnaire in the mail from the United
10 States Government?
11 A Correct.
12 Q In fact, it was the questionnaire that you received
13 sometime around June of 1995 that sort of sparked you to
14 complain; is that right?
15 A The questionnaire, after reading it and putting it
16 aside, because I had
the questionnaire I would say
17 anywhere from two weeks to a month or maybe longer before
18 I turned it in. Some of the questions struck a definite
19 nerve.
20 Q In you, am I correct?
21 A That's correct.
22 Q You didn't just get a questionnaire in the mail, you
23 got a cover letter with it from the government; is that 24 right? 25 A I am sure there must have been a cover letter.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3575 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q Well, do you recall the cover letter?
2 A No.
3 Q Telling you that as part of their investigation
4 activities, they were investigating a company called Who's
5 Who Worldwide?
6 A I wouldn't venture to try to recall what the cover
7 letter said.
8 Q Well, it did inform you -- withdrawn.
9 Would you say from the tone of the questionnaire,
10 t
he questions, the way they were phrased and asked of you,
11 that it almost suggested that the government believed that
12 Who's Who Worldwide was involved in some type of
13 wrongdoing?
14 MS. SCOTT: Objection.
15 THE COURT: Overruled.
16 THE WITNESS: All I say is that the cover letter
17 didn't jump out at me because I put it off to the side and
18 didn't really review it that close when it first came in
19 the mail.
20 Q I am asking you about the tone of the questions
21 contained in the government's questionnaire.
22 A The tone of the questions in the questionnaire
23 itself? 24 Q Yes. Did it suggest to you that the government 25 believed that this company was involved in -- in some sort
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3576 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 of wrongdoing?
2 A The questions definitely struck
home in that they
3 accurately reflected concerns that had been built up
4 inside of me.
5 Q But up to the point that you got this thing in the
6 mail that was put together by the United States
7 Government, the questions hadn't built up to the fact
8 where you filed a complaint to anybody?
9 A I didn't file a complaint, but I had decided to let
10 my five-year membership run out and that's it.
11 Q You were dissatisfied with the products, but people
12 are dissatisfied with products everyday, you would agree,
13 right?
14 A I can't answer for other people.
15 Q Let me ask you this: Did you at any point request a
16 refund from the company for the monies you had paid?
17 A I felt I had been snookered and learned my lesson.
18 Q Did you request a refund?
19 A No.
20 Q In fact, in July 1993 you became a member and a month
21 or two later you g
ot a wall plaque?
22 A Yes.
23 Q At that point when you got a wall plaque and became a 24 member you were satisfied? 25 A No, there were still great expectations.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3577 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q In December of that year you write up a check in 1993
2 purchasing the Registry; is that right?
3 A I didn't write the check. My wife did.
4 Q Well, you sent a check for $97 to buy the Registry;
5 is that correct?
6 A I sent it with some mixed and ill feelings, correct.
7 Q Did you write them and say I have mixed and ill
8 feelings? I don't want the Registry? You bought the
9 Registry because you were curious; is that correct?
10 A I wrote the $97 check because I already allowed a
11 $297 charge, and I felt I might as well carry this out for
12 another $97 and see what it incorporated, wha
t the
13 Registry incorporated, and what the membership had to
14 offer.
15 Q I don't understand. Why would you -- withdrawn.
16 If you were dissatisfied prior to sending the
17 member in, why would you in the world send a $97 check to
18 the place?
19 A I was not satisfied with the fact that I had to send
20 the other $97 in. That's what, that's what kind of put a
21 negative flavor to it.
22 Q But you didn't have to send the $97 in, did you?
23 A No. And I was told I wouldn't be published in the 24 Registry. And I felt by not being published I would have 25 limited membership offers in participation. So, I said,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3578 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 here goes another 97. But I distinctly crossed out all of
2 the other things on the membership and invoices, I don't
3 want anything else.
I will pay the $97. I will get
4 published. I will receive the book and see what it is
5 like, and we will go from there.
6 Q Before you sent in the $97, did you call them and
7 inquire about it?
8 A No, they called me.
9 Q They just didn't mail me an invoice?
10 A They mailed an invoice. I didn't return it. They
11 called me.
12 Q When did you receive the invoice?
13 A November 15th was I think the date of the invoice.
14 So it was sometime in that immediate time frame.
15 Q And you sent a check December 22nd, 1993?
16 A That's right, I held off.
17 Q That's the check that Ms. Scott had shown you; is
18 that right?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Were you aware that the Registry was published in
21 October of 1993 already and you were already in there?
22 A I was told it wasn't published and they were
23 preparing it for publication. 24 Q
Did you look at the book to see when in fact the 25 Registry was published in 1993?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3579 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A No. That would have made me feel worse.
2 Q Did you look to see if it was published in October of
3 1993?
4 A No.
5 Q Now, you know, this thing with you being
6 disappointed, what did you expect to get when you got the
7 book in the mail, except a book with your biographical
8 data alphabetized?
9 A Can I answer this without a yes more no?
10 Q Let me ask you this: Did you ever look at the
11 Marquis Who's Who, the book you were fond of since junior
12 high school?
13 A Not since junior high school. Maybe once or twice
14 since high school.
15 Q If I told you that people were listed alphabetically
16 in that book without any break down as to careers, would
17 that make a difference to you?
18 A No.
19 Q If I told you that that book has the same format and
20 same set up as this book, would it make a difference to
21 you?
22 A No.
23 Q If I told you that Marquis Who's Who uses mailing 24 lists to solicit new members, would you still want to be a 25 member in Marquis Who's Who in America?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3580 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A I don't know that to be a fact.
2 Q Assume it is a fact. Assume I told you that Marquis
3 Who's Who in America uses mailing lists to solicit new
4 members, would you want to be a member in that
5 publication?
6 A I don't quite really understand the question. But my
7 answer to that would be, if there was a nomination process
8 and there were peers offering you a chance to be a member
9 in their charter
organization, professional organization,
10 then I would be interested.
11 Q All right.
12 A If it was a mailing list, no, I wouldn't.
13 Q Even though you seem, as you sit here, seem to have
14 high regard for Who's Who in America?
15 A I didn't say I had high regard. I said I was aware
16 of it, and it was and it was a publication that supposedly
17 had prestige.
18 Q You are not suggesting, are you, that Marquis Who's
19 Who in America is a better organization than the
20 organization you joined, are you?
21 A I have no idea.
22 Q Let me ask you this: If I told you that Marquis
23 Who's Who in America, you can self nominate yourself via a 24 computer to be a member, would that change your opinion as 25 to whether or not you would want to be a member of that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3581 Rotatori-cross/Je
nks
1 organization?
2 A I have no opinion one way or the other in that
3 regard.
4 Q When you got the book, you say you were disappointed,
5 and you got a listing alphabetically in a book; is that
6 right?
7 A You mean I was listed alphabetically in the book?
8 Q Yes.
9 A That is correct.
10 Q With all your biographical data?
11 A I wouldn't say all my biographical data. I would say
12 the data on the card I filled in. That's correct.
13 Q That was correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And in addition, you saw that there were numerous
16 people in that book who were presidents, CEOs and chairmen
17 of various corporations; is that right?
18 A I gave the book a cursory review. I didn't go into
19 an in depth examination of it.
20 Q It is the hard covered book?
21 A The red cover.
22 Q The red covered book here?
23 A
Yes. 24 Q Were you expecting some kind of gold book or some 25 kind of 18 caret book?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3582 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A No.
2 Q And you were expecting to get a book with your
3 listing in the book as a member of Who's Who; is that
4 right?
5 A The way you worded it, it is not what I was
6 expecting. I could describe what I was expecting.
7 Q You didn't expect the book to talk to you, did you?
8 A No.
9 MR. JENKS: I have nothing further, Judge.
10
11 CROSS-EXAMINATION
12 BY MR. SCHOER:
13 Q Good morning.
14 A Good morning.
15 Q Just a couple of things to try to clarify something.
16 You have Exhibit 60-B in front of you, the
17 invoice?
18 A Yes, I do.
19 Q And you received that invoice shortly after?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And
you received that invoice shortly after the
22 conversation with Ms. Barnes?
23 A I would say from the date, the invoice was received 24 the same day as the conversation. 25 Q You received that invoice shortly after the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3583 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 conversation with Ms. Barnes; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And that invoice has a box at the bottom that says
4 important information; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you read that box that says important
7 information?
8 A I probably did not -- I probably did not.
9 Q That invoice has a little star where it says
10 important information, has a star with it that says split
11 billing?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Did you read that when you read the invoice, received
14 the invoice?
15 A No.
16 Q If you had rea
d that would you be surprised you
17 received another invoice in November with respect to the
18 $97?
19 A No, I wouldn't have been surprised in November. But
20 I would have been surprised in July.
21 Q You wouldn't have been surprised when you got it in
22 November?
23 A Right. 24 Q When you got it in July you didn't call Ms. Barnes 25 back and say what is all this about, did you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3584 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 A No, I did not.
2 Q Now, you said that the information that was in the
3 book, that it is only information you put on the cards; is
4 that right?
5 A To the best of what I recall. Again, I just gave it
6 a cursory review.
7 Q Did you put on the card that your favorite magazine
8 was Engineering News Record?
9 A I don't recall saying it was my favorite,
it might be
10 one that I read.
11 Q Do you have the cards in front of you, 60-F, as in
12 Frank?
13 A No.
14 (Handed to the witness.)
15 Q Is there a place on that card for favorite
16 publication?
17 A No.
18 Q Is there a place on that card for favorite vacation
19 place?
20 A No.
21 Q Is there a place on that card for hobby, favorite
22 hobby, favorite sport?
23 A No. 24 Q That information was put in the directory, wasn't it? 25 A Yes, probably from the phone conversation.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3585 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 Q So, you did, there were things that were done, and
2 information you provided in the interview which you hadn't
3 provided on the card; isn't that right?
4 A I guess. As I said before, I don't recall.
5 Q When you received the invoi
ce, there was a list of
6 information that you provided; isn't that correct?
7 A Of the invoice?
8 Q Yes, it says business: Business, construction, major
9 products, services, high purity processes, slash,
10 microelectronics?
11 A Yes, correct.
12 Q And it has all the information that is listed there,
13 isn't that's so, that ended up listed in your Registry?
14 A Again, I don't recall everything listed in the
15 Registry.
16 Q And there were blanks on the invoice for you to
17 include additional information; isn't that so?
18 A Two blanks, yes.
19 Q University degree, right, did you put that in?
20 A No.
21 Q Affiliations, did you put that in?
22 A No, I didn't know I was supposed to fill all that in.
23 Q Well, did you read the bottom of the invoice, which 24 says: Please correct any errors on gold remittance copy 25 and return w
ith your payment?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3586 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 A The information on there was accurate so no
2 correction would have been required.
3 Q So, you couldn't have expected anything more to be in
4 the Registry other than the information you gave to the
5 people at Who's Who; isn't that correct?
6 A That's absolutely dead wrong.
7 Q You indicated you received -- do you have 60-H in
8 front of you, the solicitation letter?
9 A 60-H?
10 Q Here is 60-H.
11 (Handed to the witness.)
12 Q Read the first paragraph.
13 A You were recently nominated for possible inclusion in
14 the Who's Who Registry of Global Business Leaders.
15 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by someone who knew
16 you, does it?
17 A No. .
18 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by someone in your <
BR> 19 field, does it?
20 A No.
21 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by a peer, does it?
22 A No.
23 Q So, when you said before on cross-examination that 24 the letter said you were nominated by someone who was 25 familiar with your work, that's not what it says in the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3587 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 letter, does it?
2 A No, it does not.
3 Q You indicated you wouldn't have purchased this
4 membership if you knew your name came from a mailing list;
5 is that right?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q If you knew your name had come from a selective
8 mailing list, would that have made a difference to you?
9 A No.
10 Q If you knew that after your name came from a mailing
11 list, there was a selection process, would that have made
12 a difference to you?
13 A No.
14 Q If you knew that there was an interview of each of
15 the people that was put in that book to determine whether
16 they were qualified to be in that book, would that have
17 made a difference to you?
18 A The book really wasn't --
19 Q Yes or no? Would that have made a difference to you,
20 if you knew each of the people in the book, that were in
21 the Registry, that became members, were interviewed to
22 determine whether or not they were qualified to be in the
23 membership -- 24 A Based on the mailing list, you mean? 25 Q Whether it was based on the mailing list or not.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3588 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 Whether each person was interviewed to determine whether
2 they were qualified to be in the book, to be a member,
3 would that have made a difference to you?
4 A No, not really.<
BR> 5 Q If you knew even after each person was interviewed,
6 there was another level of people who reviewed, reviewed
7 the applicant, to determine whether or not they made the
8 criteria to be in the book, to determine if they were
9 qualified to be members, would that have made a difference
10 to you?
11 A No.
12 MR. SCHOER: I have no further questions.
13 THE COURT: Anyone else?
14
15 CROSS-EXAMINATION
16 BY MR. LEE:
17 Q Hello, Mr. Rotatori.
18 A Hello.
19 Q Your first contact with Who's Who was when you
20 received Government's Exhibit 60-H; is that correct? You
21 received a letter in the mail?
22 A Yes, I believe that's correct.
23 Q And the maker of the letter, after reviewing that 24 letter was a person from the office of public affairs; is 25 that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT
REPORTER 3589 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 A Yes, Kathleen Nelson, office of public affairs.
2 Q Subsequently you had a conversation with some people
3 from Who's Who, and those were members of the sales staff,
4 salesperson from Who's Who; is that correct?
5 A I don't know that.
6 Q They didn't identify themselves as an associate
7 director or listing director from the sales staff?
8 A I don't recall how they identified themselves other
9 than to reference Who's Who. I don't recall how they
10 identified themselves.
11 Q Regardless of how they may or may not have identified
12 themselves, it is clear to you that you were speaking to
13 one of the salesperson whose were employed by Who's Who;
14 wouldn't that be fair to say?
15 A To be accurate, all I could say is I was under the
16 assumption that I was speaking of an employee of Who's
17 Who.
18 Q And you are also under the assumption that you were
19 clearly not speaking to the person who had written this
20 letter to you; is that correct?
21 A It never came to mind.
22 Q The person -- did the person identify herself as
23 Cathy Neilson? 24 A I didn't have the letter in front of me, so there was 25 no attempt to correlate who I was speaking to, to the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3590 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 letter. It just wasn't important to me at the time.
2 Q Now, the first person that you spoke to on the phone,
3 how long did that conversation last?
4 A I don't know.
5 Q Can you approximate for the jury, was it less than
6 five minutes?
7 A No. I would say at least 15 minutes.
8 Q Am I correct that subsequently we had another -- you
9 had another conversation with Ms. Barnes?
10 A Yes, that came later, yes.
11 Q Can you approximately tell us approximately how long
12 that conversation was?
13 A No. I could only venture a guess and say maybe
14 another ten to fifteen minutes.
15 Q Approximately ten to fifteen minutes?
16 A That's my guess.
17 Q Am I correct that during the course of that
18 interview, the second one that took about ten or 15
19 minutes, that part of the discussion encompassed this
20 person obtaining information about your background; is
21 that correct, what your area of expertise was? Was that
22 discussed?
23 A I don't recall that being the primary focus of the 24 conversation, as obtaining -- 25 Q Mr. Rotatori, my question, if you don't understand
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3591 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 it, let me know. But my question, my direct question is
2 this: Did you in the course of that conversation with
3 Ms. Barnes, did you discuss with her your background that
4 your area of distribution was nationwide? Did you do
5 that?
6 A Apparently so.
7 Q Well, do you recall it? The answer is yes or no, did
8 you discuss that?
9 A I don't clearly recall discussing all the
10 particulars, no.
11 Q You say that someone had apparently sent you an
12 invoice that contained a lot of information about you; is
13 that correct? You are looking at 60-B.
14 A Correct.
15 Q Am I assuming correctly that you were the source of
16 that information?
17 A I am not sure.
18 Q You don't even recall whether or not you gave this
19 information to the person?
20 A I do not recall the specifics, no.
21 Q You don't recall the specifics.
22 Do you recall that a portion of the interview was
23
taken up your providing information about your 24 background? That's a fair statement, isn't it? 25 A I would say that's a fair statement.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3592 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 Q That's a fair statement.
2 So, a portion of this ten or 15 minute
3 conversation was taken up by you providing background
4 information; is that correct? Is that a fair statement?
5 A The best way to answer that --
6 Q I am asking you --
7 THE COURT: You can't both talk at the same
8 time.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, if you don't understand my question,
10 let me know. But I asked you, is that a fair statement
11 that a portion of this interview was taken up by gathering
12 the information about you? Yes or no? Is that a
13 difficult question?
14 THE COURT: That's two questions. But I will
15 stop you now.
16 You are going to be asked questions that call for
17 a yes or no answer. And as a layperson, probably not used
18 to testifying too often, sometimes you can't answer every
19 question yes or no, and you attempt to make an
20 explanation, which counsel properly does not want you to
21 make.
22 So, if you can't answer the question yes or no,
23 merely say, I can't answer the question yes or no. Then 24 it is up to the questioner to decide what to do with 25 that.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3593 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 THE WITNESS: Fair enough.
2 THE COURT: All right.
3 Q Is it a fair statement by me that a portion of this
4 interview with Ms. Barnes was taken up by her gathering
5 information about your background? Yes or no?
6 A I don't know.
7 Q You don't recall?
8 A I don't recall -- I don't re
call being questioned to
9 develop information about my background specifically, no.
10 Q Okay.
11 Do you recall in your conversation with
12 Ms. Barnes, was the networking benefits and capabilities
13 of you being a member of Who's Who, was that discussed?
14 A I just recall a limited area of that discussion.
15 Q Do you recall that that subject was discussed? Yes
16 or no?
17 A I can't recall.
18 Q You can't recall that, and you can't recall as to
19 whether you provided specifics about -- in that interview;
20 is that correct?
21 A I can recall specifics. I can't recall if the term
22 "networking" was used.
23 Q But you discussed benefits you could obtain from your 24 membership, and one of them being networking, correct? 25 A Incorrect.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3594 Rotatori-cross/Lee
<
BR> 1 Q Did you -- did the person you were speaking with,
2 Ms. Barnes, did she go over with you, other benefits you
3 could receive from membership, perhaps discounted air fare
4 prices, perhaps a credit card benefit, insurance, auto
5 insurance, were those matters discussed?
6 A Specifically matters discussed that I do recall were
7 seminars and conferences. That is clear in my mind. The
8 others I am not clear.
9 Q Was there a presentation by the person, Ms. Barnes,
10 describing a listing of benefits? Do you recall that?
11 A Specifically, I don't recall it. Generally I do
12 recall it.
13 MR. LEE: I have no further questions.
14 THE COURT: Anybody else?
15 MR. NELSON: I would like to question. I am
16 sorry I am going out of order for a moment.
17 THE COURT: It is all right.
18
19 CROSS-EXAMINATION
20 BY MR. NELSON:
21 Q Good a
fternoon, Mr. Rotatori.
22 A Good afternoon.
23 Q My name is Alan Nelson. 24 Mr. Schoer asked you a number of questions as 25 they related to your expectations about your membership in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3595 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who Worldwide, and your looking at the Registry.
2 Do you recall him asking you about the manner in
3 which the selection might have been made, if there was an
4 exclusive mailing lists, and the manner in which there
5 might have been a further screening of people who came
6 from the mailing list. Do you recall him asking you those
7 questions?
8 A Yes.
9 Q I believe once he went through what was four
10 different levels of screening, that being, one, a mailing
11 list, which was not a generalized mailing list, but a
12 rather exclusive and specific list from a p
articular field
13 or industry, you indicated that that would not be
14 something from which you would find specific level of
15 exclusivity for you to become a member; is that correct?
16 A Correct.
17 Q Then Mr. Schoer asked you questions concerning three
18 different levels of screening that this company went
19 through, including screening people when they first came
20 before they were being interviewed; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q He discussed with you the fact, which you are well
23 aware of, that there was indeed an interview of each 24 prospective applicant by a member of the firm; is that 25 correct? And you felt that is something that wouldn't be
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3596 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 sufficient; is that correct?
2 A That's not correct. Because I am not aware of the
3 inter
view process at all.
4 Q Were you interviewed?
5 A Was I interviewed?
6 Q Yes. You spoke with Ms. Barnes on the phone?
7 A I didn't realize I was being interviewed.
8 Q You spoke with Ms. Barnes on the phone?
9 A I spoke with her on the phone.
10 Q Did she ask about your background?
11 A Yes.
12 Q When you were questioned by Mr. Lee, am I correct
13 that you indicated that the majority of the interview you
14 had with her concerns your background; is that correct?
15 A Incorrect.
16 Q Approximately ten or 15 minutes of that interview
17 concerned your background?
18 A No. I said approximately ten to fifteen minutes was
19 the length of the phone call.
20 Q And maybe half of that was your background?
21 A I don't recall.
22 Q Was it five minutes that involved your background?
23 A I believe it was more on the description, the
24 pricing, the benefits of a three year membership, versus a 25 five year membership, versus a lifetime membership.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3597 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Q Before she discussed the aspects of the organization,
2 did she go through with you your background, your level of
3 employment, the type of employment you engage in?
4 A I recall that being a small portion of the
5 conversation.
6 Q She asked you where you worked and what the nature
7 and specialty of your employment was?
8 A I can't recall the specifics, only generalities.
9 Q This was -- if you found out after that interview was
10 conducted, and after Ms. Barnes would have filled out
11 information concerning your background, there was another
12 level of screening in the company, where they reviewed
13 your background for determination as to wh
ether or not you
14 should be included in the Registry, I believe you
15 testified when you spoke to Mr. Schoer that that as well
16 would not have been sufficient for your membership in this
17 organization; is that right?
18 A That's correct.
19 Q Am I correct that when you first received the
20 solicitation letter from Who's Who, what registered in
21 your mind at that point, as the Who's Who in America that
22 you had been shown when you were in junior high school and
23 high school by the librarian in school? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And that's the mental image you had in mind, the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3598 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who in America that had been shown to you at that
2 time; is that right?
3 A That's correct.
4 Q And that's the thing you were thinking about; is that
5 righ
t?
6 A Correct.
7 Q And would I be correct in stating that what the
8 librarian led you to believe when you were in junior high
9 school and high school, is that this publication reflects
10 the people in America who quote, unquote, have made it; is
11 that right?
12 A I wouldn't use that term.
13 Q Something that you personally would feel proud of to
14 be included in a book of that sort; is that correct?
15 A That's more accurate, correct.
16 Q Certainly when you spoke to the librarian when you
17 were in junior high school, you didn't go through with her
18 the qualification procedures for entry into Who's Who in
19 America; isn't that right?
20 A I don't think as a junior high school --
21 Q Of course, no one --
22 THE COURT: You can't speak at the same time. It
23 was you doing that, Mr. Nelson. 24 MR. NELSON: I apologize, your Honor.
25 Q Of course it is correct in stating when you were in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3599 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 junior high school and high school, it is not something
2 that would have entered your mind?
3 A Correct.
4 Q It was just the emotion of it, or the feelings of it
5 put to you by the librarian, which you subsequently
6 carried through in life; is that correct?
7 A That's correct.
8 Q Now, are you aware, sir, that Who's Who in America is
9 a publication that is put out by Marquis, who is a large
10 corporation?
11 A No.
12 Q And are you aware, sir, that Marquis actually
13 publishes somewhere in the order of 30 or 40 different
14 publications such as Who's Who in business, Who's Who of
15 Attorneys, Who's Who of Pharmacists, various different
16 forms of Who's Who? Are you aware of that,
sir?
17 A No.
18 Q All right, and you --
19 A And I wasn't at the time.
20 Q In fact, you weren't aware of that until really you
21 came here to testify at the trial; is that right?
22 A No. My daughter got elected to Who's Who High School
23 Students of America and joined. So that's how I became 24 aware. 25 Q Now, are you aware of the facts, sir, that Marquis
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3600 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who presently solicits members for entry into their
2 various different forms of publication from exclusive
3 mailing lists that they acquire to targets the particular
4 form of publication that they are attempting to acquire
5 members from?
6 A Not aware.
7 Q All right.
8 And certainly your librarian back in high school
9 wouldn't have been aware of the fact that Marq
uis even at
10 that time was similarly soliciting members for their
11 various forms of publication by the exclusive list of
12 mailing lists to target people to be included in their
13 publication? Did you know that, sir?
14 A I have no idea.
15 Q But when you went -- when you received the letter for
16 Who's Who, would I be correct in stating that your only
17 thoughts really were, gee, this is something that brings
18 me back in time to what my librarian told me of something
19 of people who were renown, who are now included in the
20 publication of this sort?
21 A I made that correlation.
22 Q And would it be fair to say that when you then
23 received the Registry some year later and you looked in 24 the Registry, it was your thought process that, gee, this 25 doesn't bear upon what my anticipations and expectations
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM O
FFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3601 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 were based on what I thought of back in high school?
2 A Totally incorrect.
3 Q Well, had you ever looked at Marquis Who's Who while
4 you were in high school?
5 A While I was in high school? I can't recall.
6 Q Did you ever look at it when you were in junior high
7 school?
8 A I am sure I did, because I had to.
9 Q Was there anything about -- withdrawn.
10 You had indicated between the period of time that
11 you received that you received the plaque and the book --
12 you received other publications from Who's Who; is that
13 right?
14 A Publications?
15 Q You received the Tribute Magazine?
16 A It was more like a flier than a magazine.
17 Q I would like to show you what is marked as Gordon-G
18 in evidence, which is the spring 1994 edition of Tribute
19 Magazine. <
BR> 20 (Handed to the witness.)
21 Q Do you recall receiving a publication such as that,
22 sir?
23 A Yes. 24 Q When you received the publication, did you read 25 through the publication?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3602 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 A I read through parts of it. Not with any detail. I
2 skimmed it.
3 Q When you received the publication, that was between
4 the period of time that you received the wall plaque that
5 you were satisfied with, and your receipt of the Registry
6 where your impression began to change; is that correct?
7 A I can't answer it. I can't remember when I
8 received -- the time frame I received the magazine. I
9 just recognize the name "Tribute."
10 Q I would like you to look through the Tribute at this
11 point.
12 Am I correct that the Tribute Magazine containing
13 profiles of various different individuals in business and
14 industry?
15 A I see one, two, three, four -- I see four. Yes,
16 there is possibly a dozen or so.
17 Q Do you recall reading through the Tribute when you
18 had seen it reading about a dozen or so biographies of
19 people in industry?
20 A I recall there were biographies on people in business
21 and industry, yes.
22 Q Do you find that those biographies reflected the
23 information that you anticipated would be the kind of 24 information which would be biographical in nature and 25 would be useful to you if your name was included in there
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3603 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 for purposes of networking in your business and
2 profession?
3 A I don't recall passing that judgment on it at that
4 time.
5 Q Do y
ou recall the conclusions that this might be a
6 marketing tool, a networking tool for you in the future in
7 your business or profession?
8 A Again, I didn't think about that at the time I
9 received the magazine.
10 Q Why don't you look at it right now for a moment and
11 just read through one of the biographies. Pick one at
12 your leisure.
13 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
14 proceedings.)
15 A Thomas Waltz, W A L T Z.
16 THE COURT: Read it to yourself.
17 A All right.
18 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
19 proceedings.)
20 Q Mr. Rotatori, would you agree it is a fairly detailed
21 break down of biographical information of the individual?
22 A It is descriptive. I will not say detailed,
23 someone's life in two columns. 24 Q Are you aware of the fact that this publication was 25 sent to every
member in Who's Who Worldwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3604 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 A I was aware of the fact. But I would assume if you
2 were a member you would get a copy of it.
3 Q Would I be fair in stating, sir, that -- withdrawn.
4 Were you aware of the fact that there was a
5 public affairs department in Who's Who, and that you could
6 have written or called Who's Who and ask for them to
7 include a similar form of biographical sketch about you
8 and your background for inclusion in the information sent
9 to about 50 or 60 thousand people?
10 A It was never in my mind to be included or published
11 in the magazine.
12 Q Were you advised of the fact there was a public
13 affairs office?
14 A I was from the letter initially sent out.
15 Q Were you aware of the fact that they solicited
16 members
to contact them, they asked for members to call,
17 they asked for members to write in. They asked for
18 members to provide the kind of biographic information they
19 would include in the magazine for purposes of networking
20 to all the other members? Were you aware of that, sir?
21 A Let's say that I made the assumption based on the
22 magazine that I got.
23 Q Did you make any attempt to use it? 24 A I didn't. 25 MR. NELSON: Thank you.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3605 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1
2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. DUNN:
4 Q Sir, was it your testimony that you stated that if
5 you that a mailing list was involved you would not have
6 accepted membership? Is that your testimony?
7 A Correct.
8 Q Is it also your testimony that even if it was an
9 exclusive membership -- mailing lis
t, you would not have
10 accepted membership; is that correct?
11 A Correct.
12 Q Do you recall filling out a questionnaire --
13 withdrawn.
14 Do you recall being asked a number of questions
15 over the phone by an agent of the United States Government
16 investigating this case?
17 A I remember speaking to a postal inspector.
18 Q Do you remember being asked this question: Would it
19 have affected your decision to purchase if your name
20 really had been obtained from a mailing list, and you gave
21 the answer, yes, would not have purchased, and the follow
22 up question being asked --
23 THE COURT: You have to go slower and louder and 24 say when there is a question, please say "question." 25 Q And then the question, if, yes, would it have
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3606 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1
affected your decision if a mailing list was an exclusive
2 and selective one, namely, if it listed only corporate
3 executives or individuals with income over a certain
4 amount? And your answer, probably would not have
5 purchased.
6 Does that refresh your recollection?
7 A Specific questions, not really. But it doesn't sound
8 out of align with the phone of questions that were in
9 there.
10 Q So, if you told an inspector that you probably would
11 not have purchased, that is not a 100 percent no, is it,
12 sir?
13 A It is not a 100 percent no.
14 Q In fact, you are leaving a little bit of wiggle room
15 that if it was an exclusive list, you might have
16 accepted? Isn't that true, if you knew that?
17 A What I am saying is I don't know.
18 Q But at some point in time you told an inspector and
19 used the term "probably" which is less than 100 pe
rcent;
20 is that correct?
21 A Probably represents less than 100 percent and more
22 than 50 percent.
23 Q Now, I would like to direct your attention to Exhibit 24 60 -- withdrawn. 25 You said before you discussed membership with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3607 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 Jill Barnes, that you had a discussion, your recollection
2 that you had a discussion with another individual; is that
3 correct?
4 A That is correct.
5 Q And was that a man or a woman?
6 A It was a woman.
7 Q Now, I would like you to take a look at Exhibit 60-H,
8 if you have it in front of you? That's the letter dated
9 June 17th, 1993.
10 Do you see under Who's Who Worldwide there is a
11 line that runs across the page and a quote underneath
12 that?
13 A PS, you mean?
14 Q Under Who's W
ho across the top, there is a long line
15 running underneath it, to the right of the page directly
16 underneath that line there is a quotation; do you see
17 that?
18 A Quotation in the logo you mean? Yes.
19 Q Yes.
20 A Right here (indicating).
21 Q Do you see that?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Would you read that, please. 24 A The largest Who's Who membership organization in the 25 world.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3608 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 Q The term "largest" is used; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And would it be fair to say that that is a comparison
4 of something, that you have sometimes used an adjective,
5 large, larger, largest; is that correct? Have you heard
6 those terms?
7 A I heard those terms, yes.
8 Q Would it be fair in describing me you would say I am
9 tall?
10 A Yes.
11 MR. DUNN: Mr. Trabulus, get up for a moment.
12 Q Is that correct to say I am taller than him?
13 A Correct.
14 Q Would it be fair to say if I told you that out of the
15 nine lawyers in the room, I was the tallest, that I would
16 be compared to nine, ten other people; is that correct?
17 A Correct.
18 Q Is it fair to say if someone uses the name largest,
19 that it is being compared to more than two; is that
20 correct?
21 A Not being an English major, I would say I guess you
22 are correct.
23 Q Is it fair to say it would be compared with three or 24 ten or maybe more if you use the term "largest" correct? 25 A If I recall my grammar from past years, I would say
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3609 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 that that is correct.
2 Q And you received this letter; is t
hat correct?
3 A Yes.
4 MR. DUNN: I have no further questions, your
5 Honor.
6 THE COURT: Anybody else?
7 Do you have redirect, Ms. Scott?
8 MS. SCOTT: Yes, I do, your Honor.
9 THE COURT: All right. We will have a short part
10 of it now.
11 MS. SCOTT: Okay.
12
13 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
14 BY MS. SCOTT:
15 Q Mr. Rotatori, do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you
16 about information you gave to Who's Who Worldwide, to the
17 Who's Who salesperson about yourself?
18 A Correct.
19 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asked you whether you
20 gave other information to the salesperson other than what
21 eventually appeared in the book?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, you testified, do you recall that it wasn't 24 necessary because you thought they had that information 25 already?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFI
CIAL COURT REPORTER 3610 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 A That's correct.
2 Q Okay.
3 Now, you testified also that the person who
4 nominated -- that you believed that the person who
5 nominated you had given this additional information about
6 you to the company; is that correct?
7 A That's the whole logic and philosophy behind what I
8 was anticipating, yes.
9 Q Do you remember Mr. Schoer suggested to you that you
10 had no reason to believe that they had additional
11 information about you?
12 A That's what I felt he was alluding to, yes.
13 Q Do you remember responding that he was dead wrong in
14 making that assertion?
15 A Yes.
16 Q What did you mean by that?
17 A Well, again, I thought there was a nominating
18 process, that a member nominated me. And I thought, not
19 assumed, but I thought that that member knew me, an
d knew
20 me through the course of business, and somewhere along my
21 career that that member knew me; and that I was being
22 nominated in a membership in a Who's Who organization.
23 Again, I did associate it with Who's Who in 24 America. But that it was a select process based on the 25 member's nomination, and experience, knowledge and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3611 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 understanding of who I was, and what I did in relation to
2 my career.
3 I also assumed that I was entering a professional
4 organization where at least one person in that
5 organization I knew and he knew me, so that would be kind
6 of the ground work for networking and meeting other
7 people.
8 In all honesty, the Registry publication was not
9 a focus --
10 MR. LEE: Objection. Not responsive, your Honor. <
BR> 11 THE COURT: Motion denied. It is responsive in
12 my view.
13 A So, it was the whole nomination aspect.
14 Before sending in the card, and even after
15 sending in the cards, I did in my own mind try and
16 formulate how and why I got chosen for this nomination. I
17 did go around asking people, did you hear of it? Are you
18 in it? Are you a part of it? Come on, fess up. Are you
19 the guy who nominated me on a couple of instances.
20 My focus was really on the nomination. To
21 simplify it, I kind of viewed it as an Elk's club
22 organization affiliated with business. So, I didn't focus
23 on the publication. I felt it was something you had to do 24 to kind of register. And that if you didn't accept the 25 full package, that you would be less apt to be brought in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3612 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 and involved in the different seminars and conferences,
2 etcetera. So that's really in my mind where I was
3 focussed.
4 THE COURT: Very well.
5 We are going to take a recess at this time for
6 lunch.
7 Members of the jury, please do not discuss the
8 case. Keep an open mind. We will recess until 1:30.
9 Have a nice lunch.
10 (Whereupon, at this time the jury left the
11 courtroom.)
12 (Luncheon Recess.)
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3613 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N
2
3 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
4 courtroom.)
5
6 R E I D R O T A T O R I ,
7 called as a witness, having been
previously
8 duly sworn, was examined and testified as
9 follows:
10
11 REDIRECT EXAMINATION (cont'd)
12 BY MS. SCOTT:
13 Q Do you remember you testified before lunch that you
14 felt that the person who nominated you knew you?
15 A Correct.
16 Q Do you remember testifying that that person had given
17 the -- you believed that that person had given additional
18 information about you besides what you gave about yourself
19 to the company?
20 A That is my assumption. That's how I felt they would
21 choose acceptance or non-acceptance.
22 Q Do you remember Mr. Schoer asked you as to whether
23 the salesperson told you that that he had additional 24 information about you from the person who had nominated 25 you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3614 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 A Don't rec
all the question. One more time.
2 Q Do you recall Mr. Schoer asking you -- told you that
3 the salesperson actually confirmed that they had
4 additional information about you from the person who
5 nominated you?
6 A I don't believe that I recall the salesperson saying
7 they had additional information from the person who
8 nominated me, other than they did specifically say a
9 person, someone nominated, that a member nominated.
10 Q Did the salesperson tell you that the selection
11 committee had sufficient information about you with which
12 to determine as to whether you were qualified for
13 membership?
14 A Yes. They said they would review my nomination based
15 on what had been submitted to them. I didn't know what it
16 was, but that's how it was put to me.
17 Q Now, what did the notion that you were nominated
18 leave you to believe how you were regar
ded by the person
19 who nominated you?
20 MR. LEE: Objection.
21 THE COURT: Sustained.
22 I feel we have enough of this. It is getting
23 very repetitive, as it was with defense counsel. With 24 them I extended myself. From now on I will stop a lot of 25 this repetitiveness.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3615 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 MS. SCOTT: Okay.
2 Q Do you consider being taken off of a mailing list the
3 same as being nominated?
4 A No.
5 Q If in fact you were taken off of a mailing list, is
6 that something you would have wanted to know at the time
7 that you made the decision to purchase?
8 A Sure.
9 Q Now, do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you whether you
10 knew the Webster dictionary definition of "nomination?"
11 A I remember him asking me that, yes.
12 Q At the time yo
u were told you were nominated, did you
13 have an idea in your mind what the word "nominated" means?
14 A Yes, I had an idea in my mind what it meant.
15 Q And what was that?
16 A Someone familiar with yourself, with the
17 capabilities, would accept you into a club or
18 organization.
19 Q Is it your practice, Mr. Rotatori, to look up a word
20 in Webster's dictionary when you already know what it
21 means?
22 MR. JENKS: Objection.
23 THE COURT: Overruled. 24 A No. The only time I look up a word in the dictionary 25 is when I can't figure out how to spell it, which is
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3616 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 often.
2 Q Now, do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you whether the
3 nomination ballot suggested to you that people were
4 nominated for membership?
5 A Could you re
peat that one more time?
6 Q Let me back up a minute.
7 Do you remember being shown a sample nomination
8 ballot?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And do you remember being asked by Mr. Jenks as to
11 whether that ballot might have suggested to you that
12 people were actually nominated for membership in Who's Who
13 Worldwide?
14 A It I made that connection once I got the balance
15 which is after I already was a member.
16 Q What did that nomination ballot suggest to you about
17 how you were selected for membership?
18 A I immediately made the connection that someone who
19 was a member who knew me must have given me my name to
20 start the process on a similar ballot form.
21 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you what you did
22 with the plaque?
23 A The first or the second? 24 Q The first plaque. 25 A The first plaque, yes, I do.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3617 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 Q Do you remember testifying you hung it up?
2 A I did.
3 Q You testified, I believe that you hung it in your
4 family room; is that correct?
5 A I did.
6 Q And you testified that that is the room where you and
7 your family entertain guests; is that correct?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Now, you also mentioned, however that this plaque was
10 still on the wall because of several curious
11 circumstances; do you remember that?
12 A I did.
13 Q Do you remember that Mr. Jenks did not ask you what
14 those special circumstances, those curious circumstances
15 were?
16 MR. JENKS: Objection.
17 MR. DUNN: Objection.
18 THE COURT: Sustained.
19 Q What were those circumstances, Mr. Rotatori?
20 MR. DUNN: Objection.
21 THE COURT: Overru
led.
22 A Well, in the course of going through this whole
23 process, initially I hung the plaque up because I thought 24 it represented membership in this organization. 25 As the process evolved, I did want to take the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3618 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 plaque down. But a series of events had happened. We had
2 just built a new home when I first got nominated. I don't
3 believe we were in it a year. The home is contemporary
4 design and painted with all very, very light colors. And
5 we had an unusual problem in that we were getting soot in
6 the home, and with the unusual colors the walls were
7 getting sooted up. We had the whole house completely
8 repainted from top to bottom a year or so after we were in
9 there. We shut down the fire place, stopped using that.
10 The house had to get all profes
sionally cleaned top to
11 bottom. And although the problem is somewhat rectified,
12 it has never gone away. Even now with the house
13 completely repainted there is a slight graying of the
14 walls.
15 So if I would take the plaque down -- I have
16 taken it off the wall and taken a little peek -- the
17 highlight of the plaque would be totally distinguished on
18 the wall.
19 So, I said to myself, rather than make an
20 obvious, oh, what was there, and have to go through this
21 whole explanation of how I got to this plaque and why I
22 took it down, I chose to swallow my pride and just leave
23 it there. 24 During the course of the years I since got a hole 25 in one, my hole in one plaque is next to it. And people
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3619 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 ask more questions about that
than they do about the other
2 thing. So I am of the mindset now to leave well enough
3 alone until I sell the house, and then it is coming down.
4 Q You are not then proudly displaying your Who's Who
5 Worldwide plaque at this time; is that right?
6 A No. I am kind of letting a sleeping dog lie.
7 Q Now, you mentioned a second plaque that you
8 received. Can you tell us what you did with that?
9 A I just -- in transitioning from one office to
10 another, it was sitting in the box it got shipped into
11 that office. It got swept into some boxes I packed up and
12 just stood in some boxes in my bedroom.
13 Q Can you tell us what you did with the directory?
14 A No, I cannot. I even looked at it before coming
15 here. I can't remember what I did with it. I am assuming
16 I threw it out.
17 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
18 THE COURT: Sustained. I am assuming,
that's
19 stricken, and the jury is instructed to disregard it.
20 Do you remember what you did with it?
21 THE WITNESS: No.
22 THE COURT: All right.
23 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you about what 24 was explained to you by the Who's Who Worldwide 25 salesperson, about the CD-ROM?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3620 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 A Yes.
2 Q Do you remember that Mr. Trabulus suggested to you
3 that that CD-ROM might have been useful to you?
4 A I remember him suggesting that, yes.
5 Q Do you remember testifying that you didn't have a
6 computer at the time at home and you didn't have access to
7 a terminal at work?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Now, this CD-ROM -- let me back up a little bit, too.
10 Do you remember also testifying that a CD-ROM was
11 offered to you?
12 A Y
es.
13 Q Did that CD-ROM cost extra?
14 A Yes.
15 Q How much extra did it cost?
16 A From what I remember on the invoice I think another
17 $97.
18 Q Is that approximately a third of what you had already
19 paid for your membership?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Now, did anybody tell you that the book.
22 Let me back up a little bit.
23 At the time you decided to make this purchase, 24 did anybody tell you that the book would be useful to you 25 if you already had the CD-ROM?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3621 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 MR. DUNN: Objection.
2 THE COURT: Sustained.
3 MR. TRABULUS: Objection.
4 THE COURT: You are too late. I already
5 sustained the objection, Mr. Trabulus. Let's move a
6 little faster the next time.
7 MR. TRABULUS: I didn't hear you, your Honor.
8
Q If you had a computer would you have had any use for
9 a CD-ROM with the names of people obtained from a mailing
10 list?
11 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
12 THE COURT: Can I hear that one?
13 (Whereupon, the court reporter reads the
14 requested material.)
15 THE COURT: Sustained.
16 Q Do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you about the second
17 payment of $97 for the Registry?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And do you remember testifying that you had not known
20 when you bought the membership that you would have to pay
21 an additional $97 for the book?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you whether you 24 knew that your name was already in the book at the time 25 you were asked for this extra $97?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3622 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 A Yes, I remember him sayi
ng that.
2 Q Do you remember testifying you didn't that?
3 A That's correct.
4 Q Do you remember testifying you didn't ask about that?
5 A Correct.
6 Q Do you remember testifying that it would have made
7 you feel worse if you asked about that and found out that
8 your name was already in this book?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Why is that?
11 A Because then I would have got snookered twice, and
12 not once.
13 Q What do you mean by that?
14 A I would have been deceived twice.
15 Q How would you have been deceived?
16 A They said they needed payment before they go into
17 publication, because they are only going to add the names
18 that provided the names, the last $97, in the next
19 version. So, you know, I felt had I known my name was
20 already in there I wouldn't have forwarded the next
21 payment. I didn't forward it right away because I was
22 unhappy with the invoice. I think I got the invoice
23 around November 15th, and it was only after the phone 24 conversation sometime thereafter that I forwarded the 25 payment, which was even sometime after that; which was
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3623 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 late December.
2 Q Do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you about whether
3 you ever complained to Who's Who Worldwide or anybody
4 else?
5 A Correct.
6 Q Do you remember Mr. Jenks then asking you about when
7 you received the questionnaire from the government?
8 A Correct.
9 Q And do you remember stating that up until that time,
10 up until the time you received the questionnaire, you
11 never made a complaint?
12 A Correct.
13 Q Now, up until then, did you still believe that you
14 had been nominated?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Now, Mr. Jenks also asked you what you were expecting
17 in the book. Do you recall that?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And do you recall being asked whether you expected a
20 gold book or an 18 caret book, something of that nature?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Now, do you remember that you offered to describe to
23 us what you were expecting? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And Mr. Jenks didn't ask you to offer what you -- to
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3624 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 tell us what you were expecting?
2 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
3 THE COURT: First of all, please do not interrupt
4 the person asking the question, until the question is
5 over, sustained.
6 Q Can you tell us what you expected in the book?
7 A I thought it contained a little descriptive career
8 history and maybe some affiliations,
which I expected
9 would have been provided by the nominating member, just a
10 little more detail to kind of correlate each member's
11 industry background, maybe similar to what appeared in the
12 Tribute Magazine for the few individuals. And that it
13 would be sorted in more definitive industry markets or
14 affiliations, and most likely maybe alphabetized within
15 those assorted categories of business.
16 Q Now, do you remember being asked to look at the
17 solicitation letter and read the name of the person who
18 signed the bottom of it?
19 A The first one?
20 Q Yes.
21 A June 17th, yes.
22 Q That would be Government's Exhibit 60-H.
23 A Yes. 24 Q And do you remember reading the name on that letter? 25 A Cathy Neilson.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3625 Rotatori-redirect/Scott
1 Q
Now, are you aware of whether or not the name
2 Kathleen Neilson is a real name of a real person?
3 A No.
4 Q And finally, also looking at that letter, do you
5 remember Mr. Dunn asking you to read the words at the top,
6 that says Who's Who Worldwide is the largest Who's Who
7 organization, membership organization?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Are you aware of whether Who's Who Worldwide is the
10 only membership organization?
11 A I was.
12 MS. SCOTT: Thank you.
13 No further questions.
14 THE COURT: Anything else?
15 MR. TRABULUS: Just a bit.
16
17 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
18 BY MR. TRABULUS:
19 Q Mr. Rotatori, do you have any pictures on the walls
20 of your house?
21 A In that area, one, two.
22 Q Do you have any -- when you say in that area, you
23 mean the family room? 24 A Correct. 25 Q Is it your testimony th
at you don't regard your
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3626 Rotatori-recross/Trabulus
1 friends or guests in the house as being snookered by
2 having that plaque on the wall instead of taking it down
3 and hanging a picture there?
4 A The way the picture sits on that narrow wall, it
5 would have to be something small.
6 Q Do you regard it as -- do you think your snookering,
7 that you are snookering your friends or guests by leaving
8 the plaque on the wall, yes or no, sir?
9 A No one has as much questioned me or asked me, so I
10 don't know.
11 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions.
12 THE COURT: Anybody else?
13 (No response.)
14 THE COURT: You may step down.
15 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the
16 witness stand.)
17 THE COURT: Please call your next witness.
18 MS. SCOTT: The gov
ernment calls Nancy Young.
19 THE COURT: Do you want to remain standing and
20 raise your right hand.
21
22 N A N C Y K. Y O U N G ,
23 called as a witness, having been first 24 duly sworn, was examined and testified 25 as follows:
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3627
1
2 THE COURT: Please be seated. State your full
3 name and spell your last name.
4 THE WITNESS: My name is Nancy K. Young,
5 Y O U N G.
6 THE COURT: You may proceed.
7
8 DIRECT EXAMINATION
9 BY MS. SCOTT:
10 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Young.
11 A Good afternoon.
12 Q Can you tell us where you live?
13 A San Francisco, California, or Mill Valley to be more
14 specific.
15 Q What do you do for a living there?
16 A A manufacturer's representative. Meaning I represent
17 the manufac
turer and sell their products to the retailer.
18 Q What is the name of the company you work for?
19 A Sell West, S E L L, West.
20 Q How long have you been doing that job?
21 A Well, I have been rep'g for 18 years. I have been
22 with Sell West for four years.
23 Q Now, have you ever been contacted by a company called 24 Who's Who Worldwide? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3628 Young-direct/Scott
1 Q Did you eventually purchase a membership from that
2 company?
3 A Yes, I did.
4 Q Can you tell us approximately when you were first
5 contacted?
6 A I was contacted in the Spring of '93.
7 Q And how were you contacted?
8 A I was contacted by letter.
9 Q Can you tell us what that letter said?
10 A That letter said that I had been nominated for
11 inclusion in a volume of Who's
Who, related to
12 international business expertise worldwide.
13 Q What happened after you received this letter?
14 A After I received the letter, I received subsequent
15 phone calls.
16 MR. JENKS: Telling me more about the product,
17 why I should subscribe to it, what the benefits were, the
18 costs, and things like that.
19 Q Do you remember approximately how many of these phone
20 calls you received?
21 A I believe it was three or four. I know it wasn't
22 just one. He was pretty persistent in calling me back.
23 Q What were you told in the course of these 24 conversations about the company and the membership? 25 A What was I told?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3629 Young-direct/Scott
1 Just that it was a prestigious organization, it
2 was an honor to be nominated, laying out the fact that I
3
could use it for networking. It would, it could be a
4 volume I could be proud of. That the credit card came
5 with it, and I got a plaque, I got a book. That was about
6 it.
7 Q What was the most important thing they told you that
8 made you want to purchase the membership?
9 A The main thing for me that I wanted to purchase the
10 membership was the prestige of Who's Who. I was honored
11 to have been nominated.
12 Q And how did you hope to use the membership, if at
13 all?
14 A Well, to be honest, I think probably the ego strokes
15 of being nominated and to be able to say you were in Who's
16 Who was probably the main thing for me. I think a little
17 bit of networking would have been also a secondary
18 benefit.
19 Q How did your perception that you had been nominated
20 relate to your perception of the networking value of the
21 membership?
22 A Because I think being nominated means that you had
23 been nominated by your peers, the herd had been culled a 24 little bit. It is not just general. People who achieved 25 something in their industry or in their career.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3630 Young-direct/Scott
1 Q Did you tell anybody about this nomination?
2 A Sure.
3 Q Who did you tell?
4 A My husbands, my friends, my children.
5 Q Now, if your name was not in fact obtained by a
6 nomination of another member, but a mailing list, would it
7 have affected your decision with respect to the
8 membership?
9 A Yes.
10 Q How would it have affected it?
11 A It would have gone in the waste basket.
12 Q In what sense?
13 A It doesn't mean anything.
14 Q In what sense does it not mean anything?
15 A If -- the fact that you
are nominated, they cull the
16 herd. You are dealing with an organization that you will
17 be associated with people who achieved a certain degree of
18 something, and being in Who's Who, the assumption is that
19 it is a significant achievement.
20 Q Now, how much did you pay for your membership?
21 A I paid in dual installments, which was the agreement,
22 the first one was $197, and the second one was $97.
23 Q How did you pay for it? 24 A The first one was by Visa. The second one I paid by 25 check, I believe.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3631 Young-direct/Scott
1 Q How did you supply your credit card number to the
2 company?
3 A On the phone.
4 Q I will show you 24-D, 24-E for Identification, and go
5 through the documents one by one and tell us what they
6 are; and also 24-B as in Boy?
7 A
Any specific order?
8 Q Starts with 24-B as in Boy.
9 A 24-B, that's the second invoice I received. I
10 received the first one where they had the name of the book
11 spelled wrong that I had given them, for $197.
12 24-D is the second payment, invoice 11/12/93 for
13 $97 with the CD-ROM charge crossed off. And the third is
14 the check I wrote to go with this invoice.
15 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 24-B,
16 24-D and 24-E.
17 THE COURT: Any objection?
18 (No response.)
19 THE COURT: 24-B, 24-D and 24-E in evidence.
20 (Government's Exhibit 24-B received in evidence.)
21 (Government's Exhibit 24-D received in evidence.)
22 (Government's Exhibit 24-E received in evidence.)
23 Q I am showing you 24-F and 24-G, and ask you to tell 24 us what those are. 25 (Handed to the witness.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT R
EPORTER 3632 Young-direct/Scott
1 A Okay.
2 24-G is the memo I sent back to them in writing,
3 noting that the title of the book is Angle of Repose, not
4 Angel of Repose. And 24-F is another invoice dated
5 6/22/93.
6 MR. WHITE: I offer Government's Exhibits F --
7 24-F and 24-G.
8 THE COURT: Any objection?
9 Government's Exhibits 24-F, for Fox, 24-G, for
10 George, in evidence.
11 (Government's Exhibit 24-F received in evidence.)
12 (Government's Exhibit 24-G received in evidence.)
13 Q Just by way of explanation, can you tell us why you
14 gave them that piece of paper with the explanation of the
15 title of the book?
16 A Because they had spelled it wrong.
17 Q And was that the entry for your favorite book?
18 A Yes.
19 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish those
20 exhibits for the jury, 24-B through 24-G?
21 THE COURT: Yes.
22 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
23 to the jury.) 24 THE WITNESS: That's the first invoice I got 25 where it was spelled wrong. And then corrected on this
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3633 Young-direct/Scott
1 one.
2 THE COURT: Whatever you say, Ms. Young, we have
3 to all hear it.
4 THE WITNESS: Okay.
5 THE COURT: And it has to be taken down. So
6 there is no private conversation.
7 THE WITNESS: Sorry.
8 THE COURT: So keep your voice up, even if you
9 are talking to counsel.
10 THE WITNESS: Okay.
11 Q Did you receive a plaque, Ms. Young?
12 A I did.
13 Q Did you receive a directory?
14 A I did.
15 Q Before you received the directory, did anybody else
16 you knew receive another letter from this company?
17 A Yes. <
BR> 18 Q Who is that?
19 A My son.
20 Q And when was this?
21 A This was in mid-to late summer of '93, after I had
22 already paid the first invoice.
23 Q And how old was your son at the time? 24 A Mid-twenties. 25 Q What was he doing at the time?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3634 Young-direct/Scott
1 A Working and preparing to go to graduate school.
2 Q And where was the letter sent to?
3 A It was sent to our home address.
4 Q What did the letter say?
5 A It was virtually verbatim the same letter I had
6 gotten, that he had been nominated because of his
7 international business expertise to be included in the
8 Who's Who Worldwide volume, and, etcetera, etcetera.
9 Q What did you do when you saw this letter?
10 A I wrote them a letter back saying I was confused, and
11 I had recently beco
me a member, purchased a volume of
12 Who's Who Worldwide, and was under the assumption that the
13 term "nomination" meant something. And I was sure that
14 some day my son would be a factor in the international
15 business community, but he certainly wasn't right now, and
16 could they please explain this to me.
17 Q Did you get a response to your letter?
18 A No.
19 Q Turning your attention to the directory, when did you
20 receive the directory?
21 A I believe I received the directory, the last invoice
22 was in December, so probably December, January, I can't be
23 clear on that. 24 Q What was your reaction to the directory? 25 A It was pretty much something you put on the shelf and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3635 Young-direct/Scott
1 forgot about.
2 Q Why is that?
3 A Because you can't use
it to network. It is
4 categorized in who is a five year member and who is a
5 three year member. I don't care about that. And there is
6 over 60,000 names in the volume.
7 If I was to network with it I was to read 60,000
8 bios to see who is in my industry.
9 Q You didn't use the book for networking?
10 A No.
11 Q Were you able to find the person who nominated you?
12 A No.
13 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, Ms. Young. I have no
14 further questions.
15 THE COURT: Cross-examination.
16
17 CROSS-EXAMINATION
18 BY MR. TRABULUS:
19 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Young.
20 I take it your son did not actually pursue being
21 a member; is that correct?
22 A That is correct.
23 Q So, you have no way of knowing whether or not if he 24 had pursued being a member, if in fact he would have been 25 made a member; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3636 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 A That's correct.
2 Q And you mentioned that you had been told something
3 about a CD-ROM; is that correct?
4 A No, I didn't mention that.
5 Q You had received an invoice that contained on it a
6 charge for a CD-ROM?
7 A It was added to my second invoice, yes.
8 Q And you crossed that out; is that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And before that had you been told anything about a
11 CD-ROM?
12 A I honestly can't remember. Probably.
13 Q Do you recall that you were told something to the
14 effect that the CD-ROM was what you would be able to use
15 for networking?
16 A I can't honestly tell you that.
17 Q Do you have a -- excuse me.
18 (Mr. Trabulus confers with Ms. Scott.)
19 Q I will show you 3500-NY-1.
20 (Handed to the witness.)
21 Q Is this a questionnaire you yourself typed up and
22 mailed back to the postal inspectors?
23 A Yes. 24 Q I would like to direct your attention to your 25 response to question 23.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3637 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 A Uh-huh.
2 Q Does that refresh your recollection that you had been
3 told that the CD-ROM was to be used for networking?
4 A It refreshes my memory that there was a CD-ROM. As
5 to whether it was specifically for networking, I can't
6 testify to. I think my assumption was that the CD-ROM was
7 the same as the book.
8 Q Well in response to the following question, did you
9 type in the following answer:
10 Question: Were you told that the
11 company-sponsored seminars or conferences in which members
12 can network with each other?
13 Answer: Don't remember. I
think there was
14 supposed to be a CD-ROM available at extra cost for this
15 purpose.
16 Is that the answer you gave to that question?
17 A If I typed it out, yes.
18 Q I take it you made a decision at some point that you
19 would not avail yourself of the CD-ROM although it may be
20 used for networking; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And is that because the prime reason you joined was
23 because of the ego stroke? 24 A Yes. And also, because by then I realized what I had 25 gotten myself into.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3638 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Well, by then you had received the book; is that
2 correct?
3 A No. By then --
4 Q You had not?
5 A No.
6 Q And at that point is that when your son had received
7 the letter?
8 A My son received the letter at the end of
the summer.
9 Q Was that before you had received the book?
10 A Yes, several months.
11 Q And you don't know whether your son, if he had
12 responded to the letter he would indeed have been accepted
13 for membership?
14 A If he sent a check he would have been accepted.
15 Q You don't know that, do you?
16 A No, I don't know that.
17 Q You don't know if there were various levels of review
18 or selection that may have occurred after people sent in
19 cards or responded to solicitations, do you?
20 A Well, if there were --
21 Q Do you or do you not?
22 A I do not.
23 Q Is it not correct that when you spoke to the person 24 who you spoke to on the telephone, you were not told 25 anything about the reputation or standing of the company?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3639 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 A Could you repeat the question?
2 Q Yes.
3 Is it correct that you were not told anything
4 about the reputation for standing of the company when you
5 spoke to the person on the telephone?
6 A I assumed the reputation of the company.
7 Q That was based on your own familiarity with Who's
8 Who; is that correct?
9 A I am not even sure if familiarity is the right word.
10 My own perception of what Who's Who was.
11 Q And that was an assumption that you yourself made; is
12 that correct?
13 A That is correct.
14 Q That was nothing put in your mind by anyone you were
15 speaking to on the telephone; is that correct?
16 A Yes, that's correct.
17 Q And is it correct that at the time you filled out the
18 questionnaire which was there, you didn't think that you
19 were told that established members frequently nominated
20 new members?
21
A I didn't think that they did?
22 Q Well, do you recall in that questionnaire being asked
23 this question and giving this answer: Question, number 8: 24 Were you told that established members frequently 25 nominated potential new members?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3640 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 Answer: Don't think so.
2 Is that what you typed in in response to that
3 question?
4 A Uh-huh.
5 Q Yes?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Is that correct you were not told anything about how
8 other members of the directory had been selected for
9 inclusion?
10 A That's correct. I did not do my homework.
11 Q So, the things that you didn't know, were things you
12 didn't ask about and weren't spoken to you about; is that
13 correct?
14 A Probably correct, yes.
15 Q Is it correct that you yourself did use th
e Who's Who
16 Master Card?
17 A I received the Who's Who Master Card. I did not use
18 it.
19 Q You had it for about a year?
20 A Uh-huh.
21 Q And you received it -- it didn't just come in the
22 mail, it was something you asked for; is that correct?
23 A No, I think it was -- it just came in the mail. It 24 was offered as part of my membership package. 25 Q Did you already have another Master Card?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3641 Young-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q And that's why you didn't use it?
3 A Uh-huh.
4 THE COURT: Yes?
5 Q You have to say yes or no.
6 A Yes.
7 MR. TRABULUS: I have no further questions.
8 Thank you.
9 MR. JENKS: I have just a few, your Honor.
10
11 CROSS-EXAMINATION
12 BY MR. JENKS:
13 Q Did you -- you did fill out the
questionnaire that
14 the government had sent you, ma'am?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Do you recall being asked a question: Were you told
17 that you had been nominated for inclusion? Do you recall
18 being asked that question?
19 A Yes, I do.
20 Q Do you recall stating in that questionnaire, that the
21 answer was no?
22 A Yes.
23 Q So, no one told you that you were nominated for 24 inclusion; is that correct? 25 A It was in the letter. When I filled this out I was
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3642 Young-cross/Jenks
1 vague on a lot of things. This is five years ago.
2 Q Right. But when you filled out this questionnaire
3 back on June 26th, 1995, you had indicated that you were
4 told that -- that you were not told that you had been
5 nominated; is that correct?
6 A That's what I said in the question
naire, yes.
7 Q All right.
8 Now, do you recall being asked that question and
9 whether you were told that the company did not use mailing
10 lists; do you recall that?
11 A Would you repeat that question?
12 Q Yes.
13 Do you recall being asked in the questionnaire,
14 were you told that the company did not use mailing lists?
15 A I don't think I even asked them how they got my name.
16 Q This issue of mailing lists never came up; is that
17 right?
18 A Not that I recall.
19 Q You didn't raise it and it wasn't of concern to you;
20 is that correct?
21 A It's not --
22 Q At the time you applied for membership and accepted
23 for membership, you didn't concern -- you were not 24 concerned of your name coming from a mailing list; is that 25 correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3643 Young
-cross/Jenks
1 A No. Because I was banking on the prestige of Who's
2 Who.
3 Q Well, are you aware that there are numerous
4 publishers in the United States of Who's Who?
5 A I am now.
6 Q This word "ego stroke" that you had used in your
7 testimony, did you speak to Mr. Rotatori before you
8 testified here today?
9 A No.
10 Q Do you know who Mr. Rotatori is?
11 A No.
12 Q Is ego stroke a word the government told you to use
13 on the witness stand?
14 A No.
15 Q Did they discuss your testimony with you before you
16 testified?
17 A They discussed my knowledge of what went on, not
18 necessarily my testimony.
19 Q How long have you been here in New York?
20 A I got in late last night.
21 Q You plan on going home tonight or tomorrow?
22 A Tomorrow morning.
23 Q All right. 24 With respect to the
Who's Who Master Card, is it 25 not a fact that you had to fill out yet a separate
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3644 Young-cross/Jenks
1 application to obtain that Master Card?
2 A I honestly don't remember.
3 Q As you sit here today, you don't know?
4 A No.
5 Q Did you receive all of the items that the company had
6 promised you?
7 A As far as I remember I was promised a book, a plaque
8 and the Master Card. And I got all three.
9 Q And you received them, it is fair to say, in a timely
10 fashion?
11 A Yes, when they said I would receive it.
12 MR. JENKS: I have nothing further, Judge.
13 Thanks for coming.
14 A Thank you.
15 THE COURT: Anybody else?
16 (No response.)
17 THE COURT: Anything else?
18 MS. SCOTT: May I have a moment, your Honor?
19 THE COURT: Yes.
20 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
21 proceedings.)
22 MS. SCOTT: I have nothing further, your Honor.
23 THE COURT: You may step down. 24 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the 25 witness stand.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3645
1 THE COURT: Please call your next witness.
2 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, the government calls Sue
3 Beck, B E C K.
4 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
5 proceedings.)
6 THE COURT: Please step up, Ms. Beck.
7 Raise your right hand.
8
9 S U E B E C K ,
10 called as a witness, having been first
11 duly sworn, was examined and testified
12 as follows:
13
14 THE COURT: Please be seated. State and spell
15 last name.
16 THE WITNESS: Sue Beck, B E C K.
17
18 DIRECT EXAMINATION
19
BY MR. WHITE:
20 Q Ms. Beck, can you tell us where you live?
21 A Miller Place, New York.
22 Q Can you tell us what you do for a living?
23 A A dental assistant at this point. 24 Q How long have you been a dental assistant? 25 A 27 years.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3646 Beck-direct/White
1 Q Have you ever owned a business?
2 A Yes, I have.
3 Q What business did you own?
4 A Sea Tow, Port Jefferson, S E A, T O W.
5 Q And can you tell us what sort of business Sea Tow was
6 in?
7 A Marine towing, salvage and rescue.
8 Q More specifically, what would you do -- what would
9 the company do?
10 A I would receive calls from vessels in distress,
11 either directly from the vessel or from the Coast Guard,
12 and go out and tow in a disabled vessel, take people off
13 burning vessels, sin
king vessels, raise sunken vessels.
14 Q Is that sort of like a triple A on the sea?
15 A Exactly.
16 Q When did you have this business?
17 A 1992 through 1996.
18 Q Now, were you ever contacted by a company called
19 Who's Who Worldwide?
20 A Yes, I have.
21 Q Can you tell us when you were first contacted?
22 A Spring of 1993. I believe it was April.
23 Q Now, did you eventually purchase a membership in 24 Who's Who Worldwide? 25 A Yes, I did.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3647 Beck-direct/White
1 Q Now, when you were first contacted how was that, how
2 were you contacted?
3 A I received a letter saying I had been nominated for
4 inclusion in Who's Who Worldwide.
5 Q Was there anything enclosed within the letter?
6 A There was, as I recall, besides a letter, a postcard,
7 on card
stock for me to fill out information and return
8 it.
9 Q Ms. Beck, let me show you Exhibit 59-D for
10 Identification.
11 THE COURT: Are you going to introduce several
12 exhibits?
13 MR. WHITE: Yes, your Honor.
14 THE COURT: Put them all in at the same time,
15 will you?
16 MR. WHITE: Yes, your Honor.
17 Q I will also show you Exhibit 59-B for Baker.
18 (Handed to the witness.)
19 Q I will also show you at the same time 59-G for
20 George.
21 (Handed to the witness.)
22 Q Let's start with 59-G. What is that?
23 A This is a letter I received telling me I was 24 nominated for inclusion in the registry. 25 Q What is the date of that letter?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3648 Beck-direct/White
1 A April 11, 1994.
2 Q And what is 59-D?
3 A This is the card I filled o
ut and returned to Who's
4 Who.
5 Q And the other document that is in front of you, what
6 is that?
7 A This is a copy of the invoice that I received from
8 Who's Who Worldwide.
9 THE COURT: Is that 59-G, for George?
10 THE WITNESS: B.
11 THE COURT: B, for Baker?
12 THE WITNESS: Correct.
13 Q The government offers 59-B for Baker, G for George
14 and D for Dog?
15 THE COURT: Any objection?
16 MR. TRABULUS: No, but I would like to see G,
17 your Honor.
18 THE COURT: All right.
19 Government's Exhibit 59-B, 59-D, and 59-G, received in
20 evidence.
21 (Government's Exhibit 59-B received in evidence.)
22 (Government's Exhibit 59-D received in evidence.)
23 (Government's Exhibit 59-G received in evidence.) 24 Q After you returned the card to Who's Who Worldwide 25 what happened?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP
, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3649 Beck-direct/White
1 A I received a telephone call from Jill Barnes from
2 Who's Who Worldwide.
3 Q And can you tell us what Ms. Barnes told you in that
4 telephone conversation?
5 A She congratulated me that my nomination was accepted,
6 that not all were accepted, and explained to me about the
7 Registry.
8 Q Tell us what she explained to you about the Registry?
9 A She explained that it was very prestigious to be
10 included in it, that someone thought very highly of me to
11 have nominated me; that I would be able to use it to
12 network; I would be able to use it to contact other people
13 and build my business.
14 Q Did she indicate what your chances of acceptance
15 were?
16 A She told me that the -- that not all nominees were
17 accepted. That's what I remember.
18 Q And did she tell you an
ything about what benefits a
19 membership might offer you?
20 A As I mentioned, networking with other professionals,
21 other people who were in the Registry. There was various,
22 because of the huge amount of people involved, as to
23 whether she called it buying power or discounts. There 24 was a credit card, as I recall. 25 Q Now, did you agree to make a purchase?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3650 Beck-direct/White
1 A Yes, I did.
2 Q What was the length of the purchase -- of the
3 membership that you purchased?
4 A There were two different programs. I believe it was
5 a five year, rather than a lifetime membership, or a
6 longer membership. There was perhaps a 5-year membership,
7 that I would pay in two installments.
8 Q Now, can you tell us, what was the most important --
9 of what you were told in
that telephone conversation, what
10 was the most important thing in influencing you to
11 purchase a membership?
12 MR. LEE: Objection to the form.
13 THE COURT: Well, let's lay a foundation by
14 saying, was there an important consideration, or were
15 there several important considerations.
16 MR. WHITE: Okay.
17 Q Can you tell us, what, if anything, played a role in
18 your decision to purchase a membership?
19 A There were a number of things.
20 First of all, it is an ego thing. I felt that at
21 that point I had pulled people off of burning boats, and
22 etcetera, etcetera, and someone nominated me recognizing
23 the work I was doing. That was one reason. 24 I had also seen a Newsday article of a woman, she 25 was a captain, as I am. She also was a pilot, not an
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3651 Beck-direc
t/White
1 airline pilot. She guides ships into ports. And she --
2 at the end of this little blurb about her, she also said
3 that she is registered with Who's Who. What Who's Who, I
4 don't know. Since then I had discovered that there are
5 others. So then I felt that it was a valid type thing.
6 I also was very interested in building my
7 business. It was a new business, and I was interested in
8 building my business, and anything I could do to do that,
9 I would do.
10 Q Now, if your name had in fact been obtained from a
11 mailing list, rather than by nomination, would that have
12 affected your decision to purchase a membership?
13 A Yes, it would have.
14 Q In what way?
15 A I would have not have purchased it.
16 I first understood actually that there was no
17 charge to be listed. And then all of a sudden there was a
18 $500 charge, or wh
atever it was.
19 Q Let's go back.
20 A Okay.
21 Q From what did you first believe that there was no
22 charge for inclusion?
23 A That's what it said in the original literature, that 24 there was no cost to be included. 25 Q When were you told that there would be a cost
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3652 Beck-direct/White
1 involved?
2 A During my conversation with Jill Barnes.
3 Q Now, I interrupted you before.
4 Can you explain how it is in your mind that a
5 selection from a mailing list is different from a
6 nomination?
7 A Well, a nomination is from someone specific, that is
8 either impressed or feels that you have made a major
9 contribution to society, to people in distress, whatever.
10 A mailing list -- I use mailing lists in my
11 business for all registered boat owners that liv
e in
12 certain parameters, several local towns around Port
13 Jefferson. So I use mailing lists, and I would
14 indiscriminately send letters to certain people on the
15 mailing list. And that is not a nomination.
16 Q The mailing listings you used, were they broken down
17 by segments in any way?
18 A Broken down by zip code. They were broken down by
19 size of the vessel. And that was -- I believe the list
20 originated from the New York State Department of Motor
21 Vehicles from boat registrations, meaning those are the
22 boats I wanted to target, because they were motorized
23 vessels, and not little row boats and that sort of thing. 24 Q Once you obtained the mailing lists, what would you 25 do with it?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3653 Beck-direct/White
1 A I would then put it into my computer and generate
2 postcards, some sort of sales, burden of proofs, in order
3 to get a membership, because Sea Tow has memberships, much
4 as triple A has memberships to the boating and the driving
5 public.
6 Q And what literature, if any, would you send to
7 customers?
8 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor, relevancy.
9 THE COURT: Sustained.
10 Q How did your own personal business experience with
11 mailing list affect your opinion that you would not want
12 to be a member in Who's Who Worldwide if you came from a
13 list?
14 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
15 THE COURT: Did it affect your view of mailing
16 lists vis a vis nominations, your own experience?
17 THE WITNESS: Well, I was told this was a
18 nomination, so I wasn't even thinking along the lines of
19 my name having been gotten from a mailing list.
20 MR. WHITE: I will move on to something else.
21 Q Take a look at 59-B. How much did you pay for your
22 membership?
23 A $290 plus tax, and shipping charges, and then it was 24 $322.24. 25 Q How did you pay for that?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3654 Beck-direct/White
1 A With a credit card.
2 Q Now, after you received -- after you purchased the
3 membership, did you receive anything else besides the
4 invoice?
5 A I received the plaque.
6 Q Now, did you eventually receive a Who's Who
7 directory?
8 A No.
9 Q What happened in the interim?
10 A Approximately a month later I wrote a letter to Who's
11 Who saying that I wished to cancel my membership.
12 Q Now, between the time that you purchased the
13 membership, and the time you wrote that letter, did you
14 make any attempt to determine if someone had nominated
15 yo
u?
16 A Not specifically for that purpose. I had asked Jill
17 Barnes, who had nominated me. And I was told that that
18 information could not be disclosed, but it was someone who
19 respected my contributions to -- to whatever. I don't
20 remember her words.
21 What I had done is just in talking about Who's
22 Who, in fact, I think when the plaque came I then, you
23 know, spoke to a few people about it; and I became aware 24 that -- 25 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3655 Beck-direct/White
1 THE COURT: Sustained. Don't tell us what these
2 people told you.
3 Q Did you ever learn of anyone else that you knew
4 receiving letters from Who's Who Worldwide?
5 MR. SCHOER: Objection.
6 THE COURT: Sustained.
7 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, this is the problem we
8 discusse
d this morning.
9 THE COURT: The problem is going to be resolved.
10 I am sustaining the objection. That's the end of the
11 problem.
12 Next case -- I mean next question.
13 Q Without telling us what these other people said, tell
14 us why you asked for a refund?
15 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
16 THE COURT: You are objecting? Why she asked for
17 a refund? You are objecting to that?
18 MR. DUNN: Can I approach?
19 THE COURT: No, not to approach.
20 You are objecting?
21 MR. DUNN: Yes, your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Overruled.
23 By did you ask for a refund. 24 THE WITNESS: I didn't feel I derived any benefit 25 and I did not feel I was nominated.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3656 Beck-direct/White
1 MR. WHITE: I don't know if I am treading in
2 dangerous territory.
3 Q W
hy did you feel that you had not been nominated?
4 MR. LEE: Objection.
5 MR. DUNN: Objection.
6 THE COURT: Is this because of what somebody else
7 told you, Ms. Beck?
8 THE WITNESS: Yes.
9 THE COURT: Okay.
10 Sustained.
11 Q Now, after you had asked for a refund, tell us what
12 had happened?
13 A I believe I received a letter stating that there
14 would be no refund because my name had been published
15 already.
16 Q Now, did you make any further attempt to secure a
17 refund?
18 A Yes, I did.
19 Q What did you do?
20 A I sent a letter explaining my feelings to the credit
21 card company and asked them to help me get a refund.
22 Q Was that successful?
23 A No, it wasn't. 24 Q Did you make any further complaints regarding your 25 experience with Who's Who Worldwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM O
FFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3657 Beck-direct/White
1 MR. LEE: Objection, your Honor.
2 THE COURT: Overruled.
3 A Yes, I did.
4 Q What did you do?
5 A I wrote to the Better Business Bureau of Long Island.
6 Q Did you ever receive a refund?
7 A No, I did not.
8 Q Prior to the time that you asked for a refund, did
9 you see yourself any other Who's Who Worldwide letters?
10 A I don't believe so.
11 Q In addition to the one you got, did you see any
12 addressed to anybody else?
13 MR. JENKS: Objection.
14 MR. SCHOER: Objection.
15 THE COURT: Can I hear the question, please?
16 (Whereupon, the court reporter reads the
17 requested material.)
18 THE COURT: Any letters addressed to Who's Who
19 Worldwide?
20 MR. WHITE: Addressed from Who's Who to other
21 people, not her.
22 THE COURT: Overruled.
2
3 See any letters? 24 THE WITNESS: Yes. 25 Q To whom were the letters addressed?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3658 Beck-direct/White
1 MR. JENKS: Objection.
2 THE COURT: Do you have the letters?
3 MR. WHITE: No. They are described in Ms. Beck's
4 letter.
5 THE COURT: You don't have the letter?
6 MR. WHITE: The letter she is referring to?
7 THE COURT: The letter you are asking her about,
8 some letters from Who's Who Worldwide.
9 MR. WHITE: No.
10 THE COURT: Sustained.
11 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I gather you are ruling
12 out any further argument on this?
13 THE COURT: Yes.
14 MR. WHITE: That's clear now.
15 THE COURT: Now I gave one such ruling against
16 the defense, and now against the prosecution, and it is
17 now even. We start from scratch now.
18 That's not why I did
it, of course.
19 Q Let me show you Government's Exhibit 59-E as in
20 Edward.
21 (Handed to the witness.)
22 Q Now, can you tell us when you complained to the
23 Better Business Bureau? 24 A Can you repeat the question? 25 Q When did you complain to the Better Business Bureau?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3659 Beck-direct/White
1 A March 24th, 1995. It was prior to that. This is
2 their letter, maybe January. I don't recall exactly. But
3 it was probably early 1995.
4 Q All right.
5 I will give you back 59-F, like in Frank.
6 (Handed to the witness.)
7 Q When did you initially ask for the refunds from Who's
8 Who Worldwide?
9 A August 15th, 1994.
10 Q You said before one of the reasons you asked for a
11 refund is because you didn't think the membership was of
12 any value to yo
u?
13 A That's correct.
14 Q What did you mean?
15 A I had derived no value from it. There was no
16 networking. I had not received a directory. There was
17 really nothing that I had received for my 320 odd dollars.
18 Q Now, in addition to the pink invoice, which is in
19 front of you, had you received another invoice from the
20 company?
21 A Yes, I did.
22 Q Okay.
23 How much was that for? 24 A As I recall about $125. 25 Q And do you recall approximately when you received
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3660 Beck-direct/White
1 that?
2 A Probably in November of '94, because I believed that
3 it was due in December of '94.
4 Q And do you recollect what that invoice was for?
5 A That was for the balance of the split billing for the
6 five-year membership.
7 Q And did you p
ay that one?
8 A No, I did not.
9 Q Why not?
10 A Because I had already asked for my refund for the
11 original amount. And I wasn't going to pay any more money
12 for something that I didn't want.
13 Q The second invoice, the second payment, had the
14 existence of that been disclosed to you in the first
15 conversation?
16 A Yes, it had.
17 MR. WHITE: No further questions.
18 THE COURT: Cross-examination.
19 MR. WHITE: One second, your Honor, I am sorry.
20 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
21 proceedings.)
22 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I have no further
23 questions. 24 THE COURT: Cross-examination. 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3661 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. TRABULUS:
3 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Beck.
4 A Good afterno
on.
5 Q At the time that you first purchased a membership, it
6 was disclosed to you that there would be a second payment
7 down the road; is that correct?
8 A Correct.
9 Q And it was disclosed to you that that payment would
10 be required in connection with the release of the
11 directory; is that correct?
12 A I don't recall that.
13 Q Do you remember it was explained to you that the
14 final billing would be connected to the directory, you
15 wouldn't be charged for that portion until the directory
16 was ready to be released?
17 A I don't recall that.
18 Q Do you recall being told that the directory itself
19 was not to be released until sometime in the future?
20 A After it was published, yes.
21 Q You understood at the time you ordered it that it was
22 not going to be published until sometime in the future; is
23 that correct?
24 A The one to be published with my name in it, of 25 course.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3662 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 Q You say your membership never proved to be of any
2 value to you in networking; is that correct?
3 A Correct.
4 Q Of course, you yourself not having paid the balance
5 of the split billing never received the directory; is that
6 correct?
7 A That is correct.
8 Q Do you, as you sit here know whether or not your name
9 was actually included in the directory?
10 A No, I do not. I was told that it was and that's why
11 they would not refund my money.
12 MR. TRABULUS: Excuse me.
13 THE COURT: Yes.
14 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
15 proceedings.)
16 Q I will show you what is marked as Exhibit P in
17 evidence, Defendant's Exhibit P.
18 Directing
your attention to page 201, to a
19 directory, Captain Sue Beck.
20 A Okay.
21 Q Would you take a look at the information listed under
22 that title.
23 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 24 proceedings.) 25 Q Have you done so, Ms. Beck?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3663 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes, I have.
2 Q And is that an accurate set of information concerning
3 yourself at the time?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And was that information which you gave in response
6 to the interview that you received by telephone?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Now, you indicated that you were spoken to on the
9 phone about nomination; is that correct?
10 A Correct.
11 Q Is it correct that the letter you received, 59-G,
12 itself does not make a mention of nomination? The word
13 "nomination" does not a
ppear?
14 A No. The word "submissions" is used.
15 Q You testified that you had assumed when you saw the
16 Newsday article about the other tow operator, who
17 indicated she was registered in Who's Who that that led
18 you to assume that it was the Who's Who, and that only
19 subsequently you learned that there was only one Who's
20 Who; do you recall that?
21 A Yes. She was not another tow operator. She was a
22 captain with a female's license, a captain -- a pilot with
23 a tow operator's license. She was on the West Coast. 24 THE COURT: Please don't call a pilot, a captain 25 with a tow operator license.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3664 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 A pilot is a very skilled operation; is that
2 correct?
3 THE WITNESS: That's correct.
4 THE COURT: They maneuver huge ships into small
5
places, small spaces.
6 THE WITNESS: Also correct.
7 THE COURT: The ship not within their own power.
8 THE WITNESS: They are operating the vessel
9 rather than the operator of the larger ship.
10 THE COURT: They would take a ship like the Queen
11 Elizabeth and get it into a narrow berth.
12 THE WITNESS: Yes, they must know the -- write a
13 chart, and know the area specifically.
14 THE COURT: They have to know driftings and tides
15 and all kinds of things?
16 THE WITNESS: They do.
17 Q Now, Ms. Beck, I think you indicated it was not until
18 sometime later after you had become a member that you
19 realized there were multiple Who's Whos; is that your
20 testimony?
21 A Yes.
22 Q If you take a look at Exhibit 59-G, would you please
23 read the very last words appearing there. Read it outloud 24 to the jury. 25 A Who's Who Worldwid
e is not affiliated with any other
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3665 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 Who's Who publication other than our own.
2 Q When you got this letter did you read those words?
3 A I don't recall. But I was under the impression that
4 there was only one.
5 Q Would the fact that those words were included on this
6 letter suggest to you now as you sit there that there
7 might be multiple Who's Whos?
8 A Yes, it would.
9 Q Indeed, this would be a disclaimer of any other
10 affiliation with any other Who's Who. Would it not?
11 A Any specific one, yes.
12 Q Now, you mentioned that you were told initially that
13 there would be no cost or obligation to be listed; is that
14 correct?
15 A Yes, correct, uh-huh.
16 Q The fact that you -- as you sit there today, do you
17 know whether or not it w
as absolutely necessary to pay to
18 be listed?
19 A I was told it was at the time. Otherwise I certainly
20 wouldn't have offered.
21 Q Were you told that it was necessary to pay in order
22 to get a copy of the directory as opposed to being listed?
23 A No, I was told there was -- it was called a 24 membership fee. 25 Q Were you told you had to be a member to be listed?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3666 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q On the letter, 59-G, there is a footnote which says
3 PS. Would you read the first sentence of that.
4 A There is no cost or obligations for qualified
5 individuals to be listed in the Who's Who Registry,
6 subject to space limitations.
7 Q Now, when you spoke to the person who spoke to you on
8 the telephone, did you question that person concerning
9 that sentence
?
10 A I don't recall that I did.
11 Q Were you told that even if you didn't pay, you could
12 be listed, although there was no assurance you would be
13 listed, and it depended on the amount of available space?
14 Were you told anything like that?
15 A No.
16 Q I think you said that you misunderstood or --
17 withdrawn.
18 That you regarded a possible membership as a
19 value to you to network?
20 A Yes.
21 Q I believe you said you were never able to network; is
22 that correct?
23 A That's correct. 24 Q Of course, you never received the directory, because 25 you never paid for it?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3667 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 A That's correct. But many others would have, and they
2 could have contacted me.
3 Q Is it your understanding for networking that you sit
4 back and wait for other people to contact you, or do you
5 regard it as something that is proactive, that you have to
6 go out and do in order to develop business?
7 A It would work both ways.
8 Q In fact, when you yourself had your mailing to
9 other -- to boat owners in the Port Jefferson area, that
10 was in a sense networking; is that correct?
11 A I don't know. I don't think I would consider that
12 networking.
13 Q Did you regard those as potential customers?
14 A Yes, I did.
15 Q And, indeed, you were essentially proposing to them
16 that they enter into some kind of relationship with your
17 business; was that not correct?
18 A That's correct.
19 Q Indeed, you were effectively selling them what
20 amounted to memberships in an arrangement with your
21 business; is that correct?
22 A Yes, that's correct, in exchange for services.
23 Q And that's something you did rather than waiting for 24 them to come to you; is that correct? 25 A That is correct.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3668 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Now, with regard to the letter, the letter itself
2 mentioned the possibility of a CD-ROM; is that correct?
3 A I recall -- yes, it does.
4 Q And it said that the CD-ROM provides an excellent
5 source for business networking; is that correct?
6 A It does, it does.
7 Q At the time you received this letter, were you
8 familiar with what a CD-ROM does?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Were you aware that a CD-ROM might be more flexible
11 than a book, because a book has to be organized in a
12 certain way, where did you say a CD-ROM you can kind of
13 search it and cross cut the information in any one of a
14 number of ways?
15 A Certainly eas
y to use if you have a computer.
16 Q For example, you can find all the people in a certain
17 geographic area using a CD-ROM?
18 A That's correct.
19 Q You can find all the people in a certain industry
20 using a CD-ROM?
21 A Also correct.
22 Q You were asked something about your hobbies, were you
23 not, when you became a member? 24 A Yes. 25 Q For example, you would be able to, in using a CD-ROM,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3669 Beck-cross/Trabulus
1 you would be able to find people whose hobbies were
2 boating, if that was listed there, could you not?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And you might be able to find people in other marine
5 or maritime businesses or industries?
6 A Depending how the CD-ROM was set up.
7 Q If the CD-ROM was set up to indicate the zip code of
8 certain members, you could plug
in the zip code and search
9 members within that particular area; is that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q You determined not to obtain the CD-ROM; is that
12 correct?
13 A By that time I was no longer interested in
14 membership.
15 Q By the time you first received the letter, which is
16 dated April 11th, 1994, at that time you were obviously
17 interested in membership; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And you did not obviously pursue the CD-ROM at that
20 point in time; is that correct?
21 A No. At the time I didn't have a CD-ROM in my
22 computer.
23 MR. TRABULUS: I have no further questions. 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3670 Beck-cross/Schoer
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. SCHOER:
3 Q Captain Beck, good afternoon.
4 A Good afternoon.
5 Q Could you look
at Exhibit 59-D, as in Dog. That's
6 the card. Do you have it in front of you?
7 A Yes, I have.
8 Q And that's the card you sent back; is that correct?
9 A That's correct.
10 Q Anywhere on that card, does it mention the word
11 "nomination"?
12 A No, it doesn't.
13 Q There came a time that you wrote a letter asking for
14 a refund in August of 1994; is that correct?
15 A That's correct.
16 Q And that was approximately four months after you had
17 joined the membership of Who's Who Worldwide?
18 A Approximately. That's when I wrote the letter. I
19 had previously called Who's Who Worldwide to get my
20 refunds.
21 Q When you wrote that letter, did you use the word
22 "nomination" at all in that letter?
23 A No. 24 Q You are complaining about the fact that someone had 25 indicated to you that you were nominated, but you didn't
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3671 Beck-cross/Schoer
1 believe you were nominated; is that right?
2 A Sorry. Repeat that.
3 Q I will withdraw the question.
4 Nowhere in the letter did you use the word
5 "nomination"; is that correct?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q You were complaining about your acceptance into Who's
8 Who Worldwide; is that right?
9 A That's the way I happened to have worded it. But I
10 was told I was nominated. And I got another -- I had even
11 gotten a nomination ballot to nominate other people.
12 Q In the letter you wrote you didn't use the word
13 "nomination," right?
14 A Not in this particular letter.
15 Q In any of the letters?
16 A I don't believe that's true.
17 Q Isn't it a fact the first time you heard the word
18 "nomination" and that's became an issue in your mind is
19 when you were contacted by the government?
20 A No, that's not true.
21 Q You didn't put it in your letter?
22 A I didn't word it that way, but the word "nomination"
23 had been used on numerous occasions with Who's Who 24 Worldwide, both with Jill Barnes, and a nomination ballot 25 that I could nominate up to two persons every year that I
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3672 Beck-cross/Schoer
1 felt would benefit from being included.
2 Q Did you use that benefit?
3 A No, I didn't, because at that point I felt taken.
4 Q Did you use any benefits?
5 A No, because I didn't want to be included.
6 Q Between the time of April and August, did you receive
7 a Tribute Magazine?
8 A I don't recall that I did.
9 Q Did you ever receive any Tribute Magazines?
10 A Not to my knowledge.
11 Q When you spoke
to Ms. Barnes on the phone did she
12 tell you about any benefits and privileges of being a
13 member of this organization?
14 A I am sure she did.
15 Q Did she tell you there was a Master Card available?
16 A Yes, she did.
17 Q Did you take advantage of that?
18 A No, I didn't.
19 Q Did she tell you that there were discounts for
20 Airborne Express?
21 A I believe she did, or I remember it from some
22 literature I received.
23 Q Did you take advantage of that? 24 A No. Because I don't use Airborne. 25 Q Did she tell you that there was discounted telephone
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3673 Beck-cross/Schoer
1 available for your business?
2 A From Sprint or something, I don't remember, but there
3 was some kind of long distance carrier.
4 Q Did you take advantage of that?
5 A No.
Because I receive that stuff all the time from
6 all the credit cards I had.
7 Q There were benefits provided to you, but you didn't
8 take care of it for three months before you complained; is
9 that correct?
10 A No.
11 MR. SCHOER: Nothing else.
12 THE COURT: Anything else?
13
14 CROSS-EXAMINATION
15 BY MR. LEE:
16 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Beck.
17 A Good afternoon.
18 THE COURT: Excuse me for a minute.
19 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
20 proceedings.)
21 THE COURT: You may proceed.
22 MR. LEE: Thank you, Judge.
23 Q The name of your company was Sea Tow; is that 24 correct? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3674 Beck-cross/Lee
1 Q How long have you been in business?
2 A I formed the corporation at the end of 1991, and I
3 was in business until July of 1996, I believe.
4 Q And was the business financial successful?
5 A It was holding its own. I consider that successful
6 for a new business.
7 Q What was the reason that you stopped doing this?
8 A Because I had a full-time job that I didn't wish to
9 give up. I was hiring captains to cover the vessel, the
10 tow rescue vessels when I was not available. It was a
11 twenty-four hour seven day a week commitment for basically
12 12 months, although the winter was slow. I still had
13 salvages with sunken boats. There was really no life.
14 Any time you wished to do something with your family your
15 pager would go off and you had to run out into the Sound
16 with bad sea conditions and respond to distress and
17 signals.
18 Q Did the decision that you had to give up the business
19 because it wasn't turning out enough profit?
20 A
No. Because I did not expect to replace my regular
21 job. It was certainly profitable to some degree, not a
22 great degree. But that really is not what I was looking
23 for. 24 Q At the time of 1994, Captain Beck, were you aware 25 that the membership in Who's Who Worldwide approximated
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3675 Beck-cross/Lee
1 approximately 60,000 individuals?
2 A I think I recall a number like that, yes.
3 Q So, you were aware of just how many people were
4 members; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Am I correct that you serviced -- your company
7 serviced both leisure -- I don't know much --
8 A Recreational vessels.
9 Q Both leisure and commercial?
10 A Yes.
11 Q What did you call it, ma'am, I apologize for my lack
12 of knowledge.
13 A Recreational vessels.
14 Q Vesse
ls, yes, that you serviced both recreational and
15 business vessels; is that correct?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And would I be correct that based on your experience,
18 in terms of ownership of recreation vehicles, the people
19 who owned those type of vehicles would tend to be people
20 with a high amount of should I say discretionary or higher
21 amounts of income?
22 A Not necessarily, no.
23 Q Would it turn out to be that people who own yachts or 24 higher vessels would be on the higher ends of 25 discretioning spending?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3676 Beck-cross/Lee
1 A It would be true of vessels less than 35 feet. Built
2 of fiberglass. There are plenty of vessels 35 feet in
3 length that you can buy or someone would give it to you if
4 you patch a few holes and put it in the water.
5 Q In terms of the servi
ces that you provided, were they
6 mostly for larger vessels?
7 A No, they really weren't.
8 Q For all different sizes?
9 A I would say the majority of vessels that I serviced,
10 other than emergency situations where I just happened to
11 be closer and could respond quicker than the Coast Guard
12 were trailerable boats, probably in the 18 to 25 foot
13 range.
14 Q How much would a vessel like that cost?
15 A There is --
16 Q Roughly so the jury could have an idea?
17 A It could be anywhere from $100 to $25,000, $30,000.
18 Q Now, during the course of your conducting the
19 business, did you spend money for advertising?
20 A Yes, I did.
21 Q And was that an expensive proposition for your
22 business?
23 A Not really on the level I was advertising, because 24 most of the my advertising was the boat, which was bright 25 yellow with b
lack Sea Tow written all over it. People
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3677 Beck-cross/Lee
1 hearing other vessels calling for help on the radio. And,
2 therefore, they would hear, and that was my advertising,
3 and just keeping the boat moving constantly. That was my
4 billboarding. I didn't spend -- I didn't really spend any
5 money on newspapers and that sort of thing.
6 Q Did the thought occur to you if the budget would
7 allow that you would spend more money on advertising?
8 A If the budget would allow, yes.
9 Q And that's one of the factors that determined what
10 your expenditures on advertising was, what your budget
11 would allow; is that right?
12 A Of course.
13 Q Again, I plead ignorance, I don't know much about
14 your area of expertise, but would it be a fair statement
15 by me that you worked very har
d to attain your unique area
16 of expertise; is that correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And would I be correct that very few people, male or
19 female attain your level of expertise; is that correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And even more so a female attaining that level is
22 extremely unique and extraordinary; is that correct?
23 A There are many female captains, but certainly in the 24 tow industry, there are only a few. 25 Q Like you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3678 Beck-cross/Lee
1 A Yes.
2 Q Before coming here to testify did you have
3 discussions with representatives of the government?
4 A Yes, I spoke to them several times.
5 Q Did they discuss with you just exactly why you were
6 here?
7 A I am sorry, I don't understand your question.
8 Q Did they discuss with you what your purpose was of
9 being here, while you were here?
10 A Here in court?
11 Q Yes. Why you were called.
12 A Yes.
13 Q You described to them your experiences with Who's Who
14 Worldwide what happened; is that right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q You told them beforehand.
17 Did they tell you that there was a magazine that
18 had been put out by Who's Who, called Who's Who Tribute?
19 A No.
20 Q You never saw this before?
21 A Not to my recollection.
22 Q I guess it is safe to assume that one of the reasons
23 you never saw this is because the government never showed 24 you, and also, you never saw one because you never paid an 25 additional membership for the Registry?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3679 Beck-cross/Lee
1 A It cost $500 to get a magazine?
2 Q I am asking you if you ever saw it?
3 A No, I didn't.
4 Q And the government never showed it to you?
5 A No, I have not.
6 Q I would like you to look at one here. This is
7 Defendant's Exhibit Gordon-C.
8 (Handed to the witness.)
9 Q Do you see that, ma'am?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And I believe it says volume four, 1994?
12 A Yes, it does.
13 Q And do you see on the -- in the table of contents
14 there is an area called member profiles?
15 A Yes, there is.
16 Q And I will just turn randomly to one, do you want to
17 pick one? Or I will just pick the first one, okay?
18 Now, do you see that that is what is called a
19 member profile?
20 A Yes, it is.
21 Q And does it appear to you to be a very detailed
22 expose on a particular individual, in this case a
23 Mr. Bruce Flohr, F L O H R? 24 A Yes, it appears to be that. 25 Q And did the government tell you that as a member of
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3680 Beck-cross/Lee
1 Who's Who there might have been a possibility that you, in
2 your unique position, could have been recommended to be
3 profiled in Who's Who Tribute?
4 A No.
5 Q They never told you that?
6 A They did not.
7 Q I am asking you, if you look at that profile, right?
8 Would it be fair to say that you, someone extremely unique
9 in your position, if you had been able to be profiled in
10 Tribute Magazine, would that have been something of
11 extreme value to you in your business at Sea Tow, that you
12 could get something like that that 60,000 people could
13 read?
14 A It would be an ego thing. I don't know if it would
15 help my business. It would be an ego thing. New York
16 Times did an article on me. That was definitely
17 impressive on me. I enjoyed read
ing it.
18 Q You derived both ego and other benefits from the New
19 York Times doing that proposal?
20 A I got a couple of marriage proposals actually.
21 Q I can understand that, ma'am. You are really
22 charming. But at this point I am just saying, Who's Who
23 may not have the circulation, it is only 60,000, it 24 doesn't have the millions of New York Times, but it may 25 have had some value to you if you were profiled in Who's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3681 Beck-cross/Lee
1 Who Tribute, correct?
2 A I guess I may have gotten a few telephone calls. It
3 wouldn't have gotten me any members, I don't believe.
4 MR. LEE: Thank you.
5
6 CROSS-EXAMINATION
7 BY MR. DUNN:
8 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Beck.
9 A Good afternoon.
10 Q Ms. Beck, would it surprise you to learn that a Leroy
11
Cadiz, C A D I Z, who was the vice president of Sea Tow
12 Services Pacific, Inc., and whose parent corporation is
13 Sea Tow International is a member of Who's Who Worldwide?
14 Would that surprise you? Yes or no?
15 A I guess yes.
16 Q Sea Tow International was your parent company of
17 Sea Tow; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Just like Sea Tow International is the parent company
20 of Sea Tow Services Pacific; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And is it fair to say that it was your goal in
23 becoming a member of Who's Who Worldwide to contact 24 members and network? 25 A Not contact members, learn more about business,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3682 Beck-cross/Dunn
1 business tactics and increasing your business.
2 Q So, it was your goal then to get a view on some
3 successful people and conta
ct them on how they were
4 successful and possibly learn from their experience in
5 order for you to become successful, yes?
6 A With a similar type of organization, if that existed,
7 yes.
8 Q And you didn't receive the Registry, correct?
9 A No, I did not.
10 Q Because of the fact that you didn't want to pay the
11 second fee; is that right?
12 A I don't know that. I don't know why I didn't receive
13 it. But I didn't know that the prerequisite was to pay
14 the full $500, or whatever it was, to receive the
15 Registry.
16 Q Now, you said -- is it fair to say that when you had
17 Sea Tow, when you were operating, that you used mailing
18 lists? Yes or no?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Did you also use different types of mailing lists?
21 A I don't know what you mean.
22 Q Did you just use a standard mailing list? Or were
23 you looking for parti
cular people to target? 24 A Boat owners. 25 Q So, you made a specific request to some mailing list
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3683 Beck-cross/Dunn
1 company for a mailing list with boat owners; is that
2 correct?
3 A I actually shared a list with someone else, but it
4 was of boat owners, yes.
5 Q Did you use that mailing list?
6 A Yes.
7 Q When you contacted those people, what was your goal?
8 If they had a problem with one of their boats, and had
9 trouble, to contact Sea Tow?
10 A To become a member, like insurance, or if they broke
11 down, to call me.
12 Q Did you let them know how you got their name? Did
13 you tell them it was from a mailing list, Ms. Beck?
14 A No.
15 MR. DUNN: No further questions.
16
17 CROSS-EXAMINATION
18 BY MR. NEVILLE:
19 Q Hi, C
aptain Beck. I am Jim Neville.
20 A Hi, Jim.
21 Q That mailing list you shared with someone else that
22 you testified about, did you pay for that list?
23 A We shared the cost. 24 Q So, you both bought it? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3684 Beck-cross/Neville
1 Q Now, when you -- you called the -- the conversations
2 over the telephone you had was with someone by the name of
3 Jill Barnes?
4 A That's correct.
5 Q How do you remember that?
6 A Because I wrote a letter to her. I had some notes on
7 my desk on my calendar pad, which I never change the
8 months, and Jill Barnes, I had written on there. So it
9 has been in front of my face for several years.
10 Q Do you know if you ever spoke to anybody else at
11 Who's Who Worldwide when you called?
12 A I am sure I had, because I us
ed to get solicitation
13 calls for I guess benefits, other benefits after I had
14 asked for a refund, and I am sure that they weren't from
15 Jill Barnes.
16 Q Now, Jill Barnes was the woman you spoke to and
17 explained, and who gave you the pitch to see if you would
18 buy this membership; is that correct?
19 A Correct.
20 Q And she was a salesperson at Who's Who Worldwide?
21 A I don't know, it would certainly seem that way.
22 Q And do you know if she was reading from a script or
23 from a pitch when she was talking to you? 24 A It didn't sound that way. 25 Q Do you think that maybe she strayed from that pitch
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3685 Beck-cross/Neville
1 and said things she wasn't supposed to?
2 A I don't know. Because it didn't seem like she was
3 reading the pitch.
4 Q And her nam
e is Jill Barnes?
5 A That's correct.
6 Q Do you know what Jill Barnes looks like?
7 A I never saw her.
8 Q You never met her?
9 A No.
10 MR. NEVILLE: No further questions.
11 THE COURT: Members of the jury, we will take a
12 15 minute recess. I have to take a telephone conference.
13 Please do not discuss the case, and keep an open
14 mind.
15 Please recess yourself.
16 (Whereupon, at this time the jury leaves the
17 courtroom.)
18 MR. WHITE: Can we come back a little early from
19 the break, I have another evidentiary matter to discuss,
20 or now?
21 THE COURT: You can step down.
22 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I don't intend to
23 reargue -- 24 THE COURT: I have not had a chance to look at 25 the cases you gave me. But it would be my view that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 36
86 Beck-cross/Neville
1 notwithstanding those cases in this case, to have the
2 customers write letters saying how they are dissatisfied
3 and their subjective feeling about the matter, in addition
4 to what they testify would be bolstering, would be not
5 relevant, and even though intent is very much a part of
6 this case, you will have to prove it without those kind of
7 letters.
8 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I started to say, it
9 wasn't my intent to reargue.
10 THE COURT: All right.
11 MR. WHITE: What I was going to say is I think
12 though what has happened between the direct and now has
13 changed matters. Namely, Mr. Schoer specifically
14 cross-examined this witness about what her basis for
15 asking for a refund was. In fact, he asked her to look at
16 this very same letter and pointed out she didn't mention
17 the word "nominated" in there. He i
s exploiting the
18 Court's ruling. Now we can't bring out, unless we are
19 allowed to do that now, why she was complaining. So it
20 makes her look like some sort of a flake that she was
21 complaining for no reason.
22 THE COURT: It doesn't seem that way to me. Does
23 it to you? She was the most credible witness, one of the 24 most credible I heard in this trial. 25 MR. WHITE: I am glad to hear that, your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3687 Beck-cross/Neville
1 THE COURT: So, I don't know where you get the
2 view that she was destroyed on cross-examination.
3 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I don't think she was
4 destroyed.
5 THE COURT: Only Mr. Neville had the temerity to
6 even approach her, as a matter of fact.
7 I am only kidding about that, of course.
8 MR. WHITE: It seems to me to leave a distorted
9 picture. He can cite the letter and what is not in it,
10 and we can't bring out what is in it?
11 MR. SCHOER: If you look at the record, Mr. White
12 quoted from that letter and said in argument to your
13 Honor, that the letter said she was dissatisfied with
14 nominations. That's the only reason I brought it out. He
15 said it himself. He is testifying.
16 THE COURT: It is a great view from here, when we
17 look at trial lawyers and see the microscopic blinder
18 syndrome vision they have. Everything is a major
19 catastrophe to them, and not to me. I see the whole
20 picture. I don't fault you for that, because I was
21 exactly the same way when I tried cases. Much to do about
22 nothing.
23 Anything else? 24 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor. 25 THE COURT: All right.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3688 Beck
-cross/Neville
1 MR. WHITE: I think it is all the more reason why
2 it should be let in. But that's okay.
3 THE COURT: You have stated it for the record and
4 it is clear for the record.
5
6 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.)
7
8 (The following takes place in the absence of the
9 jury.)
10 THE COURT: I didn't ask you about tugs getting a
11 250 ton battle ship into the berth?
12 THE WITNESS: That's tough.
13 THE COURT: With the pilot on the battleship
14 controlling it?
15 THE WITNESS: It is that's why they need tugs.
16 THE CLERK: Jury entering.
17 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
18 courtroom.)
19 THE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
20 jury.
21 You may proceed.
22 Anything else, Mr. White?
23 MR. WHITE: Yes, your Honor. 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR
, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3689 Beck-redirect/White
1 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. WHITE:
3 Q Ms. Beck, you never got the directory, right?
4 A No, I didn't.
5 Q Did anyone ever -- any other Who's Who member contact
6 you and say to you that they had seen in you the
7 directory?
8 A No.
9 Q Did anyone contact you at all in connection with the
10 Who's Who directory?
11 Let me back up.
12 Did any member ever contact you in any way,
13 saying they had seen you in the Who's Who directory?
14 A No.
15 Q Now, you were offered the opportunity to purchase the
16 CD-ROM; is that right?
17 A Yes, I believe so.
18 Q And was that an extra cost over and above what you
19 had paid?
20 A I really don't know, because as I said before, I
21 didn't have a CD-ROM drive at the time, so I had no
22 interest
in it.
23 Q Well, was it your expectation that you would receive 24 it as part of what you paid for? 25 A I don't recall.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3690 Beck-redirect/White
1 Q Now, you recall you were shown the letter that you
2 first received from Who's Who Worldwide?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You said that your name had been submitted to them.
5 Do you recall that?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And you mentioned earlier in your testimony that you
8 had been told that you were nominated?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Who told you that you were nominated?
11 A Jill Barnes.
12 Q Was that in the telephone conversation?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And you were asked about a lot of the benefits that
15 came with membership; do you recall that?
16 A I was asked about them?
17 Q You were asked today about those benefits.
1
8 A Yes.
19 Q The Master Card, telephone and Airborne Express. Do
20 you remember all those?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Even including all those benefits, if your name had
23 been taken from a mailing list, would you have been 24 interested in purchasing a membership? 25 A No, I would not.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3691 Beck-redirect/White
1 Q If your name had been taken from a mailing list, is
2 that something you would have wanted to know in making
3 your decision whether or not the purchase a membership?
4 A Absolutely.
5 Q Now, Mr. Dunn asked you before the break how your own
6 business had used mailing lists; is that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Mr. Dunn asked you when you solicited people to be
9 members of your group, you told them that -- he asked you
10 whether or not you told them you had gotten their na
mes
11 from mailing lists?
12 A Yes, he did.
13 Q Your answer was what?
14 A No, I had not.
15 Q On any of those occasions had you told the people
16 that they were nominated?
17 A No, I had not.
18 MR. DUNN: Objection.
19 THE COURT: Overruled.
20 Q What was your answer?
21 A I had not.
22 Q Why not?
23 A They hadn't been nominated. I was actually asking 24 them to become a member for services in return. 25 MR. WHITE: No further questions.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3692 Beck-redirect/White
1 THE COURT: Anything else?
2 MR. TRABULUS: Yes, your Honor. Very briefly.
3 Your Honor, if I can say for the record, that
4 Defendant's Exhibit S for the record has been placed in
5 the CD-ROM drive of this computer.
6
7 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
8 BY MR. TRABUL
US:
9 Q Ms. Beck, I asked you before whether or not there was
10 an entry in the book that I showed you for you, and I
11 think you indicated yes.
12 A Yes.
13 Q Take a look at what is on the screen and can you tell
14 the ladies and gentlemen what you see there?
15 A The same listing on the computer screen.
16 Q An entry for you which you had been given when you
17 were spoken to by Jill Barnes?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Ms. Beck, if you placed an ad in Newsday and asked
20 for a refund after the ad had been already run, would you
21 ask for a refund?
22 A Only if it was misworded.
23 MR. TRABULUS: Nothing else. 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3693 Beck-redirect/White
1 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. WHITE:
3 Q Did you ask for a refund here because you felt
4 som
ething had been misrepresented to you?
5 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Sustained.
7 MR. WHITE: No further questions.
8 THE COURT: You may step down.
9 Please call your next witness.
10 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, we are going to play a
11 couple of tapes next.
12 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the
13 witness stand.)
14 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, I would request to
15 approach. I have a request for a limiting instruction
16 concerning this particular tape that is about to be
17 played.
18 THE COURT: All right, come on up.
19
20 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
21 at the sidebar.)
22 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, I would request an
23 instruction that this tape is admissible only as against 24 the defendant Osman. This tape was made at a time when 25 Mr. Osman was not employed by Who's Who Wo
rldwide.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3694
1 Further --
2 THE COURT: It was made at the office of Who's
3 Who Worldwide?
4 MR. TRABULUS: No, it was not. This tape was
5 made by a confidential informant, Steve West, who was
6 posing as someone to work for a Who's Who business that he
7 himself was setting up.
8 THE COURT: Another business?
9 MR. TRABULUS: Another Who's Who business he was
10 setting up himself. I am not sure exactly how he obtained
11 an interview with Mr. Osman. But apparently at that time
12 Mr. Osman quit Who's Who Worldwide, went to this
13 interview.
14 THE COURT: This was an in-person interview?
15 MR. TRABULUS: Correct.
16 THE COURT: How long after he left the employ of
17 Who's Who did this take place?
18 MR. NELSON: Approximately two months, your
19 Honor
.
20 MR. TRABULUS: Further, your Honor, I would like
21 to note at this point that down the road if your Honor
22 does determine that there is prima facie evidence of a
23 conspiracy, I would submit that even at that point this 24 tape should only be admissible as against Mr. Osman, 25 because this tape was not made in furtherance of any
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3695
1 conspiracy. It was not made by Mr. Osman to further the
2 objectives of any conspiracy. It was made with the hope
3 of obtaining employment.
4 THE COURT: I don't know what the tape says.
5 Maybe the government has no objection to that limiting
6 instruction.
7 MR. WHITE: We have no objection to it at this
8 point. I think down the line we may have some argument as
9 to whether it is in furtherance of the conspiracy. At
10 this point no.<
BR> 11 THE COURT: Very well.
12 MR. NELSON: I would ask for a specific limiting
13 instruction at this point that this tape was not made at
14 Who's Who Worldwide. It was made at a time when Mr. Osman
15 was not an employee of Who's Who Worldwide.
16 THE COURT: Sure.
17 MR. WHITE: One thing else so it is clear.
18 Yesterday Mr. Trabulus had some requests for redactions,
19 we made it on the transcripts. When we play it, I will
20 stop the tape, have the jury take off their headphones
21 while we advance it and then play the tape.
22 MS. SCOTT: In addition there is a change on
23 page 4 which should be announced. 24 MR. WHITE: There was a request and there was a 25 change handwritten in on their transcripts.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3696
1 THE COURT: You will say that?
2 MR. WHITE: Yes.
3<
BR> 4 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
5 place in open court.)
6 THE COURT: Members of the jury, you will recall
7 way back when, when I gave you preliminary instructions, I
8 told you that there is certain proof adduced for a
9 specific purpose. Now I am going to give you a limiting
10 instruction. And I have given you those instructions from
11 time to time, that certain proof is only against a
12 defendant and not against other defendants, and so forth.
13 This proof is only against the defendant Oral
14 Frank Osman only. And I advise you that this recording is
15 taken at a time after Mr. Osman left the employ of Who's
16 Who Worldwide Registry, Inc., and was no longer employed.
17 I think it was one or two months afterward.
18 So, it is only against the defendant Oral Frank
19 Osman.
20 Did you want to say something else?
21 MR. WHITE: Y
es, your Honor. This is
22 Exhibit 1379. The transcript is 1379 in the jury's book.
23 There is a handwritten change to the transcript 24 on page 4, which is noted in the jury's books, and there 25 is also a portion later on in the tape where the parties
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3697
1 have removed irrelevant material. So when we reach that
2 point I will stop the tape and the jury can take off their
3 headsets and I will advance it to the relevant part
4 again.
5 MR. NELSON: Your Honor, just for purposes of the
6 record, that redacted portion is on page 6 of the
7 transcript. And at the conclusion of the redacted portion
8 there is some laughter, and that laughter is in relation
9 to the redacted portion of the transcript, and not the
10 portion of the transcript that precedes it.
11 THE COURT: Very well.
12 Let's proceed.
13 (Tape is begun.)
14 MR. NELSON: Excuse me, I have an objection at
15 the moment.
16 The tape is playing at a speed faster than the
17 actual speed. We adjusted it earlier. Apparently it sped
18 up again. And if we can adjust it again to be able to
19 listen to the tape.
20 MR. WHITE: You want me to go back to the
21 beginning?
22 (Mr. Nelson confers with Mr. White.)
23 MR. NELSON: Thank you, your Honor. 24 MR. WHITE: It is back at the beginning now. 25 THE COURT: Very well.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3698
1 (Tape is played.)
2 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, this is the point where I
3 have to fast forward.
4 THE COURT: Would everyone please take the
5 headphones off.
6 (Tape is past forwarded.)
7 MR. WHITE: We can resume.
8 THE COURT: What pa
ge are you on?
9 MR. WHITE: Still on page 6.
10 THE COURT: The bottom of the page?
11 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor, after ha, ha, ha.
12 THE COURT: Okay.
13 (Whereupon the tape is continued.)
14 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, we have another tape now,
15 but I believe there is one matter we need to straighten
16 out before we play it.
17 THE COURT: Very well.
18 MR. TRABULUS: May we have the date in accordance
19 with the stipulation, the read of the tape played read
20 into the record, 1379?
21 MR. WHITE: January 20th, 1993.
22 THE COURT: All right.
23 Come up. 24 25 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3699
1 at the sidebar.)
2 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, this was the issue. The
3 next tape we intend to play is Exhibit 1359. That's the
4 tape where an informant calls in, speaks to an individual
5 who identifies himself as Martin Graham, G R A H A M.
6 The informant calling in is then put on the phone
7 with the defendant Mr. Osman. The issue arises because --
8 THE COURT: What is the date of this?
9 MR. WHITE: December 16th, 1994.
10 THE COURT: This is after Mr. Osman returns to
11 Who's Who?
12 MR. NELSON: That's correct.
13 MR. WHITE: Correct.
14 The issue arises that at the time this incoming
15 phone call is made to Who's Who, Mr. Graham, unbeknownst
16 to the cooperator who was calling in, was also a
17 cooperator. Therefore what is said here really shouldn't
18 be imputed to the corporation. I included that
19 introductory portion of the transcript in case the defense
20 attorneys may want to examine the caller, Mr. West, when
21 he comes in and testifies.
22 So, the case i
s queued up to where Mr. Martin
23 gets on the phone. 24 Shall I tell the jury to call in to the portion 25 where the tape begins?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3700
1 MR. NELSON: Objection. It is not Mr. West on
2 the recording. It is another cooperator by the name of
3 Eric Ihlenfeld, I H L E N F E L D.
4 THE COURT: You want the entire transcript?
5 MR. WHITE: Yes.
6 THE COURT: Put the entire transcript in.
7 MR. WHITE: At this point we will just play the
8 part with Frank Martin.
9 MR. NELSON: I will ask the entire transcript and
10 the recording be played.
11 The position of the defense is, your Honor, that
12 an informant is speaking to another informant. The
13 informant working in the company realizes during the
14 course of the conversation that he is speaking to another
15 informa
nt, while not necessarily the person who is calling
16 in. He is speaking to an informant. And then they put on
17 another person to in essence set him up. So I ask the
18 entire tape be played.
19 MR. WHITE: All right.
20 THE COURT: Fine.
21
22 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
23 place in open court.) 24 THE COURT: Before you do that, what number are 25 we on?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3701
1 MR. WHITE: 1359.
2 THE COURT: 1359.
3 MR. WHITE: We are ready to play the tape now.
4 THE COURT: Very well.
5 (Tape is played.)
6 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, the next one is
7 Exhibit 1350, which was recorded March 6th, 1995.
8 (Tape is played.)
9 THE COURT: We are going to recess now until 9:30
10 tomorrow morning.
11 Again, I admonish you not to discuss the cas
e.
12 Do not look up anything about the case. Just enjoy your
13 evening off. Keep an open mind. Come to no conclusions.
14 I understand that one of the jurors has to leave
15 by 5:00 o'clock tomorrow. We are going to make it at
16 4:45, so he can definitely get out of here on time.
17 I told you that we will be working on Friday from
18 1:30 to 5:30.
19 You do know that there is a holiday sometime. It
20 is Monday the 15th of February. I am advised that it is
21 President's Day, it used to be Washington's birthday,
22 Lincoln's birthday, and now it is combined. So Monday we
23 will not be working. We will have Saturday, Sunday and 24 Monday off. 25 We will recess now until 9:30 tomorrow morning.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3702
1 Have a nice evening.
2 (Whereupon, at this time the jury leaves the
3 courtroom.)
4 THE COURT: What is happening tomorrow,
5 Mr. White? Are we getting any nearer the conclusion of
6 the government's case? If we are, I think I better
7 request requests to charge somewhere along the line.
8 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, we have been working on
9 the requests to charge. We will have ours either the next
10 couple of days or the beginning of next week.
11 THE COURT: All right.
12 MR. WHITE: As to tomorrow, we expect James
13 Spencer, Debra Benjamin, and some more tapes. That will
14 cover the day.
15 In terms of your question about how much longer,
16 I think it depends in large part on the length of the
17 cross-examination of the remaining customers. I see so
18 far it is getting shorten than what it was initially.
19 THE COURT: That usually happens, Mr. White.
20 MR. WHITE: Right.
21 I am thinking that we will go certainly
into next
22 week. We may end the following week. So that may make it
23 about six weeks from when we started presenting our 24 evidence. 25 THE COURT: What week is this?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3703
1 MR. JENKS: Five.
2 MR. WHITE: This is five, next week is six. We
3 will be going somewhere into week seven.
4 (Case on trial adjourned until 9:30 o'clock a.m.,
5 Wednesday, February 11, 1998.)
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3704
1 I-N-D-E-X
2 W-I-T-N-E-S-S-E-S 3 PAGE LINE R E I D R O T A T O R I..................... 3518 18 4 DIRECT EXAMIN
ATION............................... 3519 5 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3539 1 5 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3559 13 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3582 11 6 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3588 15 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3594 19 7 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3605 2 REDIRECT EXAMINATION............................. 3609 13 8 N A N C Y K. Y O U N G.................... 3626 22 9 DIRECT EXAMINATION............................... 3627 8 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3635 17 10 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3641 11
11 S U E B E C K ............................. 3645 9 DIRECT EXAMINATION............................... 3645 18 12 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3661 1 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3670 1 13 CROSS-EXAMINATION.................
............... 3673 14 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3681 6 14 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 3683 17 REDIRECT EXAMINATION............................. 3689 1 15 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3692 7 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION..................... 3693 1 16 E-X-H-I-B-I-T-S 17 Government's Exhibit 60-H received in evidence... 3524 8 18 Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence... 3527 24 Government's Exhibit 60-B received in evidence... 3533 19 19 Government's Exhibit 60-D received in evidence... 3537 10 Government's Exhibit 60-E received in evidence... 3537 11 20 Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence... 3537 12 Government's Exhibit 24-B received in evidence... 3631 20 21 Government's Exhibit 24-D received in evidence... 3631 21 Government's Exhibit 24-E received in evidence... 3631 22 22 Government's Exhibit 24-F received in evidence... 3632 11 Government's Exh
ibit 24-G received in evidence... 3632 12 23 Government's Exhibit 59-B received in evidence... 3648 21 Government's Exhibit 59-D received in evidence... 3648 22 24 Government's Exhibit 59-G received in evidence... 3648 23 25 Defendant's Exhibit V received in evidence....... 3554 22 Defendant's Exhibit W received in evidence....... 3561 18
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
