1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 3 CIVIL UNLIMITED JURISDICTION 4 5 MYDRA MCGARR, ) ) 6 Plaintiff, ) ) 7 v. ) No. CGC-08-478204 ) 8 TENDERLOIN HOUSING CLINIC, ) INC., CHANEL SAMUEL, and DOES ) 9 1 to 25, inclusive, ) ) 10 Defendants. ) _____________________________ ) 11 12 13 14 15 16 DEPOSITION OF 17 JESUS LOPEZ 18 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 19 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2009 20 21 ATKINSON-BAKER, INC. COURT REPORTERS 22 (800) 288-3376 www.depo.com 23 24 REPORTED BY: PATRICIA E. SEGOVIA, CSR NO. 8416 25 FILE NO.: A30113C 0001 1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 3 CIVIL UNLIMITED JURISDICTION 4 5 MYDRA MCGARR, ) ) 6 Plaintiff, ) ) 7 v. ) No. CGC-08-478204 ) 8 TENDERLOIN HOUSING CLINIC, ) INC., CHANEL SAMUEL, and DOES ) 9 1 to 25, inclusive, ) ) 10 Defendants. ) _____________________________ ) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Deposition of JESUS LOPEZ, taken on behalf of 18 Plaintiff, at the Law Offices of WILLIAM E. WEISS, 130 19 Sutter Street, 7th Floor, San Francisco, California 20 95008, commencing at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, February 12, 21 2009, before PATRICIA E. SEGOVIA, CSR NO. 8416. 22 23 24 25 0002 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 FOR THE PLAINTIFF: 3 LAW OFFICES OF WILLIAM E. WEISS By: WILLIAM E. WEISS 4 130 Sutter Street 7th Floor 5 San Francisco, California 94104 (415)362-6765 6 7 FOR THE DEFENDANTS: 8 KENNICK & ASSOCIATES By: JOHN ELLIS 9 110 E. Wilshire Avenue Suite 401 10 Fullerton, California 92832 (714) 992-6600 11 12 ALSO PRESENT: AMY SPIERING. 13 MYDRA McGARR. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0003 1 I N D E X 2 WITNESS: JESUS LOPEZ 3 EXAMINATION PAGE 4 MR. WILLIAM E. WEISS 6 5 EXHIBITS: 6 No. Item Page 7 A Incident Report - Hartland Hotel dated 8 5/29/08 45 9 B Incident Report - Hartland Hotel dated 10 5/29/08 49 11 C E-mail string with top one dated 5/29/08 54 12 D Subpoena 93 13 E Injury and Illness Investigation Form 106 14 F Hartland Hotel Final Written Violation 15 Notice 108 16 G Eviction Request 109 17 H Nuisance Eviction Request 109 18 I Notice of Belief of Abandonment 137 19 J Tenant Move-Out Form 138 20 K E-mail string with top one dated 6/17/08 141 21 L E-mail dated 6/17/08 143 22 M Tenderloin Housing Clinic Record of Verbal 23 Counseling dated 5/25/07 154 24 N Tenderloin Housing Clinic Record of Verbal 25 Counseling dated 11/8/06 155 0004 1 QUESTIONS WITNESS INSTRUCTED NOT TO ANSWER: 2 Was your discuss with Randy Shaw, did it concern 3 this lawsuit that Mydra has or did it concern the 4 criminal? 102 5 INFORMATION TO BE SUPPLIED: 6 (None.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0005 1 JESUS LOPEZ, 2 having first been duly sworn, was 3 examined and testified as follows: 4 EXAMINATION BY MR. WILLIAM E. WEISS 5 BY MR. WEISS: 6 Q. Please state your name and address for the 7 record, please. 8 A. Jesus Lopez. 9 MR. ELLIS: And, again, can I hold off on the 10 address? 11 MR. WEISS: So we will have the same deal, 12 right, that you will produce him for anything in the 13 future without the need for subpoena? 14 MR. ELLIS: Yes. 15 THE WITNESS: This is my home address you 16 need? 17 MR. ELLIS: Work address. 18 THE WITNESS: That would be 909 Geary. 19 BY MR. WEISS: 20 Q. San Francisco? 21 A. San Francisco, California 94109. 22 Q. Okay. Mr. Lopez, my name is Bill Weiss. We 23 just met. I represent Mydra McGarr, who is here today. 24 We are going to ask you questions about the operations 25 of the THC, the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and facts 0006 1 about the assault -- I'm sorry, the alleged assault and 2 anything relating to my client, Chanel Samuel, and so 3 on. But before I get into that, let me ask you some 4 preliminary questions. Have you ever had your 5 deposition taken before? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Well, you are under oath. It's just like the 8 oath that you took when you were in court testifying. 9 So even though we are sitting here dressed informally in 10 my office, the oath you took to testify is just the same 11 one you take if you were in court. Do you understand 12 that? 13 A. I understand. 14 Q. Okay. And you are doing well so far. You 15 have to answer out loud so the court reporter can take 16 down your words. She can't really take down nods of 17 your head or phrases or expressions like "uh-uh" or 18 "uh-huh" or gestures with your hands. So when you 19 answer a question, just answer it out loud so she can 20 get something to put down in the transcript. 21 Everything that you say today, and everyone 22 here in fact, will be put in the transcript. Later on 23 you can read that transcript. You can make any changes 24 that you want. But if you do make changes, you should 25 know that we will probably comment on those later in the 0007 1 case, why you said one thing now and something else 2 later or changed it. Sometimes it happens, you forget 3 something. But try to give it your best shot. 4 The other thing is, you don't have to guess or 5 speculate. In this case, I'll ask you questions that 6 might involve dates or times. You may not remember 7 every date or time. So if you don't, you can just tell 8 us that this is an estimate or it's around this time or 9 approximately this time or that time and so on, the same 10 goes even if it were for heights or distances or 11 anything. We might get into the descriptions of the 12 hotel itself, so you can always tell us it's an estimate 13 and that's okay. 14 If you need to take a break for any reason, 15 just let me know and I'll be glad to do it. 16 If I ask you a question that doesn't make 17 sense to you, you should let me know. Every time you 18 answer a question, we just assume you understood what we 19 were asking. So if it doesn't make sense, just tell me 20 and I'll change the question in such a way that you can 21 understand it and you can give us an answer. Okay? 22 A. Okay. 23 Q. Did you review any sort of documents 24 whatsoever to prepare for today? 25 A. Just what I talked about with my lawyer. 0008 1 Q. I can't can ask about that. So aside from 2 discussing this with your lawyer, you didn't review any 3 documents? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Did anyone read any documents to you? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Before today, what conversation did you have 8 with Colleen about her deposition? 9 A. None. 10 Q. Did you have any conversations with Colleen 11 whatsoever concerning your deposition? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Did you have any discussions whatsoever with 14 James Holland about your deposition? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you have any discussions with anyone at 17 the THC -- I'll just use that instead of Tenderloin 18 Housing Clinic -- about your deposition? 19 A. No. 20 Q. And is today a workday for you normally? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Did you have to tell someone you weren't going 23 to be at work today? 24 A. My supervisor. 25 Q. Who is that? 0009 1 A. Colleen Carrigan. 2 Q. Okay. When did you tell her this? 3 A. She actually informed me. 4 Q. Okay. When did she tell you? 5 A. Via e-mail. I don't remember the exact date, 6 but she sent it to me via e-mail. 7 Q. Sometime in the last couple of weeks do you 8 think? 9 A. I would say sometime last week. 10 Q. What did the e-mail say? 11 A. Just informed me of the lawyer's name and the 12 time and dates I needed to be here. 13 Q. Okay. Did the e-mail say anything about what 14 you were going to be asked? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you reply to her by e-mail? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Did you call her about her e-mail? 19 A. Yes, I spoke to her. 20 Q. And what was your conversation? 21 A. Just to confirm the time and dates. 22 Q. You didn't ask like what are they going to ask 23 me or why are they doing this? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Okay. Do you know who James Kang is? 0010 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Who is he? 3 A. He is a desk clerk at the Hartland Hotel. 4 Q. When did you last talk to him about this case? 5 A. When I told him he was going to have to be 6 interviewed for a deposition. 7 Q. When do you think that was? 8 A. Monday. 9 Q. What date? This last Monday? 10 A. This Monday, which I believe is the 9th. 11 Q. And what did you tell him? 12 A. Just to let him know our lawyer's name and he 13 would be interviewing him. 14 Q. How did you know that we were going -- that 15 Mr. Kang had to be in contact with Mr. Ellis? 16 A. By my lawyer. 17 Q. Oh, I see. In other words, without getting 18 into conversation, you were asked to arrange that? 19 A. Correct. 20 Q. Can you give me a short summary of your 21 educational background? 22 A. I went to high school here in San Francisco, 23 didn't graduate from the high school I went to, but I 24 went to City College John Adams Campus and got my high 25 school diploma there. 0011 1 Q. Was that a GED? 2 A. High school diploma. 3 Q. When did you get that? 4 A. I believe -- I am not sure on the actual date, 5 but I would say about four years ago. 6 Q. How old are you now? 7 A. Twenty-six. 8 Q. Where did you start going to high school? 9 A. Thurgood Marshal High School. 10 Q. Is that over in the Excelsior, I forget? 11 A. Actually, no. It's near -- I don't know what 12 the district is called, but it's off Bayshore Street. 13 Q. Okay. I think I know where it is. So how 14 long have you lived in San Francisco? 15 A. Born and raised here. 16 Q. So 26 years? 17 A. Twenty-six years. 18 Q. All right. Now, after you got your high 19 school diploma, would you please give me just a short 20 summary of your work history, the places that you 21 worked, what you did? 22 A. I did about, I would say, after high school 23 about a good three, maybe four years of construction 24 type work. And then I was laid off for about a year. 25 That's when I went and got my high school diploma. At 0012 1 that point, I got a desk clerk position in the 2 Tenderloins. And from that position, I got promoted to 3 assistant manager and then I transferred over to the 4 Tenderloin Housing Clinic, as an assistant manager, and 5 went from assistant manager to general manager and so 6 on. 7 Q. I didn't hear exactly where you started 8 working as a desk clerk; it was not the THC? 9 A. No. That was Mosser Companies Property 10 Management. M-O-S-S-E-R. 11 Q. And when did you start working for the THC? 12 A. May 22nd will be my anniversary, so that would 13 be three years, so three years ago. 14 Q. Now, have you worked at various properties the 15 THC runs or just one? 16 A. Various properties. 17 Q. Which ones have you worked at? 18 A. All Star Hotel, Boyd Hotel, Jefferson Hotel, 19 and the Hartland Hotel. 20 Q. What training did you get -- you started out 21 at the THC as a desk clerk? 22 A. Assistant manager. 23 Q. What training did you receive to be assistant 24 manager at the THC? 25 A. I've gone through fair housing training; 0013 1 deescalation training; how to be a better supervisor; 2 time management training. That I can remember, that's 3 about it right now. 4 Q. What was the deescalation training? 5 A. What was it? 6 Q. Describe that, please, yes. 7 A. Basically just when encountering a hostile 8 situation or escalated situation, how to calm tenants 9 down, how to not to raise your voice, how to position 10 your body, posture, just to -- not to seem to be the 11 aggressor. 12 Q. So you wouldn't seem confrontational? 13 A. Exactly. 14 Q. And this deescalation training, was it a day 15 or two days, a couple of hours or what was it? 16 A. A day. 17 Q. Do you remember who led that training? 18 A. I don't remember. 19 Q. Was it someone that worked for the THC or an 20 outside company? 21 A. An outside company. 22 Q. Did you receive that training soon after you 23 started? 24 A. Somewhere through the course of the three 25 years, I don't remember exactly when. 0014 1 Q. Did you get any training in dealing with 2 people who are using drugs? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Were you ever given any classes to recognize 5 the signs of drug use? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Have you ever countered any tenants at the THC 8 that were using drugs? 9 A. Encountered in what way? 10 Q. Just seen them when they were under the 11 influence. 12 A. I've seen tenants under the influence, but 13 that's it. 14 Q. When you saw tenants under the influence, can 15 you describe what you observed? 16 A. I mean, the clear obvious one is probably 17 inebriated, alcohol. As far as actual drug related, I 18 can't for certain say they are on them, because I can't 19 determine whether or not they are on some kind of drug. 20 But the most clear one is actually alcohol, you can 21 smell it, slurred language. That's about it. 22 Q. Okay. As a general manager, have you ever 23 encountered tenants who were using drugs in their units? 24 A. Not physically seen them. 25 Q. Did you learn of tenants doing drugs in their 0015 1 units? 2 A. You can only assume. 3 Q. Could you explain that a little bit further? 4 A. You know, the Tenderloin -- there is a lot of 5 drug use in the Tenderloin. As to say that I've 6 actually physically seen someone? I can't say that. I 7 have seen drug paraphernalia in their room, such as 8 pipes, sliders, things like that. 9 Q. What's a "slider"? 10 A. A lighter? 11 Q. Oh, a lighter? I thought you said slider. 12 A. Lighter. 13 Q. How about syringes? 14 A. We have one of those syringe disposals in the 15 trash can so it's pretty common to find them on the 16 floor. They can be used for numerous things. We have 17 tenants who are on methadone and things like that. 18 Q. How do you know they are on methadone? 19 A. Some of them disclose that to us. 20 Q. Now, this receptacle to collect syringes, 21 where is that stationed? 22 A. Right outside the trash room doors on every 23 floor. 24 Q. Let's confine it to the Hartland for right 25 now. Where would the syringe receptacle be placed at 0016 1 the Hartland? 2 A. In front of the trash room door. 3 Q. Forgive me, I haven't been in there. Where 4 would that be, the trash room door? 5 A. In the hallway. 6 Q. Would that be on each floor? 7 A. Each floor. 8 Q. And you say you also find syringes on the 9 floor? 10 A. Occasionally. 11 Q. How do you get rid of those? 12 A. Obviously, staff is instructed to put on 13 gloves, make sure they're puncture proof, and dispose it 14 in the needle dispenser. 15 Q. And some questions I ask you today might seem 16 really obvious to answer, but because I can't put the 17 answers on the record, I have to ask it anyway. I'm 18 sure you are super cautious in disposing a syringe. 19 Does the THC give you any training in disposal 20 of syringes? 21 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague as to training. 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. You can answer. 24 A. As far as training in the sense of going to 25 class, I wouldn't say so, but we pretty much instruct 0017 1 them on how to do certain things. 2 Q. For example, suppose you yourself come to the 3 receptacle for syringes and find one on the floor, did 4 anyone train you how to properly dispose of them? Go 5 get it gloves, do this or do that, whatever? 6 A. Yes, as far as someone instructing me how to 7 do it, yes. 8 Q. Who would that have been? 9 A. That would have been somewhere at the 10 beginning stages of my property management when I was a 11 desk clerk so that would be whoever was my supervisor at 12 that time. 13 Q. Have you ever instructed people on how to 14 dispose of syringes that might be found on the floor? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And you relied on the training that you had to 17 instruct someone else? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. How was it that you saw drug paraphernalia in 20 a tenant's unit? 21 A. Upon entry. 22 Q. For whatever reason if you had to enter you 23 would see it? 24 A. Uh-huh. 25 Q. Yes? 0018 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Let's say you went into a tenant's unit and 3 saw that there was a pipe for smoking crystal meth, what 4 are you supposed to do as a manager? 5 A. If I were to report it, I would probably be 6 reporting it to the case manager that I saw some drug 7 paraphernalia in the room. But they do have the 8 confidentiality where if I'm in the room, I'm not there 9 to -- for whatever reason I am there for, it's for that 10 reason, it's not to be looking around in the room to see 11 what they have there. 12 Q. You are not to serve as a policeman, in other 13 words? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. Generally speaking, let's say you entered a 16 tenant's unit for legitimate reason and you saw a pipe 17 that was used to smoke crystal meth and you even saw the 18 drug, your first action would be just to report that to 19 the case manager for the tenant? 20 A. Unless I was in there for a bad behavior 21 reason, then I would. But if I was in there for maybe, 22 for example, for a maintenance issue, then I wouldn't 23 report it. 24 Q. What would be a typical bad behavior action? 25 A. If you hear someone in the room just being 0019 1 very destructive, like throwing things around or 2 breaking or ripping the walls or something like that, 3 then it would be very obvious that there is a behavior 4 issue there, then I would report that to the case 5 manager. I would say: Hey, the tenant was doing such 6 and such thing, I seen drug paraphernalia, see who you 7 can outreach to get him some help. 8 Q. To your knowledge, has a tenant ever been 9 evicted for using illegal drugs in their unit? 10 A. I haven't participated in that. 11 Q. Are you aware whether any tenants have ever 12 been evicted for drug use? 13 A. Not that I know of. 14 Q. Okay. And does the THC have a policy 15 concerning the employee's use of drugs? 16 A. Employee's use of drugs? 17 Q. Yes. 18 A. Yes. Zero tolerance. 19 Q. I'm sorry, one thing I forgot to tell you. We 20 can only speak one at a time so the court reporter can 21 take it down. So I'll try not to interrupt you and then 22 you'll have to let me finish my question. And I 23 interrupted you, so I apologize. So let me ask it 24 again. 25 When I'm talking about drugs, I am talking 0020 1 about illegal drugs, heroin, crack, meth, marijuana, not 2 like prescription medication. So what is the THC's 3 policy about the employee's use of illegal drugs? 4 A. They are not to use it. 5 Q. And I think before when I interrupted you you 6 were saying it's zero tolerance? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. When you say zero tolerance, what do you mean? 9 A. If on duty and it's discovered they are on 10 some kind of influence, then what I would do is report 11 that to my supervisor and recommend to send him home. 12 Q. Have you ever done that? 13 A. Not for drug use. 14 Q. Have you ever sent anyone home for any other 15 reason? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Tell me the reasons. 18 A. Disrespecting the supervisor. 19 Q. Okay. Anything else? 20 A. That's it. 21 Q. This policy about employees -- strike that. 22 The zero tolerance for employees using illegal 23 drugs, how did you learn about that policy? 24 A. The employee handbook. 25 Q. And were you asked to sign off on the employee 0021 1 handbook indicating that you were aware of that policy 2 among others? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And are the new hires at the THC made through 5 an HR office, human resource office? 6 A. I don't understand the question. 7 Q. If someone were to apply for a job at the THC 8 for any of the properties, does that person go to a 9 specific hotel and ask to apply or do they go to a 10 business office? 11 A. They go to the human resources department. 12 Q. And if they are hired, then they are assigned 13 to one property or another? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. Have you ever had to train any employees about 16 the THC's employment policies? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Where is that training done? 19 A. Orientation. 20 Q. So every new employee, as far as you know, is 21 told they are not allowed to use drugs on the job? 22 A. Correct. 23 Q. Okay. Now, I know from taking Colleen's 24 deposition the other day, she said that the THC has, 25 what they call, a harm reduction policy instead of an 0022 1 abstinence policy regarding drugs. Have you heard about 2 that? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. For example, that's why you said if you notice 5 drug paraphernalia, you refer that person to the 6 counselor -- 7 A. Case manager. 8 Q. -- case manager. Right? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And that would be so the person could get help 11 rather than punished? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. Does the THC have any similar program 14 regarding employees? For example, if an employee were 15 found to be using crystal meth or under the influence of 16 that, you mentioned you would send the employee home. 17 Correct? 18 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague. Incomplete 19 hypothetical. 20 BY MR. WEISS: 21 Q. You can answer. 22 A. I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question? 23 Q. Let's put it this way. If you discovered an 24 employee was on crystal meth, what would your action be 25 as a manager? 0023 1 A. Document it and report it to my supervisor. 2 Q. And in that instance, what would happen to the 3 employee, do you know? 4 A. If it's been clearly determined that he is on 5 some kind of drug paraphernalia, then I would recommend 6 for him to be sent home. And if we can clearly 7 determine that that's the case, then it would be more 8 than likely that he will be sent home. 9 Q. When you say "sent home," do you mean just 10 suspended for the day? 11 A. Until further notice. 12 Q. Does the Tenderloin Housing Clinic have a harm 13 reduction policy for employees using drugs? 14 A. I believe so. 15 Q. What makes you say that? 16 A. I haven't had to deal with anybody on-site on 17 drugs so I am not too familiar with that policy. 18 Q. Is there anything in your training that makes 19 you say that the THC has a harm reduction policy for 20 employees using drugs? 21 MR. ELLIS: I'm sorry to interrupt. I remind 22 you not to speculate. 23 THE WITNESS: Okay. I'm sorry, can you repeat 24 the question? 25 0024 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. Is there anything in any training you received 3 from the THC, including training from a person, reading 4 any sort of documents or whatever that's been given to 5 you to read, that would lead you to believe that the 6 THC's policy for employee drug use is harm reduction? 7 A. We have a disciplinary action plan, so I would 8 say -- I would say -- I would say yes. 9 Q. Is that referred to as progressive discipline? 10 A. I'm sorry, progressive. 11 Q. So, in other words, the first time they try to 12 work with you and help you. Right? 13 A. Right. 14 Q. And then if it keeps up, the punishment could 15 get more severe, including termination? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Okay. So have you ever been -- strike that. 18 Have you learned from any source that Chanel 19 Samuel was using crystal meth in her room? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Do you know who Eric Scott is? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And who is he? 24 A. A tenant at the Hartland. 25 Q. Has he ever told you that Chanel was smoking 0025 1 crystal meth in her room? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Did you ever walk by her room with Mydra 4 McGarr and Mydra pointed out to you that the smell 5 coming from her room was crystal meth? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And when do you think that was? 8 A. I don't recall the date. 9 Q. Was it prior to the incident where Mydra got 10 beaten up? 11 A. Yes. 12 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Allegedly. 13 MR. WEISS: All right. 14 MR. ELLIS: I can't concede any allegations at 15 this point on that. 16 MR. WEISS: I'll work with you on that, that's 17 okay. 18 BY MR. WEISS: 19 Q. Another thing I forgot to bring up. Sometimes 20 your lawyer will probably make an objection and so he 21 does that because maybe later a judge will have to rule 22 on it or there could be some controversy over it. So 23 unless he says: Don't answer, we can just keep moving 24 along, but I don't want you to be confused by that. 25 Was it just the one occasion that Mydra 0026 1 pointed out that there was the smell of crystal meth 2 coming from the room or more than one occasion? 3 A. Just that one time. 4 Q. Okay. And after it was pointed out to you, 5 what did you do? 6 A. Those are all assumptions. So I mean, she 7 said it smelled like whatever it was. I didn't know 8 what it was. I told her it smelled like poop. 9 Q. So you didn't take any action? 10 A. No. 11 Q. As general manager, do you supervise employees 12 on the premises? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And that would include all the employees? 15 A. On-site, yes. 16 Q. So the types of employees I know of, there is 17 janitors. Correct? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. Desk clerks? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. Maintenance? 22 A. Correct. 23 Q. Any other type or classes of employees there? 24 A. That I supervise? 25 Q. Yes. 0027 1 A. That's it. 2 Q. How many people in 2008 do you think you 3 supervised at the Hartland Hotel? 4 A. As far as what I have as staff, I have -- I 5 believe -- total I believe nine employees. 6 Q. And who supervises the case managers? 7 A. Support service manager. 8 Q. And Laure McElroy had an office at the 9 Hartland. Right? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. Is she still working over there? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. She is a case manager? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. When do you think it is you first met Chanel 16 Samuel? 17 A. When was what? 18 Q. When did you first meet Chanel Samuel? 19 A. When she was -- I'm not sure, but I think it 20 was when she was sent to my building as a floating 21 janitor. 22 Q. What were her duties as a floating janitor? 23 A. Whatever was needed on that day, she was sent. 24 Q. And how does a floating janitor fill out a 25 timecard? If you understand my question. 0028 1 A. She should carry it on her at all times and on 2 a daily basis write in what site she is on and what 3 hours she worked on the site. 4 Q. And before payday, does some supervisor have 5 to sign off on it? 6 A. Her supervisor. 7 Q. And who would be her supervisor? 8 A. Colleen. 9 Q. But if she is working at the Hartland, 10 wouldn't you be her supervisor? 11 A. At that time. 12 Q. I see. So Colleen just determines what 13 property she is going to work on; is that how it works? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. And then whatever property she works on, the 16 general manager there would be the on-site supervisor? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. How many times do you think she worked at the 19 Hartland Hotel? 20 A. Tops, three. 21 Q. What makes you say that? 22 A. That's all I can remember. 23 Q. So it might be more, but that's just all that 24 you can remember? 25 A. Tops, three. 0029 1 Q. How about working as a desk clerk, did she 2 ever do that over there? 3 A. Maybe to relieve for breaks. 4 Q. Now, does the desk clerk have access to any 5 sort of keys to any of the -- strike that. 6 Does the desk clerk have access to keys for 7 the elevator? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Now, the door to the basement of the Hartland 10 Hotel, can you access that in the lobby itself? 11 A. The door to the basement? 12 Q. Yes. 13 A. Can you access that through the lobby? 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Who is allowed to go into the basement? 17 A. Whoever is -- staff, whoever is on-site at 18 that building. 19 Q. For the time being, let's talk about May of 20 2008 in terms of who is allowed to go into the basement. 21 When you say "staff", why would the staff go into the 22 basement? 23 A. They might need -- the door leads to the 24 basement is where they have mop, bucket, dustpan, 25 brooms. So that door, they have to open it -- the door 0030 1 that leads to the basement, you have to open that door 2 to get that. They might need to mop the lobby or sweep 3 the lobby so they open the door to get those supplies. 4 Q. So the floating janitor would have access to 5 the basement? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Now, let's say a floating janitor is not on 8 duty, would that person be allowed to go into the 9 basement? 10 A. No. 11 Q. In the times that Chanel served as a relief 12 person for the desk clerk's breaks, was that on 13 different occasions than when she worked as a janitor? 14 A. I don't understand the question. 15 Q. You pointed out you can remember about three 16 times that she worked at the Hartland as a floating 17 janitor. So we know that. 18 But when she served as a relief person so the 19 desk clerk could go on a break, was she on duty at the 20 same time as a floating janitor? 21 A. She would have to be a floating janitor if she 22 was in the building, as an employee at least. 23 Q. Because she is a tenant at the hotel. Right? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Would you ever ask her as a tenant -- let's 0031 1 say she is not on duty as a floating janitor, but you 2 know she is an employee of the THC, would you ever ask 3 her to fill in occasionally as a desk clerk -- 4 A. No. 5 Q. Why is that -- 6 A. No, no. She is not getting paid for it. 7 Q. Okay. Let's put it this way: If she was ever 8 serving as a relief person, I would assume that she is 9 on the clock and getting paid? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. So there was never an occasion when she served 12 as a relief clerk when she was not also serving as a 13 janitor at the same time? 14 A. She shouldn't of, and not to my knowledge. 15 Q. Who is allowed to come behind the front desk 16 at the Hartland Hotel? 17 A. THC staff on-site. 18 Q. Does the person have to be on duty to go 19 behind the desk? 20 A. They have to be on duty to go behind the desk. 21 Q. Why is that? 22 A. If they are not on duty, they have no business 23 to be behind the front desk. 24 Q. Who usually works behind the front desk? 25 A. The desk clerk is the one who is there at all 0032 1 times. The janitors might occasionally go in there to 2 grab their time sheet. They have a refrigerator in 3 there as well. So they might go in there to grab their 4 lunch, the janitors, the case managers. They all have 5 access to that area. 6 Q. Are there keys kept back there for any 7 particular sites on the property? 8 A. The janitors and the maintenance men leave 9 their keys at the front desk, they got their designated 10 area to put their keys. 11 Q. What do those keys typically open? 12 A. The maintenance man has his maintenance keys 13 that open maintenance closets, janitors closets. That's 14 about it. Boiler room. Facility rooms. 15 The janitor should just have keys to the 16 elevator, closet -- the janitor closets and the 17 basement. 18 Q. Now, I know that there is cameras in the lobby 19 of the Hartland. Correct? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. Have you ever reviewed any films from those 22 cameras to see Chanel going down to the basement the day 23 of the alleged assault? 24 A. I don't recall. 25 Q. Do you know how it is Chanel got into the 0033 1 basement the day of the alleged assault? 2 A. I don't. 3 Q. Where were you at the time this incident 4 happened? 5 A. The time of the assault? 6 Q. Yes. 7 A. I was actually at 850 Bryant. 8 Q. Is that because your car got towed? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. And I take it you got permission to go off 11 premises to take care of that? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. And who gave you permission to do that? 14 A. My supervisor. 15 Q. Colleen? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. How did you communicate to her that you had to 18 go down to 850 Bryant? 19 A. I believe via phone call. 20 Q. Have you ever seen Chanel Samuel's employment 21 file? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Do you know where her time sheets would be 24 kept? 25 A. I would assume on her. 0034 1 Q. Does an employee turn the times in at any 2 particular time of the month to get paid? 3 A. At the end of the pay period, it varies. 4 Q. How often are people paid? 5 A. First and 15th. 6 Q. When would the time sheets have to be turned 7 in prior to payroll? 8 A. It varies throughout the month. I would say 9 about eight to seven days before the pay -- wherever the 10 15 falls. 11 Q. After the time sheets are turned in, where are 12 they maintained? 13 A. Once they are completed? 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. I collect completed time sheets and turn them 16 into HR. 17 Q. You don't keep any copies of time sheets on 18 premises? 19 A. I give -- every staff member gets a copy of 20 their time sheet and the rest goes to HR. 21 Q. Is the time sheet kind of a three paper type 22 of thing? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. One is torn off and the employee keeps it? 25 A. One is turned into the case manager -- I'm 0035 1 sorry, yeah, and one is kept in our hotel file. 2 Q. Does every employee have a case manager? 3 A. Employee? 4 Q. Yes. 5 A. Have a case manager? 6 Q. Yes. 7 A. No. 8 Q. Why would a case manager get a time sheet? 9 A. To report the hours. 10 Q. So maybe I misunderstood your answer. The 11 time sheets is in three pieces, the employee gets one, 12 the HR gets one -- and where does the third one go? 13 A. In our file. 14 Q. What do you mean your file? 15 A. The hotel file. 16 Q. So there is an employee time sheet also kept 17 on the premises? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Now, would that be true of Chanel Samuel's, 20 for whatever day she worked at the Hartland it would be 21 on premises? 22 A. Not hers. 23 Q. Why is that? 24 A. I don't collect hers. 25 Q. Who collects the floating janitors? 0036 1 A. Her supervisor. 2 Q. So do you know where Chanel Samuel's time 3 sheets would be maintained? 4 A. I have no idea. 5 Q. So she just turns them in to Colleen? 6 A. I assume. She is her supervisor. 7 Q. Okay. Now, how long have you known Chanel 8 Samuel? 9 A. Prior to the event? 10 Q. Correct. 11 A. I would say from the time she moved -- from 12 the time she was sent to my building as a floating 13 janitor. 14 Q. Do you have any memory of when that might have 15 been? 16 A. I don't recall. 17 Q. Was it weeks? Months? Days? 18 A. From the time she was sent to my building as a 19 janitor till the time that the event happened. I don't 20 recall when was that first time she was sent to my 21 building as a floating janitor, but from that time until 22 the event happened. 23 Q. Got it. Who do the tenants hand the rent 24 checks to at the Hartland? 25 A. Inherited tenants pay me and the ones who are 0037 1 on master lease program pay the Tenderloin Housing 2 Department, which is 472 Turk. 3 Q. What's the master lease program? 4 A. That's the program that all the tenants -- 5 they fall -- that's the program that we run. The master 6 lease program is, I guess, what the Housing Department 7 calls one of the programs that we run. So MPP for 8 short -- master lease program something. 9 Q. Did Chanel ever handwrite checks to you? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Did Chanel ever pay her rent at the Hartland 12 that you know of? 13 A. I'm pretty sure she did. 14 Q. The reason I ask is, when I was looking at 15 documents in her tenant file, there was remarks made 16 that she never paid rent while she lived there. I was 17 wondering if you knew anything about that. 18 A. I don't recall, but -- 19 Q. What kind of job did Chanel do as a floating 20 janitor? Okay or how was it? 21 A. From the few times that she worked with me, I 22 had no issues with her performance, nothing that I felt 23 I had to address. 24 Q. But didn't you have some issues with her, say, 25 April 21st or 22nd of last year? 0038 1 A. I don't recall. 2 Q. Did Mydra ever tell you that she was having 3 problems working with Chanel and you separated them so 4 they were not working together? 5 A. I did. 6 Q. When do you think that was? 7 A. I don't recall the date, but it was one of the 8 days she was sent to assist as a floating janitor. 9 Q. And when you say she was sent to assist, you 10 mean Chanel. Right? 11 A. Chanel. 12 Q. What did Mydra tell you about the problems of 13 them working together such that you had to separate 14 them? 15 A. She informed me that she didn't like her work 16 style, she was too slow and she would slow her down, and 17 they weren't able to communicate. So I said, okay, then 18 you guys won't work together. 19 Q. Did you ever speak to Chanel about that? 20 A. No. 21 Q. You never tell Chanel: We are going to 22 separate you two because it doesn't seem like it's 23 working out? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Did you ever tell Mydra you were going to 0039 1 complain to Colleen about her because you had 2 difficulties working with her, her being Mydra? 3 A. Can you repeat the question? 4 Q. Sure. That was kind of confusing. Did you 5 ever tell Mydra that you had had it with her and that 6 you were going to talk to Colleen about it because you 7 had difficulties working with her? 8 A. With "her" being who? 9 Q. Mydra. 10 A. That I was tired of working with Mydra? 11 Q. Right. 12 A. Me as the supervisor to her? 13 Q. Correct. 14 A. No. 15 Q. Did you ever talk to -- did you ever tell 16 Mydra that you had had it working with Chanel and that 17 you were going to talk to Colleen about it because you 18 had difficulties working with Chanel? 19 A. "Had it" meaning tired of working with her or 20 "had it" meaning what? 21 Q. That's a good point you raise there. Did you 22 ever tell Mydra that you had difficulty working with 23 Chanel such that you wanted to report it to Colleen? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Did you have any difficulties with Chanel at 0040 1 any time while she was a tenant or employee? 2 A. Not me. 3 MR. ELLIS: That goes without saying, other 4 than -- other than what happened on May 30th, other 5 than, of course, the alleged assault? 6 BY MR. WEISS: 7 Q. I am asking in general. 8 A. Yes. Without that event on May -- yes, I 9 wouldn't have no problems prior to that. 10 Q. Did you ever have any arguments with Chanel 11 while she was on the job? 12 A. Not me. 13 Q. Did Chanel ever do anything that made you want 14 to report her to Colleen? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you ever write Chanel up for any kind of 17 work infraction? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Did you ever send any writing to Colleen at 20 all of any type that Chanel was a problem for you? 21 A. Besides the day prior to the event, no. 22 Q. Did you ever notice Chanel Samuel to be 23 twitching and agitated? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Now, how did you become aware of this -- 0041 1 Have you ever had any suspicions of Chanel 2 Samuel using drugs aside from marijuana? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Did you ever talk to Mydra McGarr about your 5 suspicions of Chanel Samuel using drugs? 6 A. Besides that time, I believe, we were doing 7 pest control, and that's when she mentioned that it 8 smelled like whatever drug she mentioned and I told her 9 it smells likes human poop to me. Besides that, I can't 10 recall. 11 Q. Did you ever have any issues with Chanel 12 Samuel's behavior in any way? 13 A. No, besides the actual event. 14 Q. Right. Did you ever have any issues -- strike 15 that. 16 Did you ever have any complaints regarding 17 Mydra McGarr's attitude or behavior from any tenants? 18 A. Not that I can recall. 19 Q. Did you ever make any complaints about Mydra 20 McGarr's attitude or behavior on the job? 21 A. That I didn't address with her directly? 22 Q. Right. 23 A. Yes. There was stuff that I talked to her 24 about, things that I noticed. 25 Q. And that was between you two, you and Mydra? 0042 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And what would that have been? 3 A. That I can recall, there was an incident 4 between a tenant -- I don't remember the exact tenant, 5 who it was -- but it was over a door being closed. 6 Mydra closed the door. The tenant got upset about the 7 door being closed. The tenant got really upset and 8 exchanged some words with Mydra. I spoke with her the 9 following day about the incident. I spoke with the 10 tenant. The tenant came to me and apologized for his 11 behavior because he didn't realize it was Mydra's job to 12 keep the door closed. Because at the time she was at 13 the front desk so the door is to remain closed at all 14 times. So once I explained that to the tenant, he said: 15 Oh, I didn't realize that. So he apologized to Mydra 16 and myself. 17 I spoke to her about how to handle those type 18 of situations, how to not to escalate it, just close the 19 door and explain yourself what happens, why you need to 20 do things, and not to engage in those kind of situations 21 when they are in a hostile state. 22 Q. What door are we talking about? 23 A. The front door of the building, the main 24 entrance. 25 Q. Okay. Did you ever have any altercation with 0043 1 Mydra McGarr, any arguments? 2 A. Not that I can recall. 3 Q. Okay. So let's go to the 29th of May, that's 4 the day before the alleged assault. Were you present at 5 work, do you think, on May 29 of '08? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And did my Mydra write up a complaint of any 8 sort about Chanel Samuel? 9 A. Yes. Well, I don't remember if she actually 10 did it in writing, but I do remember the conversation. 11 Q. What was the conversation? 12 A. I don't remember clearly the conversation, but 13 I do remember her expressing to me that she was having 14 problems with Chanel. 15 Q. And what did she say about the problems she 16 was having? 17 A. I remember her saying something about her 18 being at the front desk, Chanel coming and opening the 19 door, I believe, and they exchanged words. I don't 20 remember the actual full conversation, but I do remember 21 her expressing to me that some kind of verbal 22 altercation happened between her and Chanel. 23 Q. Okay. The same day, was there another 24 complaint that Mydra made about Chanel? 25 A. Yes. I believe approximately around 4:30, 0044 1 maybe close to 5:00 -- I don't think it was more than 2 5:00 p.m. when she called me on my cell phone and told 3 me that there was an additional, a second verbal 4 confrontation between her and Chanel. 5 At that point, I forwarded that call -- not 6 forwarded, but I made a call to my supervisor, which was 7 Colleen, and informed her of what just happened, that 8 there was a second event. I wasn't able to actually 9 physically speak to Colleen, but I left a message. 10 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this as Plaintiff's A 11 and please hand that to the witness afterwards. 12 (Incident Report - Hartland Hotel dated 13 5/29/08 marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. A for 14 identification.) 15 BY MR. WEISS: 16 Q. Please take a look at that, Mr. Lopez. 17 A. Okay. 18 Q. Is your signature anywhere on that document? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Where is it, Mr. Lopez? 21 A. At the bottom of the sheet where it says 22 Manager Signature. 23 Q. So you know that at some point you did get 24 presented with this. Correct? 25 A. Correct. 0045 1 Q. This complaint says that, "Chanel walked in 2 the office unauthorized to get water without even 3 knocking." And if Chanel is not on duty, is she allowed 4 to do that? 5 A. No, she is not. 6 Q. Does Chanel -- let me ask you this. Do you 7 know -- To your knowledge, did Chanel know she is not 8 supposed to go behind the desk if she is not on duty? 9 A. I would say yes. 10 Q. Did you ever tell her that? 11 MR. ELLIS: Was that a guess? 12 MR. WEISS: He said "Yes". 13 MR. ELLIS: I am asking if he guessed. 14 THE WITNESS: Well, I mean -- 15 MR. ELLIS: Are you making an assumption that 16 she knew? 17 MR. WEISS: I would appreciate if you not 18 interrupt me when I'm asking questions. You'll have 19 your chance to ask him questions. 20 MR. ELLIS: Then I'll remind you not to guess. 21 THE WITNESS: Well, during orientation, they 22 are told that if you are not on duty, you are not to be 23 on-site. 24 BY MR. WEISS: 25 Q. Okay. So that's part of the training? 0046 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Yes? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Do you have any knowledge that Chanel did not 5 get orientation training? 6 A. I don't know if she did or didn't. 7 Q. And then also it says in this incident report, 8 Plaintiff's A, concerning Chanel, "She walked out, then 9 came back in and said, 'This is for the last time you 10 slammed the door on me,' slammed the door in a tenant's 11 face and mines." So did you talk to Chanel about this? 12 A. I didn't get the chance to. 13 Q. Why is that? 14 A. This was the day before the event? 15 Q. Yes. 16 A. And the next day, it happened, so I didn't get 17 a chance to talk to her. 18 Q. I mean the day that Mydra made the complaint, 19 did you try to Chanel to talk to her about it? 20 A. I did not, no. 21 Q. Any particular reason? 22 A. On this day -- no, no reason. I documented it 23 and reported it. 24 Q. And at the bottom of this exhibit, there is a 25 box checked: "Written Violation Notice. Action: 0047 1 Written violation number one." What does that mean? 2 A. That was what I was going to give her as a 3 building manager and to her as a tenant. 4 Q. What is a written violation? Is that a form 5 you give her? 6 A. That is a written violation for inappropriate 7 behavior in the building as a tenant. 8 Q. Okay. And when you say "inappropriate 9 behavior," what do you remember to? 10 A. To her entering the front desk. 11 Q. How about slamming the door? 12 A. The same thing. 13 Q. Okay. And then the second box checked says: 14 "E-mailed PS Colleen Carrigan about issue." So you did 15 that the day you were presented with Plaintiff's Exhibit 16 A? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. Do you remember what you said in the e-mail? 19 A. I don't. 20 Q. Why did you e-mail Colleen? 21 A. Reporting and documenting. 22 MR. WEISS: Please mark this as Plaintiff's B 23 and pass that on to Mr. Lopez. 24 /// 25 /// 0048 1 (Incident Report - Hartland Hotel dated 2 5/29/08 marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. B for 3 identification.) 4 BY MR. WEISS: 5 Q. Now, have you had a chance to read Exhibit B? 6 A. Uh-huh. 7 Q. Yes? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Is your signature at the bottom of this 10 exhibit? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. Now, this incident was just later the same day 13 after the first incident report that we looked at. 14 Correct? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. And this one apparently Chanel comes in to the 17 front desk and just starts yelling at Ms. McGarr. And 18 were you present when this happened? 19 A. No. 20 Q. And at the bottom you check two boxes: 21 "Written Violation" -- again, you have "Written 22 violation number one." Is there a reason you didn't 23 write it was violation number two? 24 A. The same person, same incident, still all 25 related. So it was written violation number one with 0049 1 addition of will schedule a conference with the tenant. 2 Q. And underneath that it has: "Repeat 3 Violation: Tenant conference:" And it says, "Will 4 schedule a tenant conference." 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. So "Will schedule a tenant conference," what 7 does that refer to? 8 A. Refers to both incidents. 9 Q. What is the tenant conference? 10 A. That's a chance for me to talk to the tenant 11 and say: What's going on? Why are we doing this? 12 Q. Did you ever get a chance to do that? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Did you ever talk to Chanel about this second 15 incident report that Mydra gave you? 16 A. Not formally. 17 Q. How about informally, what was your 18 discussion? 19 A. I seen her at the main office and I said to 20 her: Come see me at the office. We need to talk about 21 what happened yesterday. 22 Q. When was it that you saw her at the main 23 office? 24 A. The morning of the 30th. 25 Q. Do you know what she was doing in there? 0050 1 A. No, I don't. 2 Q. And so you just happened to see her there and 3 you mentioned that you wanted to talk to her about these 4 incident reports? 5 A. Uh-huh. 6 Q. Yes? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Don't worry. I do the same thing. What was 9 Chanel's reaction? 10 A. Okay. 11 Q. And no other discussion? 12 A. No other discussion. 13 Q. And anything unusual about her physical 14 appearance when you saw her? 15 A. The normal one. 16 Q. Was there anything unusual about her demeanor, 17 how she was acting? 18 A. I didn't pay attention. 19 Q. You didn't pay attention? 20 A. No. It didn't seem anything out of the 21 normal. 22 Q. Did she seem agitated? 23 A. Not that I noticed. 24 Q. Did Chanel ever tell you at any time about 25 whether she was friends or not with Mydra McGarr? 0051 1 A. No. 2 Q. Did she ever tell you anything about any 3 relationship that they may have had? 4 A. No. 5 Q. And when you saw her at the hotel -- the main 6 office, how long did that conversation last? 7 A. A minute, two. 8 Q. And so in two minutes, all you said was: I 9 have to talk to you about this and she said okay and 10 that was it? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. On the 29th, did you set up a meeting 13 between -- strike that. 14 On the 29th, did you talk to anyone about 15 having a meeting involving Chanel and Mydra, where you 16 would all sit down and discussed the incident reports? 17 A. Can you repeat the question? 18 Q. On the 29th, did you propose to anyone that a 19 meeting take place on the 30th with Mydra and Chanel to 20 discuss the incident reports? 21 A. No. 22 Q. This second incident, which is Exhibit B, did 23 you document that by e-mail to Colleen? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Did you talk to Colleen at all about the 0052 1 second incident? 2 A. Yes. Not directly. I left her a voice mail. 3 Q. What did you say in the voice mail? 4 A. I explained that there was a second incident 5 between Mydra and Chanel and that she needed to address 6 that with Chanel. 7 Q. What did Colleen say? 8 A. I didn't speak with her. 9 Q. I'm sorry. What I mean, did she reply to you 10 in any way? She being Colleen. 11 A. Not that day. 12 Q. When did she reply to you? 13 A. The next morning. 14 Q. What was her reply? 15 A. When I saw Chanel that morning, I was on my 16 way to talk to my supervisor, Colleen, about that day 17 and what I was going to be doing that day. And we 18 briefly talked about my course of action, as far as 19 property management with Chanel, and I told her that I 20 wanted to give her a written violation and have a 21 conference with her about what happened. 22 Q. What did Colleen say? 23 A. And she informed me that she would talk to her 24 as a supervisor about the incident. 25 Q. That she would handle it instead? 0053 1 A. No. That she would talk to her as a 2 supervisor to Chanel. So the difference was that I was 3 going to talk to Chanel as a property manager and 4 Colleen was going to talk to Chanel as her supervisor. 5 Q. That's what I understood. So it would be 6 separate conversations? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. Did Colleen say when she was going to have 9 that conversation? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Do you think you sent any e-mails to Colleen 12 about any of the incidents? 13 A. I believe just when it was the first incident 14 when I was on-site, when Mydra reported it to me and I 15 was on-site, I reported it to my supervisor; and the 16 second one was just via voice mail. 17 MR. WEISS: Would you please mark this as 18 Plaintiff's C and give that to the witness. 19 (E-mail string with top one dated 5/29/08 marked 20 Plaintiff's Exhibit No. C for identification.) 21 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. Okay. Now, this was given to me by the TLC 24 during the course of the lawsuit. 25 A. I'm sorry, I didn't read the bottom part, I 0054 1 just read the top part. 2 Q. Okay. Go ahead. Take your time. 3 A. Okay. 4 Q. Now, there is two e-mails on the same page. 5 So the one that's on the bottom half that starts out, 6 "Colleen", that's the e-mail you wrote. Correct? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. And the second paragraph there, "As for her 9 hotel behavior," what did you mean by "hotel behavior"? 10 A. She was a tenant at the time. 11 Q. So you just meant as for her behavior in the 12 hotel? 13 A. As a tenant. 14 Q. Why do you say "as a tenant"? 15 A. Because she was a tenant at the time. 16 Q. She was also an employee, wasn't she? 17 A. Not at that time. 18 Q. She was employed but not on duty -- 19 A. She was an employee but not on duty. There 20 you go. Not on duty at the time. 21 Q. Let me ask you this: If an employee is not on 22 duty but in the hotel and does something that's, I don't 23 know, dangerous, for example, what is done about that 24 employee? 25 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague and ambiguous. 0055 1 Incomplete hypothetical. 2 BY MR. WEISS: 3 Q. Go ahead. 4 A. If not on duty, then it gets treated as a 5 tenant issue for that hotel. 6 Q. What if the employee is not a tenant of that 7 hotel but does something off duty in the hotel that 8 violates some of the rules, what happens to that 9 employee? 10 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague and ambiguous. 11 Incomplete hypothetical. 12 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the question? 13 BY MR. WEISS: 14 Q. Let's say that an employee is off duty and, 15 further, that this employee is not a tenant of the hotel 16 and yet violates a rule of the hotel. What kind of 17 action is taken? 18 MR. ELLIS: Vague and ambiguous. Incomplete 19 hypothetical. 20 THE WITNESS: If an employee who is off duty 21 enters one of our hotels, THC property, and does 22 something to violate rules? 23 BY MR. WEISS: 24 Q. Right. 25 A. While off duty? 0056 1 Q. Correct. 2 A. If it's known that that tenant is in that 3 building and after -- after -- Let me see. Hold on. 4 Let me rephrase this. 5 If an off-duty employee enters the building -- 6 that he doesn't work at or works in that building? 7 Q. Work in the building. 8 A. If he works at the building but he is not a 9 tenant and is off duty and he does something that 10 violates -- 11 Q. Let me make it simpler. Let's say an off-duty 12 employee walks into the hotel where she works and just 13 lit up marijuana right in the lobby, what would happen 14 to that off-duty employee? 15 MR. ELLIS: Vague and ambiguous. Incomplete 16 hypothetical. 17 BY MR. WEISS: 18 Q. Also, assume that that off-duty employee is 19 not a tenant of that particular hotel. 20 A. Then they would be treated as an employee, 21 they would be subject to progressive disciplinary action 22 through THC. 23 Q. Okay. Did you have any other notes that you 24 made about this first incident report, aside from this 25 e-mail? 0057 1 A. That can recall, that's it. 2 Q. Okay. Now, you get an e-mail back, same 3 exhibit, from Colleen. "Hi Jesus, I followed up with 4 Chanel about this in light of something else." Do you 5 know what she is talking about? 6 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Speculation. 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. I said "Did you know." 9 A. Not quite sure what she meant with that. 10 Q. So when Colleen says, "Hi Jesus, I followed up 11 with Chanel about this in light of something else," you 12 are not really clear on what she is referring to? 13 A. I might of at that time, she might have been 14 talking about something else going on with the building, 15 I don't remember right now. 16 Q. And then she says, "I'll check in with you 17 tomorrow about it more." Did she ever do that? 18 A. We did check in the next morning so I believe 19 so. 20 Q. And what was your discussion when she checked 21 in about it? 22 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 23 THE WITNESS: I don't remember. 24 BY MR. WEISS: 25 Q. And she says, "Go ahead and put together the 0058 1 write-up for slamming the door." Now, what write-up was 2 she referring to, if you know? 3 A. As a tenant. The written violation that I 4 checked off on the incident report. 5 Q. So this written violation, is that a form that 6 you fill out? 7 A. Correct. It's a standardized form that all 8 our THC buildings use whenever our tenants violate 9 policy. 10 Q. And then, again, "Let's talk more tomorrow 11 morning." You already described that conversation to 12 us. Correct? Or did you? I don't know. 13 A. Can you repeat the question? 14 Q. Yes. Looking at Colleen's, the last sentence 15 of her e-mail, she says, "Let's talk more tomorrow 16 morning". Did you talk more tomorrow morning? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. What was your talk? 19 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 20 THE WITNESS: We talked about my plan of 21 action and we talked about the second event. 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. What was your discussion about the second 24 event? 25 MR. ELLIS: Asked and answered. 0059 1 THE WITNESS: I don't recall into detail what 2 we talked about. That's when we pretty much made it 3 clear that I definitely wanted to have a sit down with 4 Chanel as far as an informal conference and she was 5 getting a write-up for both events. 6 BY MR. WEISS: 7 Q. Now, what would be the consequence of two 8 write-ups to a tenant? 9 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Incomplete 10 hypothetical. Vague and ambiguous. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. Overruled. You can answer. 13 A. It depends on how egregious the violation is. 14 Q. Let's take the two violations that we have 15 right here in Exhibits A and B. What, if you know, 16 would be the consequences to Chanel of these two written 17 incident reports? 18 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 19 THE WITNESS: Written violation and an 20 informal conference. 21 BY MR. WEISS: 22 Q. And the written violation that she would get 23 from this, what would you put in something like that as 24 a results of these two incident reports? 25 A. What would I put on it? 0060 1 Q. Yes. 2 A. I would word the two incidents in the written 3 violation and request an informal meeting with her and 4 discuss the issue and try to find out what's going on 5 and how we can prevent it from happening again. 6 Q. Would there be anything in these written 7 violations that would receive that would threaten her 8 tenancy there at the Hartland Hotel? 9 A. It's on the write up. It's a standardized 10 letter that we have on there that towards the end it 11 says -- these forms always say at the end of it: You 12 are subject to termination of tenancy. 13 Q. Did Chanel know that -- strike that. 14 Did you tell Chanel that a written violation 15 could cause her to lose her tenancy? 16 A. I didn't. I did not. 17 Q. Any particular reason why not? 18 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 19 THE WITNESS: She was -- I was on my way to 20 deal with my car so I told her to come see me when she 21 was in the building about the issue. 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. And when you told her to see you about the 24 issue, what was her demeanor then? 25 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 0061 1 THE WITNESS: She said "Okay". 2 BY MR. WEISS: 3 Q. Okay. I'm sorry. You are referring to when 4 you saw her at the main office? 5 A. At the main office. Correct. 6 Q. Oh, okay. I thought you were talking about 7 another -- 8 A. That was the only time I ever got to address 9 it. 10 MR. ELLIS: Let him finish talking. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. I understand what you are saying now. Was 13 there a meeting scheduled for 2:00 o'clock on the 30th 14 between you and Mydra and Chanel to deal with these 15 complaints? 16 A. I don't think so. 17 Q. Was there any meeting, that you know of, 18 scheduled for 2:00 o'clock on the 30th wherein Mydra and 19 Chanel would be present to deal with these two incident 20 reports? 21 A. Not that I can recall. 22 Q. When did you come back from the hall of 23 injustice about your car? 24 A. After I got -- after I got notice of what 25 happened. 0062 1 Q. And that would be about when? 2 A. I would say approximately 1:00 o'clock. 3 Q. So the first incident report, you were down 4 dealing with your car. Correct? 5 A. Okay. Wait. Are we talking about the actual 6 event on the 30th? 7 Q. On the 29th. Wait. Was it the 30th that you 8 were picking up your car? 9 A. The 30th is when I was picking up my car. 10 Q. I misunderstood. So the 29th, were you on the 11 premises when this first incident happened with the door 12 slamming? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Did you hear the slamming? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Where were you when it happened, do you think? 17 A. My office. 18 Q. Where is that in relation to the front desk? 19 A. A floor up. 20 Q. Okay. So that's, what, the second floor? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Okay. And then did Mydra just come up and 23 give you the report? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. And were you on the premises when the second 0063 1 incident happened? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Where were you then? 4 A. Off duty. 5 Q. What time did you get off that day? 6 A. 4:00 o'clock. 7 Q. I see. So if it happened at 4:30, you were 8 already punched out for the day? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. Is there a manager that goes on shift when you 11 go off duty? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Who would that be? 14 A. Steven Williams. 15 Q. Steven Williams? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. Did you ever talk to Mr. Williams about the 18 two incident reports on the 29th? 19 A. That same day? 20 Q. At any time, from that same day to the 21 present? 22 A. I might have told him -- I believe I told him 23 what happened, the first event. I think I informed 24 Steven of what happened in the first event. The second 25 event, I don't believe I spoke to him about it. 0064 1 Q. So the first event, when you told 2 Mr. Williams, was that like when you were going off duty 3 and he was coming on so you just mentioned it to him? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. What did he say about it? 6 A. He just said "Okay". 7 Q. Do you know if he ever heard the second 8 incident occur? 9 A. I don't recall. 10 Q. Is he also considered a general manager, 11 Mr. Williams? 12 A. Assistant manager. 13 Q. So what shift did he work that day? 14 A. I believe 2:00 to 10:00. 15 Q. So there is some overlap in your time? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Do you know if he ever heard anything about 18 the second incident himself, whether it's shouting or 19 write-ups or anything? 20 A. I don't recall. 21 Q. When did you get the second incident report? 22 A. In writing? 23 Q. Yes. 24 A. I got it in writing the next morning. 25 Q. So you had one on the 29th and the next 0065 1 morning you had the second one? 2 A. Uh-huh. 3 Q. Yes? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Was it in your in box or something? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. Okay. Now, on to the 30th. You say you got a 8 call from someone about the incident? Or how did you 9 know it occurred? 10 Let's put it this way: The alleged assault, 11 when Mydra got beaten up with a pipe, when did you first 12 learn about that happening? 13 A. Upon a phone call that I got. 14 Q. Who was that from? 15 A. James Kang, the desk clerk. 16 Q. Did he call you on your cell phone? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. What did he tell you? 19 A. He informed me that Mydra and Chanel just got 20 into a fight and Mydra was hurt really bad and there was 21 blood everywhere. 22 Q. Did he say anything else about it? 23 A. At that point I said "I am on my way back." 24 Q. Did he sound pretty hysterical? 25 A. I wouldn't say hysterical, but he sounded 0066 1 bothered. 2 Q. Stressed out? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. So you got back to the hotel. What's the 5 first thing you did on the 30th? 6 A. I believe I checked in at the front desk, "I 7 am on-site." I might have asked: Where is everybody 8 at -- an update, for an update. From there I went down 9 to the basement. 10 Q. Were the police there? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. How about the emergency medical, were they 13 there? 14 A. I believe not. They might have been outside, 15 but not in the building, I don't believe so. 16 Q. So you got back. Who did you check in with at 17 the front desk? 18 A. James. 19 Q. What was your conversation with James? 20 A. He probably just -- "I am on-site. Log me in 21 the book on-site." I might have asked him, "Where is 22 everybody at?" He probably told me, "Everybody in the 23 basement." I said, "Okay. I am going down." 24 Q. Was Colleen down there when you got there? 25 A. I think so, yes. 0067 1 Q. Where was she when you got there? 2 A. I don't recall exactly where she was at. 3 Q. Did you go all the way down into the basement 4 yourself? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Did you ever see Colleen all the way in the 7 basement? 8 A. I can't recall. 9 Q. What did you see when you went down into the 10 basement? 11 A. The crime scene. 12 Q. Was Mydra there? 13 A. No. 14 Q. She was already gone when you got there? 15 A. Yes, she was not in the basement. I don't 16 know if she was gone gone, but she was not in the 17 basement. 18 Q. Where did you see blood? 19 A. As soon as you get to the top of the stairs, 20 you would see the blood at the bottom of the stairs. 21 Q. Was it in a pool of blood or -- 22 A. It was more like tracks of blood, trails. 23 Q. In the basement itself. Where else did you 24 see blood? 25 A. In front of the elevator. 0068 1 Q. Did you see bloody handprints on the wall? 2 A. I don't recall. 3 Q. Was the elevator opened or closed? 4 A. I don't recall. 5 Q. Were there keys in the elevator? 6 A. I don't recall. 7 Q. How many sets of keys are there to the 8 elevator -- strike that. 9 On May 30th, '08, how many keys to the 10 elevator were there? 11 A. On-site at the time of the event? 12 Q. Yes. 13 A. The 30th, what day was that? 14 Q. I am not too sure. 15 A. That depends. Because if -- Well, there is 16 always three sets. 17 Q. Why would there be any less on any given day? 18 A. If one of the janitors is not on duty, then it 19 might be in the janitor's closet in his overalls. 20 Q. Where are the elevator keys supposed to be 21 maintained? 22 A. In the key box at the front desk. 23 Q. So is it proper for a janitor to have keys 24 left in his pocket in the locker? 25 A. No. 0069 1 Q. Did Chanel Samuel ever do her laundry down in 2 the basement? 3 A. Not that I know of. 4 Q. Do you know how Chanel Samuel got into the 5 basement prior to this alleged assault? 6 A. "Prior" to meaning immediately prior or prior 7 meaning days? 8 Q. Good point. On the day of the assault, the 9 alleged assault, how did Chanel get down to the basement 10 immediately prior to that occurring? 11 A. I don't know. 12 Q. Did anyone ever find out, that you know of? 13 A. Not that I know of. 14 Q. Did you ever learn that she was hiding down in 15 the basement waiting for Mydra to come down there? 16 A. After the fact. 17 Q. Of course. I assume -- you didn't know about 18 this planned attack ahead of time, did you? 19 A. No. 20 Q. Why don't we take a break for a second. 21 (Off the record.) 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. Back on the record after a short break. 24 So let's see. So anyway. Let's see talking 25 about after the incident. So you went down, you told 0070 1 us, and you looked at the blood and all that. What did 2 you do after the police left? 3 A. Instructed the janitor to clean the mess, to 4 clean the blood. 5 Q. Did the police already take pictures of it, do 6 you know? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. And after -- was there any discussion later in 9 the day with any other supervisors of yours at the THC 10 about this incident? 11 A. I don't recall if it was that same day or the 12 day after, but we all pretty much sat down and just 13 talked about the event, what happened, how did it 14 happen. 15 Q. How who is "we"? 16 A. "We" being me, myself, Colleen, James Holland, 17 and I believe Valerie Simpson. 18 Q. Who is Valerie Simpson? 19 A. Property supervisor. 20 Q. Is she a supervisor of Colleen or James 21 Holland? 22 A. Actually, Colleen is her supervisor. 23 Q. Is the Hartland Hotel something that Valerie 24 Simpson also is involved in supervising? 25 A. She used to. 0071 1 Q. In May of 2008, was she? 2 A. No. 3 Q. What properties in May of 2008 did Valerie 4 supervise? 5 A. I'm not sure. 6 Q. Do you know why she was included in the 7 discussion? 8 A. It was such a big event for THC, something 9 that they wanted to have everybody to have knowledge of 10 preventative measures, you know, an explanation of how 11 and why. 12 Q. Where did this conversation take place? 13 A. Main office, 449 Turk. 14 Q. Was that on the 30th that you had this 15 discussion? 16 A. I believe the day after, if that was the 31st 17 or the 1st. 18 Q. What was the discussion that you had at that 19 time? 20 A. Just a recap: What happened, just how better 21 handle the situation like that. 22 Q. What suggestions were there on how to better 23 handle it? 24 A. I don't recall. The details of the 25 conversation, I don't recall. It was mainly within that 0072 1 demeanor. Just, you know: This happened. What 2 information did we have? How could we have prevented it 3 from happening? What can we do to prevent it from 4 happening? 5 Q. What conclusions were reached about how it 6 could be prevented? 7 A. Just more security in the building as far as 8 making sure that doors are always looked; paying more 9 attention at the front desk; clearing the basement of 10 all potential harmful objects or potential weapons. 11 Q. Anything else? 12 A. That's about it, that I can remember. 13 Q. What door are we talking about being locked 14 here? 15 A. The door to the basement. Maintenance men's 16 door -- maintenance office, I guess. Just a recap: 17 What can we do to make sure -- make our basement safe? 18 Q. So prior to this incident, the basement door 19 was unlocked? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. Was any discussion about -- was there any 22 discussion about keys to the elevator? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Did you ever receive information that Chanel 25 actually used the elevator to get into the basement? 0073 1 A. No. 2 Q. Did you ever receive any information from 3 Mr. Kang that she was trying to go in the basement and 4 he wouldn't let her? 5 A. After the event. From talking to staff 6 members and trying to investigate what happened, it was 7 brought to my attention that she was trying to go down 8 there for I don't know what reason. 9 Q. And when you say "trying", what are you saying 10 there? 11 A. If I remember what the conversation with James 12 was, maybe that either she wanted to go down to the 13 basement to get trash bags, I believe. 14 Q. Okay. And he wouldn't let her go down there? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. And what else did you learn? 17 A. As far as -- 18 Q. With this conversation with Mr. Kang about 19 Chanel trying to get into the basement. 20 A. That's about it. 21 Q. Did she make repeated attempts to go there or 22 just the one? 23 A. I don't remember. 24 Q. In this situation on how to make things safer 25 that you had at the office with the others present, did 0074 1 anyone talk about reviewing security camera tapes to see 2 if it would show anything? 3 A. We talked about making sure that we had it on 4 tape, record from 8:00 in the morning when I got on duty 5 until the end of the incident. 6 Q. Okay. And did anyone ever look at the tape? 7 A. I'm not sure. 8 Q. Do you know where this tape is today? 9 A. The district attorney. 10 Q. Okay. And did Colleen ever actually see what 11 was on the tape, if you know? 12 A. I gave it to her. I don't know what she did 13 with it. 14 Q. She asked you for it? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Okay. So doors locked. Paying attention to 17 the front desk; what was discussed about that? 18 A. Just, you know, making sure that we are always 19 observing what's going on. 20 Q. Just try to be aware of potentially dangerous 21 situations? 22 A. Correct. 23 Q. And why was it discussed that the maintenance 24 man's door should be locked? 25 A. Preventive measures -- future, to prevent 0075 1 future stuff. 2 Q. What was it about the maintenance man's office 3 that would have contributed to the alleged assault? 4 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 5 THE WITNESS: Not that I know of. Other than 6 tools being in there that could potentially be used as 7 weapons. 8 BY MR. WEISS: 9 Q. Okay. That makes sense. How long did this 10 meeting last over there at the office? 11 A. I would say no more than maybe half hour. 12 Q. Was there any discussion of visiting Mydra at 13 the hospital at that meeting? 14 A. I know -- Valerie Simpson actually was on-site 15 and went with Mydra to the hospital the day of the 16 event. So that probably was one of the reasons why 17 Valerie was actually involved in the meeting. Because 18 now that I recall, she did ride in the ambulance with 19 Mydra to the hospital. 20 Q. During this discussion of what happened, did 21 anyone discuss Chanel's drug use? 22 A. Not that I know of. Not that I can recall. 23 Q. Was there any talk about why Chanel did what 24 she did or allegedly did what she did? 25 A. If we did, we probably spoke in the sense of: 0076 1 Does anybody know how or why did this happen between 2 them? And at the time, we didn't have much knowledge so 3 not really certain. 4 Q. Did you ever get knowledge about why it 5 happened? 6 A. After from interviewing on duty desk clerk, 7 janitors, interviewing staff that interacted with both 8 parties. 9 Q. What did you find out? 10 A. Things like reasons why. 11 Q. I'm sorry? 12 A. Reasons why it might have happened. 13 Q. That's what I am asking. What did you find? 14 What were the reasons? 15 A. One of the them that I heard either Mydra 16 borrowed money from Chanel or vice versa; or prior 17 history of them having, you know, situations with each 18 other off work duty hours. I mean, it went as far as 19 hearing some kind of love triangle type thing. 20 Q. What people did you personally interview about 21 this? 22 A. James Kang. Maria Hunter, desk clerk. 23 Emmanuel White, janitor. I think that's about it. 24 People who I thought at the time had the most direct 25 contact between Mydra and Chanel. 0077 1 Q. Who was the one that mentioned possible love 2 triangle? 3 A. I don't recall who. 4 Q. Who mentioned the loan or the borrowing of the 5 money, regardless of who borrowed what? 6 A. I believe Maria hunter. 7 Q. What was Maria's position? 8 A. Desk clerk. 9 Q. To your knowledge, did anyone interview people 10 that worked at other hotels? 11 A. What was that again? 12 Q. To your knowledge, did anyone interview people 13 that worked at other hotels that would give you 14 information about why it possibly happened? 15 A. I don't know. 16 Q. Did Colleen take part in this situation? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Did she ask people to investigate? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. So you were asked. Correct? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. Who else was asked? 23 A. I'm not sure. 24 Q. Well, was anyone present at the meeting that 25 you described asked, like James Holland or Valerie 0078 1 Simpson, asked to investigate? 2 A. Did they ask me to investigate? 3 Q. No. Were they asked by Colleen to 4 investigate? 5 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 6 THE WITNESS: I don't know. 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. Did Mr. Holland ask anyone to investigate? 9 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 10 THE WITNESS: I don't know. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. And as part of your investigation, did you 13 look at either the employee file of either Mydra or 14 Chanel? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you look at either person's tenant files? 17 A. Just Chanel's. 18 Q. And why did you look at Chanel's? 19 A. To see if I had given her any other write-ups 20 or anything, because I had to put an eviction request. 21 Q. Did you ask -- of the three people you said 22 you interviewed, James, Maria, and Emmanuel, did you ask 23 any of them if Chanel was using drugs? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Did you ask when the subject of the loan was 0079 1 brought up whether it was money to buy drugs? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Did you ask any of the people you interviewed 4 about prior flare-ups or arguments between Mydra and 5 Chanel? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And were you told that anyone witnessed any 8 prior flare-ups? 9 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague. Incomplete 10 hypothetical. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. You can answer. 13 A. No. 14 Q. Were you given any specific things to find out 15 in your investigation? 16 A. No. 17 Q. And just to be clear, it was Colleen that 18 asked you to conduct this? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And she didn't tell you to find out anything 21 specific? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Did you ever report back to Colleen what you 24 found out? 25 A. I don't think anything in writing. 0080 1 Q. That was actually my next question. Did you 2 tell her anything verbally about it? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. What did you tell her? 5 A. Just the things that I had gotten from the 6 people that I interviewed, reasons for why it might have 7 happened. 8 Q. That was what you mentioned, the loan 9 possibly, the love triangle, some kind of prior history 10 off-site. Is that right? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. At this meeting that you mentioned, did you 13 discuss whether other property managers who managed 14 Chanel at the other places she was working should 15 attend? 16 A. No. 17 Q. To your knowledge, did anyone ever talk to any 18 other property managers about Chanel, because we know 19 that she floated? 20 A. Not that I know of. 21 Q. Did you ever hear about an incident where 22 Chanel threatened to, quote, "Beat Mydra's ass? 23 A. After the event, yes. 24 Q. How did you learn about that? 25 A. From talking with desk clerks, that Chanel and 0081 1 Mydra didn't get along. 2 Q. What desk clerks were these? 3 A. Maria Hunter. 4 Q. Did she witness that event -- strike that. 5 The event that I am talking about is, we learned from 6 another witness that in the lobby Chanel yelled at Mydra 7 and threatened to, quote, "beat her ass. So who did you 8 learn about that from, if anyone? 9 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Misstates testimony. 10 Incomplete hypothetical. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. You can answer. 13 A. Can you repeat it, again? 14 Q. Who told you about that incident, if anyone, 15 where Chanel -- Prior to the 30th when Mydra got 16 attacked, there was an incident before that where Chanel 17 threatened to, quote, "beat Mydra's ass," that was a 18 witness. I am asking if you learned about that prior 19 incident from anyone? 20 A. Prior to the actual event on the 30th? 21 Q. Correct. 22 A. No. 23 Q. Did you learn about it after? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Who told about it? 0082 1 A. Did I learn -- Hold on. Did I learn that 2 someone threatened Mydra after? 3 Q. No. A witness testified that she heard Chanel 4 threaten to "beat Mydra's ass," those were her exact 5 words. I'm asking when, if ever, you learned about that 6 incident that occurred before the 30th? This is a prior 7 incident. Did you ever learn about that? 8 A. Not prior. 9 Q. When did you learn about it? 10 A. After from talking with desk clerks. 11 Q. Which desk clerk told you about that prior 12 incident? 13 A. If I have to say a name, I would say I think 14 Maria Hunter. 15 Q. She told you that she heard Chanel threaten to 16 beat Mydra' ass? 17 A. I wouldn't say that she said that Chanel said 18 she was going to beat Mydra's ass, but I would say more 19 of her assuming that something was going to happen 20 between the both of them because of the hostility that 21 she felt between the both of them. 22 Q. What did she tell you about the hostility that 23 she noticed between those two? 24 A. From Mydra -- from Maria? 25 Q. Yes. 0083 1 A. That Mydra was more of the aggressor whenever 2 they encountered each other. 3 Q. What she say what that meant, being the 4 aggressor? 5 A. If you want to call it a word, more of a 6 bully. 7 Q. A what? 8 A. A bully. A bully. Intimidating manner. I 9 don't know how you want to put that in a word. 10 Q. This was on the premises? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And what else did you learn? 13 A. That's about it. 14 Q. Didn't Laure McElroy tell you that she 15 witnessed Chanel say that she was going to beat Mydra's 16 ass and then going to walk out the door? 17 A. Not that I know of. 18 Q. Okay. Down where else Chanel floated during 19 May of '08? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Did you ever talk to any other of Chanel's 22 managers to see what they knew about her when you 23 conducted the investigation? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Did the Tenderloin Housing Clinic have anyone 0084 1 else investigate what happened? 2 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 3 THE WITNESS: I don't know. 4 BY MR. WEISS: 5 Q. Did you ever speak to a private investigator 6 hired by the THC about the incident? 7 A. I don't recall. 8 Q. In May of '08, how often did Steven Williams 9 work? Every day? Five days a week? 10 A. His normal scheduled days, unless he called 11 off. He hardly called off, so I don't remember him 12 calling off throughout that month. 13 Q. So this meeting that you mentioned between you 14 and Colleen and Valerie, that was on the 30th. Right? 15 A. No. 16 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 17 BY MR. WEISS: 18 Q. When was it? Oh, the 31st? 19 A. I believe it was the 31st. 20 Q. How many other meeting, if any, after the 21 31st, did you attend where the subject of this alleged 22 assault was discussed? 23 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague as to what 24 meeting is. 25 0085 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. You can answer. 3 A. Besides that one with everyone involved, I 4 don't think anymore. 5 Q. Were you ever informed that the THC conducted 6 an investigation of this incident of May 30? 7 A. Not that I can recall. 8 Q. So did you ever talk to the police about this 9 incident? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Something I forgot to ask you, do you know if 12 Chanel ever got behind on her rent at the Hartland? 13 A. Not to my knowledge. 14 Q. After this incident, isn't it true that Chanel 15 was terminated from her employment? 16 A. After the incident? 17 Q. Yes. 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. How did you learn of that? 20 A. Via e-mail. 21 Q. From Colleen? 22 A. If not Colleen, human resource. 23 Q. Okay. I don't think I ever saw that e-mail. 24 And when did you learn of this termination of 25 her employment? 0086 1 A. I would say within days of the event. 2 Q. And were you asked to evict Chanel? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. But she was never evicted, was she? 5 A. I believe we ended up doing abandonment, I 6 believe. 7 Q. And who told you originally or initially to 8 evict Chanel? 9 A. Probably my supervisor. 10 Q. Colleen? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. And when did she tell you to evict her? 13 A. I believe the same day, the 30th, if not the 14 next day. 15 Q. And when did you -- when were you told not to 16 go through the eviction? 17 A. I don't recall the date. 18 Q. Within a week later? Two weeks? Three weeks? 19 A. Maybe tops I would say a week and a half 20 maybe. I don't really recall. 21 Q. Was it ever explained to you why you should 22 not evict her and the company would go with abandonment 23 instead? 24 A. A quicker way to get her off the property 25 legally. 0087 1 Q. Have you ever taken part of an eviction at the 2 hotel? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Have you ever had a three day notice served? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Have you ever learned then after the three day 7 notice an unlawful detainer lawsuit was filed? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Have you ever learned that a person has only 10 five days to respond to an unlawful detainer lawsuit? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Have you ever taken part in a default where a 13 person has not answered the unlawful detainer lawsuit 14 and an order of eviction is obtained from the court? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. How long did that process take? 17 A. I would say -- from initial three day notice 18 or from what point? 19 Q. From the initial three day notice. 20 A. I would say -- I would say maybe three weeks 21 tops, depending on what time of the month it is. The 22 sheriff department has a cycle when they do evictions. 23 Q. What about abandonment, how long does that 24 take? 25 A. Eighteen days. 0088 1 Q. Who told you to switch to abandonment rather 2 than eviction? 3 A. My property supervisor. 4 Q. Colleen? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. And she told you a reason, you say? Or she 7 just told you to switch from one to the other? 8 A. I don't recall if she gave me a reason. 9 Q. You just followed what she wanted you to do? 10 A. Uh-huh. 11 Q. Is that right? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. When did the written notice of abandonment go 14 out, if you know? 15 A. I don't recall. 16 Q. Was it within -- Well, you say you were told 17 to start the eviction right after the event happened? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. And then how long after -- did you prepare a 20 three day notice? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Why not? 23 A. Because it's a nuisance eviction so we don't 24 do three day notice for a nuisance eviction -- not 25 initially, our lawyer does that. 0089 1 Q. The lawyer does the three day notice? 2 A. Yes. On a nuisance, I just prepare a nuisance 3 eviction package and the lawyer takes care of the rest. 4 Q. Who is the lawyer? 5 A. Arnold Evea. 6 Q. Who? 7 A. Arnold Evea. 8 Q. Oh, how is the last name spelled? 9 A. E-V -- I think it's E-V-A-L. E-V-E-A, I 10 believe, I am not sure. 11 Q. Does he work for the THC as an employee? 12 A. He is contracted by the THC. 13 Q. When did you give this counsel the nuisance 14 eviction package? 15 A. I submitted it to my supervisor so either the 16 30th or 31th, the day of the event or the day after. 17 Q. And then when were you told after that to 18 switch to abandonment? 19 A. I don't recall. 20 Q. Did you send out the notice of abandonment or 21 did the lawyer? 22 A. I did that one. 23 Q. So whatever date it is, that's when you did 24 it. Right? 25 A. Yes. 0090 1 Q. And when you were told to use abandonment 2 instead, did it occur that you were told to do it and 3 then you did it the same day or how did that work? 4 A. The same day. 5 Q. So did someone call you and tell you? Like 6 did Colleen up and tell you: We are switching to 7 abandonment, just do that; and so you went ahead and did 8 it? 9 A. I don't remember if it was either phone call 10 for an e-mail. 11 Q. Okay. But somehow Colleen told you to switch 12 to abandonment. Right? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. And then did you do that the same day? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. Did you send that to the lawyer also? 17 A. No, we don't do on that one. 18 Q. How does it work with abandonment, what do you 19 do? 20 A. We post the notice on the door. Put one in 21 the mailbox, direct it to their address. We report that 22 to the case managers to let them know that's the course 23 of action that we are taking. And once the days expire, 24 we take over the unit. 25 Q. Okay. When that abandonment was complete, 0091 1 were Chanel's belongings removed from the room? 2 A. Correct. 3 Q. Did you discover any drug paraphernalia? 4 A. I didn't do the removal of the property. 5 Q. Do you know who did? 6 A. The janitors. 7 Q. If a janitor discovers drug paraphernalia when 8 he or she takes property out of the room, what does he 9 do with the drug paraphernalia? 10 A. Throw it away. Well, at the time we bag it 11 and tag it from the move-out day to 30 days later from 12 the legal date that we can throw it away. So they are 13 told to bag everything. They are told to itemize 14 expensive property, like a TV, VCR, coats or things like 15 that. 16 Q. Did you learn that Chanel had been arrested? 17 A. For? 18 Q. Attacking Mydra. 19 A. She was removed from the property by the 20 police. 21 Q. Did you witness that? 22 A. She was in the police car when I arrived. 23 Q. Was she handcuffed, do you know? 24 A. I don't know. 25 Q. When was the next time you saw Chanel after 0092 1 she was removed by the police? 2 A. At court. 3 Q. When was that? 4 A. I don't remember. 5 Q. Was that the day you were down there to 6 testify? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. You never visited Chanel prior to that? 9 A. No. 10 Q. In jail? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Did anyone from the THC visit her in jail, 13 that you know of? 14 A. Not that I know of. 15 Q. Now, you were subpoenaed at some point. 16 Right? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. To testify -- and let's mark this as 19 Plaintiff's D. 20 (Subpoena marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. D 21 for identification.) 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. The subpoena there that you are looking at, 24 when did you -- how did you receive that subpoena? 25 A. I don't remember exactly how I got it. I 0093 1 might of got it in the mail or I might of got it handed 2 to me from Colleen, my supervisor. I don't recall. 3 Q. When did you find out that you were wanted to 4 testify? 5 A. When I received it. 6 Q. So prior to getting this, you had no idea that 7 anyone wanted to talk to you about the incident? 8 A. Not that I can recall. 9 Q. Were you ever contacted by a lawyer named 10 Christopher Hite, H-I-T-E? I'll tell you that's 11 Chanel's lawyer. 12 A. Not -- well -- I can't recall. I don't 13 remember if I spoke to him or not. 14 Q. Have you ever talked to a lady named Sandra 15 Smutz, S-M-U-T-Z? 16 A. That name I do recall. 17 Q. Who is that, do you know? 18 A. I believe she is the district attorney. 19 Q. Looking at a photocopy of another subpoena 20 that your counsel gave me, her business card is on it, 21 it says that she is an investigator for the office of 22 the public defender. Do you recall that at all? 23 A. Yes, what you said. 24 Q. Okay. And what did you discuss with her, if 25 anything? 0094 1 A. Just my knowledge of what happened. 2 Q. Can you tell me more specifically about what 3 you told her? 4 A. I don't recall exactly what we talked about 5 besides just my knowledge of the event. 6 Q. Did she ask you if you knew anything about 7 Mydra McGarr, her personality, her relationship with 8 Chanel and things like that? 9 A. I believe so. 10 Q. What did you tell her? 11 A. Just -- I believe we spoke about it in the 12 sense of tough character, very defensive. Just about 13 it -- she asked me what do you -- "From your 14 experiencing working with her, what kind of character 15 does she have?" I said, "She has a very tough 16 character, very defensive." 17 Q. What did you mean by tough character? Did you 18 ever explain that to Sandra? 19 MR. ELLIS: The question is: Did you ever 20 explain that to Sandra? 21 THE WITNESS: No. 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. Did she ever ask you what you meant by tough 24 character? 25 A. No. 0095 1 Q. Did anyone prepare you for your testimony that 2 day? 3 A. No. 4 Q. So prior to you sitting down on the witness 5 stand, you had no idea what you were going to be asked? 6 A. No. 7 Q. I was down on that day also and I noticed that 8 there were a number of THC employees down there. Did 9 you know that? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And who do you recall being down there? 12 A. James Kang. Emmanuel White. Victor Raul. 13 Anh Ngh, her last name is N-G-H. 14 Q. Who is she? 15 A. Desk clerk. Maria Hunter. Colleen Carrigan. 16 Steven Williams. Myself. I think that's it. 17 Q. And who arranged for transportation of the 18 people down in the courthouse? 19 A. Everyone got there on their own. 20 Q. So everyone just kind of met down there? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Wasn't there a tenant from the Hartland Hotel 23 that also was down there watching? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. What was his name? 0096 1 A. Eric Scott. 2 Q. So that was Eric. And do you know why he was 3 there? 4 A. I have no idea. 5 Q. Did Eric Scott ever come out of the courtroom 6 and tell anyone what was going on inside, what 7 testimony? 8 A. He did come out and speak with the attorney 9 who was there that day. I don't remember the attorney's 10 name. 11 Q. You mean the attorney for who? 12 A. I believe Chanel. 13 Q. What I witnessed was that he was sitting in 14 the courtroom while testimony was going on and then he 15 would go outside and talk to people out there and then 16 come back in. Did you notice him doing that? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And as I understand it from being there, the 19 only witnesses allowed in the courtroom, once they 20 started, were the ones that were going to be on the 21 witness stand. Was that your understanding too? 22 A. He was there on his own account. 23 Q. I know that. But I'm just saying that 24 everyone who was going to be an actual witness, they had 25 to sit outside while the court proceeding was going on 0097 1 until they were called. Did you notice that? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. So did Mr. Scott ever come out and tell anyone 4 what testimony was being given? 5 A. Not with us. 6 Q. Because I could tell you I saw him go out 7 during testimony. I saw the doors open. I saw him 8 talking to people. I don't know who he was talking to, 9 but there were all gathered together. Were you there 10 when he came out to talk? 11 A. Yeah. I mean he attempted to talk to us, but 12 we told him that we couldn't talk to him about whatever 13 was going on. 14 Q. What did he say, do you know? 15 A. I mean, he didn't say much. As soon as he 16 started talking about it, we just said: We can't talk 17 to you right now. 18 Q. Why did you say that? 19 A. Because of the nature of what we were dealing 20 with. 21 Q. Did someone tell you not to talk to him? 22 A. No. Just common sense. 23 Q. Did you ever see a transcript of your 24 testimony? 25 A. No. 0098 1 Q. Do you remember telling the public defender on 2 the witness stand that Chanel Samuel was an employee of 3 the Tenderloin Housing Clinic? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. At the time of the incident of the alleged 6 assault, how long had you worked with Mydra McGarr? 7 A. I don't know. I would say maybe six months 8 maybe, maybe less. 9 Q. And were you asked about what Ms. McGarr's 10 relationship to other tenants was like? 11 A. I believe so. 12 Q. Do you remember what you said? 13 A. I don't. 14 Q. What would your answer be today, if you were 15 asked what her relationship with the tenants was? 16 A. A good one. I don't think she had a bad 17 relationship with them. Besides that event that I can 18 remember where she had that small confrontation with the 19 tenant, verbal argument, I think that's pretty much what 20 I can remember as far as her having any behavioral 21 issues with the tenants. 22 Q. Were you advised by anyone at the THC what you 23 were supposed to talk about as your testimony at the 24 preliminary hearing? 25 A. No. 0099 1 Q. Did you ever meet with any lawyers hired by 2 the THC prior to testifying? 3 A. I don't -- I do remember now that we did speak 4 with somebody in the sense of -- just the process of 5 what was going to happen. You are going to go to court, 6 be on the stand, swear under oath, tell the truth, 7 answer the question, and things like that. 8 MR. ELLIS: If you are talking about the 9 conversations you had with the lawyer, you don't need to 10 talk about conversations that you had with lawyers. 11 THE WITNESS: Okay. Then what do I say? 12 MR. ELLIS: I am advising not to answer 13 questions about discussions that you had with lawyers. 14 But if you have information other than that, you can 15 tell him. 16 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the question 17 again? 18 BY MR. WEISS: 19 Q. Yes. I asked -- the first question was: Did 20 you speak to any lawyers hired by the THC about your 21 proposed testimony? 22 A. Hired by THC? No. 23 Q. Did you talk to anyone at the THC about your 24 proposed testimony at the preliminary hearing? 25 A. Not about what I was going to answer. 0100 1 Q. What did you talk about? 2 A. What was going to happen, the procedures of 3 what might take place. 4 Q. Just what to expect, that kind of thing? 5 A. Yes. 6 MR. ELLIS: Is this in-house THC lawyers? 7 THE WITNESS: Yes, in-house THC lawyers. 8 MR. ELLIS: That's what I'm saying, don't talk 9 about what you talked about THC lawyers or hired 10 lawyers. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. Do you remember what that lawyer's name was? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Do you know who Randy Shaw is? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Did you ever talk to him about the case? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And when was that? 19 A. I don't remember the date. 20 Q. How long after the incident was it, do you 21 think? 22 A. Maybe a month or two maybe. 23 Q. And what was the purpose of the discussion? 24 MR. ELLIS: To the degree that you were having 25 a discussion -- don't talk about the content. If you 0101 1 can answer that without describing the content of the 2 conversation, that's okay. 3 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the question? 4 BY MR. WEISS: 5 Q. What was the purpose of your discussion with 6 Randy Shaw? 7 A. Follow up and just -- 8 MR. ELLIS: Do you want to -- 9 BY MR. WEISS: 10 Q. Let me ask you this: Were you asked to speak 11 to Mr. Shaw? Did he call you to come up to his office 12 and talk to him? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. So he called you himself, it's not that 15 Colleen told you to go? 16 A. I don't recall how that message was told to 17 me. I believe it was Colleen who told me. 18 Q. Was your discuss with Randy Shaw, did it 19 concern this lawsuit that Mydra has or did it concern 20 the criminal? 21 MR. ELLIS: Again, we're getting into the 22 content of the discussion, I don't want to go there. I 23 am going to instruct him not to answer. 24 MR. WEISS: And the basis? 25 MR. ELLIS: Attorney/client privilege. 0102 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. Was Mr. Shaw serving as your attorney? 3 He can answer that. Mr. Shaw at the time 4 wasn't serving as your attorney, was he? 5 MR. ELLIS: Or potentially as THC's attorney 6 and he was an agent of THC. 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. I am trying to find that out. Mr. Shaw wasn't 9 serving as your attorney, was he? 10 A. I am not sure. 11 Q. When you were told -- when you were called in 12 for this discussion, were you told that it was because 13 Mr. Shaw was acting as an attorney for the organization? 14 MR. ELLIS: Were you told that by Colleen? 15 THE WITNESS: I wasn't told that. 16 BY MR. WEISS: 17 Q. Okay. What is Mr. Shaw's position at the THC, 18 if you know? 19 A. Executive Director. 20 Q. Okay. I will have to take his deposition, I 21 guess. Did either Christopher Hite or Sandra Smutz tell 22 you that Chanel's defense to the criminal action was 23 going to be self-defense? 24 A. I'm sorry. I was thinking of something else 25 when you asked me that. 0103 1 Q. Did Chanel's attorney or the investigator 2 working with him tell you that Chanel's defense to the 3 criminal action was going to be self-defense, that she 4 was defending herself from the attack? 5 A. Not that I can recall. 6 MR. ELLIS: Do you need to take a break? 7 THE WITNESS: Yes. 8 MR. ELLIS: Can we take a break? 9 MR. WEISS: Sure, of course. 10 (Off the record.) 11 MR. ELLIS: Can we clarify something on the 12 record, please? We just want to clarify something. 13 When you were having the discussion with Randy 14 Shaw, was it about this event or a different event, an 15 unrelated event with another -- 16 THE WITNESS: I don't recall. 17 MR. ELLIS: So when you had discussions with 18 Randy Shaw, it wasn't necessarily about this event? 19 THE WITNESS: I can say yes. There was a 20 different event going on at the time that we were 21 dealing with so I might have confused that with this. 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. Did it involve a tenant committing an act of 24 violence against someone? 25 A. No. 0104 1 Q. Did it involve an employee committing an act 2 of violence? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Does it have anything to do with an employee 5 in an altercation with anyone else? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Did it have anything to do with a tenant 8 getting involved in an altercation with anyone else? 9 A. No. 10 Q. So it's a completely different subject of this 11 case? 12 A. During the same time frame I had a sit down 13 with him so I don't remember if it was for that event or 14 this event. 15 Q. And one thing I forgot to ask you earlier. 16 This meeting that you had with Colleen and Valerie 17 Simpson, did Colleen call that meeting? 18 A. It wasn't a formal meeting. I believe we all 19 happened to be in the office, we all just pretty much 20 sat down and just recapped. 21 Q. But she asked you to go out and find out 22 information. Right? "She" being Colleen. 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. Was Valerie Simpson asked to find information? 25 A. Not that I know of. 0105 1 Q. Did you ever have a discussion with 2 Mr. Holland about what happened on May 30? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. When was that discussion? 5 A. The day of or the day after. 6 Q. What was your discussion with Mr. Holland? 7 A. That discussion might be the same one we are 8 talking about where everybody got together. 9 Q. Now, has Colleen ever visited Chanel Samuel at 10 the jail? 11 A. Not that I know of. I don't know. 12 Q. Has James Holland ever visited Chanel at the 13 jail? 14 A. Not that I know of. 15 MR. WEISS: This will be our next in order. I 16 believe it's E. Can you hand that to the witness after 17 it's marked. 18 (Injury and Illness Investigation Form marked 19 Plaintiff's Exhibit No. E for identification.) 20 21 BY MR. WEISS: 22 Q. Okay. Is that your signature on Exhibit E? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. And when do you think you filled this out? 25 A. The date that's on there. 0106 1 Q. Later, obviously later in the day? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. I notice there is a category "Was a Safety 4 Rule Violated?" and nothing is checked. Do you know why 5 that is? 6 A. I didn't know how to answer that. 7 Q. Then under "What Actions, Events or Conditions 8 Contributed Most Directly to this Injury or Illness?" 9 you mention the two incidents of the 29th and you called 10 "a verbal argument between both parties." Where did you 11 get the information that it was a verbal argument 12 between both parties? 13 A. From the incident. 14 Q. Doesn't the incident report basically say that 15 Chanel was doing the yelling? One, she yells at her and 16 slams the door and the other one she just starts yelling 17 at her. 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. Do you have any conversation that Mydra was 20 arguing with her? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Also, you have, "Chanel Samuel was talked 23 about issue by Colleen Carrigan, hotel property 24 supervisor, on 5/29/08." What time of day did Colleen 25 Carrigan talk to Chanel Samuel on 5/29/08? 0107 1 A. I don't know. 2 Q. How did you learn that Colleen Carrigan talked 3 to Chanel on 5/29? 4 A. From the e-mail. 5 Q. Oh, right. You put "Parts of Body Affected: 6 Head and possibly face as well, could not tell due to 7 excessive blood all over head and face." Wasn't Mydra 8 gone by the time you got there? 9 A. That's what I got from the people who were 10 on-site. I got this information from case management 11 and desk clerk. 12 Q. So, in other words, when you filled this out, 13 you went out and sought the information to put in it? 14 A. Uh-huh. 15 Q. Yes? 16 A. Yes. 17 MR. WEISS: This will be F. 18 (Hartland Hotel Final Written Violation Notice 19 marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. F for identification.) 20 BY MR. WEISS: 21 Q. And Exhibit F. Did you fill this out? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And is that your signature on page two of the 24 exhibit? 25 A. Yes. 0108 1 Q. You refer to in the first underlined sentence 2 to have been involved in, quote, "numerous incidents." 3 Are you referring to the two incidents that we talked 4 about? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. And the third being the attack? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Have you ever evicted a tenant from the hotel 9 for using drugs on the premises? 10 A. No. 11 MR. WEISS: This will be Exhibit G. 12 (Eviction Request marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. G 13 for identification.) 14 BY MR. WEISS: 15 Q. And Exhibit G, is that your signature at the 16 bottom? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. When do you think you filled this out? 19 A. On the day that's on there. 20 Q. June 2nd? 21 A. Correct. 22 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this Exhibit H. 23 (Nuisance Eviction Request marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 24 No. H for identification.) 25 0109 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. This Nuisance Eviction Request, is this 3 something signed by Colleen Carrigan? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Do you recognize her signature over the line 6 that says "Property Supervisor"? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. When was the first time that you saw this 9 document? 10 A. I believe sometime after the 4th, 6/4/08. 11 Q. Okay. Then at the bottom it's got handwriting 12 that says, "We shouldn't file UD until steps below are 13 taken." And it says, "Contact the DA or PD and see if 14 she will voluntarily relinquish her tenancy. I assume 15 she will not get bail." Do you know who wrote that? 16 A. I have no idea. 17 Q. Did you ever contact the DA or public defender 18 to see if Chanel would get bail? 19 A. No. 20 Q. If Chanel did get bail, would she have been 21 allowed to come back to live there? 22 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 23 THE WITNESS: I would say yes. 24 BY MR. WEISS: 25 Q. Okay. And why would you say that? 0110 1 A. She hadn't been legally evicted yet. 2 Q. Okay. It's noon so we are going to take a 3 lunch break and come back at 1:00 o'clock. 4 (Noon Recess Taken.) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0111 1 AFTERNOON SESSION 2 1:06 P.M. 3 BY MR. WEISS: 4 Q. We are on the record. Mr. Lopez, did you know 5 that Chanel Samuel had worked for the THC prior to 6 working as a floating janitor? 7 A. Not to my knowledge. 8 Q. Did you know she had been employed by the THC 9 in 2006 and voluntarily resigned? 10 A. Not to my knowledge. 11 Q. Do you know if Chanel Samuel had an 12 orientation for her work as a floating janitor? 13 A. Not to my knowledge. 14 Q. Maria Hunter, you know her. Right? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. What's her job at the THC? 17 A. Desk clerk. 18 Q. Is that at the Hartland? 19 A. No longer. She transferred due to a better 20 shift to another building. 21 Q. Do you know where she is now? 22 A. Vermont Hotel. 23 Q. Do you know whether Maria Hunter is a friend 24 of Chanel Samuel? 25 A. I'm not aware. 0112 1 Q. What was Maria Hunter's job at the Hartland? 2 A. Desk clerk. 3 Q. Do you know what her regular hours were? 4 A. She had a split shift. Two days out of the 5 week, she was a day shift, which was, I believe, 6 Tuesday, Wednesday. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 7 Saturday, swing shift, 4:00 to midnight. 8 Q. Have you heard that Chanel Samuel served as 9 relief for Maria Hunter when Maria was working the 4:00 10 to 12:00 shift? 11 A. She shouldn't have. We had our assistant 12 manager on duty that should have been giving those 13 breaks. 14 Q. Did you know that Chanel had worked as a desk 15 clerk prior to the most recent employment that she held 16 at the THC? 17 A. I had no idea. 18 Q. What is the job of the desk clerk? 19 A. To observe and report; sign in and out guests; 20 record overnight requests by tenants; document through 21 incident reports of any bad or inappropriate behavior in 22 the building or any lease or house rules violations, to 23 report that in writing through incident reports. 24 Q. Now, in doing this job, does the desk clerk 25 have to stay at the desk or does the desk clerk get to 0113 1 walk around the hotel? 2 A. The day shift, not much. The swing shift and 3 graveyard are to make three rounds per shift of the 4 facility. 5 Q. When you say make rounds of the facility, I 6 know it sounds obvious, but what does that mean? 7 A. Going from top floor all the way down making 8 sure everything is as it should be. 9 Q. Just walk the floors? 10 A. Walk the floors. 11 Q. And so you had never heard that Chanel Samuel 12 served as a relief desk clerk for Maria Hunter when she 13 was on break? 14 A. This is when she was working or when she was 15 off duty? 16 Q. Let me rephrase the question. Have you heard 17 that while Chanel Samuel was off duty, she nevertheless 18 served as a relief for Maria Hunter when she went on 19 breaks? This is at the Hartland Hotel on the 4:00 to 20 12:00 shift. 21 A. Not that I know of. 22 Q. If you had known that Chanel Samuel did that, 23 served as relief for Maria Hunter when she went on 24 breaks at the Hartland, what would you have done? 25 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Incomplete 0114 1 hypothetical. 2 BY MR. WEISS: 3 Q. You can answer. 4 A. If that would have taken place and I would 5 have been brought to the attention of that, I would have 6 addressed that with the on-duty desk clerk; more than 7 likely they would have gotten progressive disciplinary 8 action for that. And with Chanel as a tenant, I would 9 probably have a conversation with her and say not to do 10 that again and figure out, through HR, whether or not 11 that would be grounds for disciplinary action for her as 12 well. 13 Q. Now, if an employee is also a tenant of a 14 hotel where you are a manager and this person does 15 something that violates an employment rule, you don't 16 take action against them as a tenant, do you? 17 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Incomplete 18 hypothetical. Vague and ambiguous. 19 BY MR. WEISS: 20 Q. You can answer. 21 A. I don't understand the question. 22 Q. In the case of Chanel Samuel, for example, we 23 know she was a tenant at the Hartland, but she was also 24 an employee of the THC. Correct? 25 A. Correct. 0115 1 Q. So if she had a committed a violation of the 2 work rules, wouldn't the action against her be employee 3 progressive discipline rather than some sort of action 4 against her as a tenant? 5 MR. ELLIS: Vague and ambiguous. Incomplete 6 hypothetical. 7 THE WITNESS: I would report it to my 8 supervisor and then ask for advice as far as how they 9 would like me to handle that, would they want me to do 10 it as a tenant violation or as an employee violation? 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. If someone has a dual role or dual -- If a 13 person has dual capacity, i.e., they are a tenant and an 14 employee, how do you decide what kind of discipline they 15 would get if they commit a violation of the employment 16 rules? 17 MR. ELLIS: Asked and answered. Speculation. 18 Vague and ambiguous. Incomplete hypothetical. 19 BY MR. WEISS: 20 Q. You can answer. 21 A. Like I said, I would document it first, report 22 it to my supervisor, and then would more than likely 23 have my input as far as what I would like to do, but at 24 the same time, ask for advice as far as what would be 25 the right thing to do as far as through human resource, 0116 1 would it be considered a staff issue or a tenant issue. 2 Q. If Chanel was off duty but nevertheless served 3 as a desk clerk to relieve another employee, wouldn't 4 that be an employment issue, in your view? 5 MR. ELLIS: Asked and answered. Incomplete 6 hypothetical. 7 THE WITNESS: Again, like I said, I would 8 document it, report it, and then ask for recommendation 9 as far as what can we do legally, whether we take it as 10 an employee thing or a tenant thing. 11 BY MR. WEISS: 12 Q. Well, in your experiencing as a manager, would 13 you try to evict someone for doing something as an 14 employee? 15 MR. ELLIS: Incomplete hypothetical. Vague 16 and ambiguous. 17 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the question? 18 BY MR. WEISS: 19 Q. Let me ask it this way: If you have a person 20 with dual capacity, they are an employee as well as a 21 tenant, and they -- Well, let me ask a preliminary 22 question, I'm sorry. 23 If an off-duty employee nevertheless sits in 24 as a relief desk clerk, for example, do you view that, 25 as a manager, as an employment issue or a tenant issue 0117 1 or both? 2 MR. ELLIS: Incomplete hypothetical. Vague 3 and ambiguous. 4 THE WITNESS: I would want to treat it as an 5 employee issue, but I would have to get the logistics or 6 the legalities of it through HR whether we can or can't. 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. Why would you treat it as a tenant issue if it 9 involved employed? 10 MR. ELLIS: Asked and answered. Vague and 11 ambiguous. Incomplete hypothetical. 12 BY MR. WEISS: 13 Q. You can answer. 14 A. As you said, she has split role, she is a 15 tenant and an employee. So if she is off duty, then at 16 that time she is a tenant. But since she is on our THC 17 payroll, I would like to take some action as far as an 18 employee for violating an employee rule. But I would 19 have to get permission on what type of action we could 20 take. 21 Q. Have you ever tried to initiate discipline 22 against a tenant for something that a tenant did while 23 they were an employee? 24 A. Repeat the question again? 25 Q. Have you ever tried to initiate any sort of 0118 1 discipline against a tenant for something that a tenant 2 did while serving as an employee of the THC? 3 A. If they were serving as an employee at that 4 time? 5 Q. Right. 6 A. Then I would treat it as an employee issue. 7 Q. Okay. If you have a tenant who is an off-duty 8 employee yet violates employment rules, would you view 9 it as an employment matter or a tenant matter? 10 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague and ambiguous. 11 Calls for speculation. Incomplete hypothetical. 12 THE WITNESS: I guess it would depend on the 13 infraction or the violation. But if that employee is 14 off duty, then initially -- my initial reaction would be 15 as a tenant, whether it's a write-up or whatever the 16 case would be needed for that incident as a tenant. 17 But then as I report it to my supervisor, I 18 would say: Well, they are a THC employee, how would we 19 handle this as an employer? This is what I would have 20 done as a property manager. 21 BY MR. WEISS: 22 Q. Why would you against them as a tenant if they 23 are an off-duty employee breaking some sort of 24 employment rule? 25 MR. ELLIS: Incomplete hypothetical. Vague 0119 1 and ambiguous. 2 BY MR. WEISS: 3 Q. You can answer. 4 A. It would depend on the act. If it's 5 something, a violation as far a visitor's policy, then I 6 would treat it as a visitor's policy violation as a 7 tenant. But if it's something more egregious like 8 stealing company material or something like that, then I 9 would treat it as such. You know where these things are 10 at, you know where to grab the keys, so then I am going 11 to treat it as such. 12 Q. If an off-duty employee stole some company 13 material, you would view that as an employee matter. 14 Right? 15 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Misstates testimony. 16 Vague and ambiguous. Calls for speculation. Incomplete 17 hypothetical. 18 BY MR. WEISS: 19 Q. You can answer. 20 A. Again, I would initially treat it as a tenant 21 issue and report it to my supervisor as far as saying: 22 Hey, she is an employee, he is an employee, can we treat 23 this as an employee issue as well? I am assuming that 24 she would take that up with HR as far as the legalities 25 of it whether we can or can't. 0120 1 Q. Off-duty employees, do they maintain -- do 2 they get to hold on to keys to the premises? 3 A. No. 4 Q. If Chanel did take the elevator down to get 5 into the basement to hide herself because Mr. Kang 6 wouldn't let her go down there, where would she had 7 gotten the keys to the elevator from? 8 A. The key box at the front desk, if there was 9 one there which probably would be the janitors or the 10 maintenance men. 11 Q. So the day of the alleged assault, if Mr. Kang 12 didn't let her walk down the basement through the door 13 and she had a key to the elevator to get into the 14 basement, that key would have had to come from the front 15 desk of the Hartland? 16 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 17 Asked and answered. 18 THE WITNESS: I don't understand the question. 19 BY MR. WEISS: 20 Q. Well, where are all the possible places Chanel 21 could have gotten the key to get down on the elevator to 22 the basement on the 30th? 23 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 24 THE WITNESS: I don't know where she could 25 have gotten the key. 0121 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. Where is all the possible places she could 3 have gotten the key on May 30? 4 MR. ELLIS: Speculation. 5 MR. WEISS: Overruled. 6 THE WITNESS: From the key box at the front 7 desk. 8 BY MR. WEISS: 9 Q. Anywhere else? 10 A. My office. But if I am not in there, it stays 11 locked. 12 Q. How did Chanel get into the basement on the 13 day of the 30th? 14 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Speculation. 15 THE WITNESS: I don't know. 16 MR. ELLIS: Right now we are going through a 17 series of hypotheticals so I am going to be objecting to 18 most of his questions, so give me a second to object. 19 And the objection is speculation. You can 20 answer the question if you remember it. 21 THE WITNESS: What was the question again? 22 BY MR. WEISS: 23 Q. Where would Chanel have gotten the key to 24 get -- strike that. 25 Where are all the possible places Chanel could 0122 1 have gotten a key to go down to the basement the day of 2 the 30th when this alleged assault occurred? 3 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Speculation. 4 THE WITNESS: Front desk or possibly my 5 office. 6 BY MR. WEISS: 7 Q. Anywhere else? 8 A. That's it. 9 Q. Do you have any sort of like security check to 10 make sure that elevator keys, other keys, are in the key 11 box during the day where they are supposed to be? 12 A. Meaning -- 13 Q. For example, suppose Chanel was on duty as a 14 floating janitor and she needed a key to the elevator, 15 would she have to sign it out and sign it in if she took 16 the keys? 17 MR. ELLIS: You are talking about the policies 18 on May 30th, on the day of the incident, or are you 19 asking about today? 20 BY MR. WEISS: 21 Q. I am asking about May 30. 22 A. No. 23 Q. She could just take the key out of the box? 24 A. No. Oh, well -- 25 Q. Let's say on May 30 Chanel was on duty as a 0123 1 floating janitor. You said she would get the key from 2 the key box at the front desk? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Can anyone get into the key box or is it 5 locked? 6 A. It's not locked. 7 Q. So she could go up to the key box and take the 8 key out. Right? 9 A. She has to get access to the front desk first. 10 Q. How do you get access to the front desk? 11 A. Through the door. 12 Q. Is the front desk an enclosure? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. So to get behind the front desk, you have to 15 come in through another door? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. How many doors lead to behind the front desk? 18 A. Just one. 19 Q. So for her to get to the key box on any given 20 day, she would have to actually get behind the front 21 desk. Correct? 22 A. Correct. 23 Q. Or someone behind the front desk could give 24 her the key, couldn't they? 25 A. Correct. 0124 1 Q. Did Maria Hunter work on May 30? 2 A. No. Well -- depends on what day that actually 3 was. Because Maria Hunter worked -- works day shift 4 Tuesday and Wednesday; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, swing 5 shift. So she possibly might have worked the swing 6 shift 4:00 to midnight on that day depending on what day 7 that actually fell on. 8 Q. Do you schedule the employees yourself on what 9 days and what times they are going to work? 10 A. They all have a set schedule. 11 Q. Who gives them the schedule? 12 A. The schedule -- upon hiring, they are told 13 their set schedule. Unless needed otherwise, they are 14 instructed to meet on -- for example -- for example, 15 Mydra used to work shift schedule from 12:00 p.m. to 16 8:00 p.m. Sometimes I might need her at 8:00 in the 17 morning so I might say: Can you come in at 8:00 in the 18 morning tomorrow? But besides that, they are to come in 19 on their set schedules. 20 Q. While we figure out what day of the week 21 May 30 was, do you have any knowledge whether -- 22 MS. McGARR: It was a Thursday. 23 BY MR. WEISS: 24 Q. If May 30 were a Thursday, what would Maria's 25 schedule would have been? 0125 1 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 2 THE WITNESS: Swing shift 4:00 to midnight. 3 BY MR. WEISS: 4 Q. So as you sit here today, you don't have any 5 knowledge whether or not Maria gave Chanel the key to 6 the elevator? 7 A. I have no knowledge of that. 8 MS. MCGARR: It was a Friday. Excuse me. 9 BY MR. WEISS: 10 Q. What would the shift have been -- 11 A. Same thing. 12 Q. Same 4:00 to 12:00? 13 A. (Witness nods head.) 14 Q. Okay. Have you ever heard that security 15 cameras showed Chanel trying to get down to the basement 16 but Kang not letting her go down there? 17 A. I'm not sure. 18 Q. Have you ever heard that security cameras 19 showed Chanel coming in the basement through the 20 basement door on the day of the alleged assault? 21 A. What was that, I'm sorry? 22 Q. Have you ever heard that any security camera 23 showed Chanel getting into the basement around the time 24 of the assault by just going through the basement door? 25 A. I don't recall. 0126 1 Q. Did you ever see the security videos? 2 A. Not from beginning to end. 3 Q. What parts of it did you see? 4 A. I would say the beginning parts of the 5 recording it or taking it off the DVR. 6 Q. Did you ever watch any part of it? 7 A. I would just say the initial parts of it, just 8 like -- if I remember correctly, it recorded from the 9 moment that I think I walked in the door, I believe, 10 maybe until the actual last police officer left the 11 building. 12 Q. When you walked in the door? But that would 13 have been after the assault. 14 A. That would have been before. That would 15 record -- that day I got to work 8:00 o'clock, 8:15, I 16 don't know what the case would be. 17 Q. When you say walked in the door, you mean when 18 you came to work? 19 A. Exactly. 20 Q. And you saw it till what time, did you say? 21 A. I would say the first couple of minutes, 22 because I delegated that work to my desk clerk, I said: 23 Record all this from this time to that time. 24 Q. And you didn't see Chanel going into the 25 basement on that tape? 0127 1 A. I didn't. 2 Q. Has anyone told you in anything that you've 3 heard or investigated yourself, that Chanel Samuel 4 walked through the basement door to get to the basement 5 sometime prior to the alleged assault on May 30? 6 A. I didn't. 7 Q. And, in fact, Mr. Kang said he prevented her 8 from going down to the basement through the door. 9 Right? 10 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Misstates testimony. 11 Call for speculation. 12 THE WITNESS: I don't recall. 13 BY MR. WEISS: 14 Q. What did Mr. Kang tell you about trying to 15 prevent Chanel from going down into the basement on 16 May 30? 17 A. I don't remember what exactly he said. 18 Q. How about generally what he said? 19 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 20 THE WITNESS: To the best of my recognition, 21 something in the sense of her wanting to go to the 22 basement. I don't remember exactly specific reasons why 23 or if there were any specific reasons why, but I do 24 remember him saying that she kept pacing back and forth 25 to the lobby. 0128 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. Did he say anything else about the pacing? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Did he say that he told her not to go down 5 there or she couldn't go down there? 6 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 7 THE WITNESS: I am not sure. 8 BY MR. WEISS: 9 Q. If she was just going to open the door and go 10 down there, how could Mr. Kang stop her? 11 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Incomplete 12 hypothetical. 13 THE WITNESS: Physically. 14 BY MR. WEISS: 15 Q. You don't have to buzz someone in the door to 16 let someone in? 17 A. No. 18 Q. To get in behind the front desk, you have to 19 be buzzed in through the door? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. And the front desk, is it completely enclosed 22 all the way to the ceiling? 23 A. No. 24 Q. About how high up does the front desk go? 25 A. I would say 8 feet, 9 feet. 0129 1 Q. And behind the front desk, are there offices? 2 A. No. 3 Q. What's behind the front desk? 4 A. When you say behind the front desk, meaning 5 behind the walls in the front desk or inside the front 6 desk? 7 Q. Behind the walls of the front desk, what do 8 you have? 9 A. Directly next to it is a case manager's 10 office, but it's blocked off wall. And behind it is, I 11 would say, the building behind us. 12 Q. Okay. So for Laure McElroy to get to her 13 office, does she have to get buzzed in through the front 14 desk? 15 A. If she is coming from the outside to the 16 building, yes. 17 Q. And once you get behind the front desk, is 18 there any way of getting out of the hotel? 19 A. No. 20 Q. You have to come back through the door of the 21 front desk? 22 A. You gotta come out of the door to the front 23 desk and then you are actually in the lobby. 24 Q. But there is no other doors to the building or 25 behind the front desk that leads to any doors to the 0130 1 outside? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Any windows back there? 4 A. Just the window that you can open from the 5 front desk to sign guests in. 6 Q. The offices behind the front desk, any windows 7 to the outside? 8 A. I didn't hear the last part. 9 Q. The offices behind the front desk, any windows 10 to the outside? 11 A. There are no offices behind the front desk 12 besides the front desk itself. 13 Q. Okay. So once you are behind the front desk, 14 you are pretty much enclosed behind it. Right? 15 A. Correct. You are basically in a box. 16 Q. Is there glass in front of the front desk? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Is it thick glass, like you couldn't break it 19 very easily? 20 A. The front glass, I believe, is that barbwire 21 glass I believe. I don't recall. But there is glass on 22 one -- on the right -- on the left hand side, the front, 23 and to the right. So I would say, if you were to 24 measure them, the two side windows -- probably, I don't 25 know -- 24 inches by maybe 36 inches or something. 0131 1 Q. Right. Now, I saw in some of the documents 2 here that Chanel used a pipe to hit Mydra. Do you know 3 where she got the pipe? 4 A. No idea. 5 Q. And then you were also asked at the 6 preliminary hearing whether she used a pipe from a 7 vacuum cleaner. Do you remember that? 8 A. I do remember that question. 9 Q. Do you know whether she used a pipe from the 10 vacuum cleaner? 11 A. I don't believe so. 12 Q. Has anyone at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic 13 expressed the opinion that Chanel Samuel is guilty of 14 committing this assault? 15 MR. ELLIS: I'll object. 16 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the question? 17 BY MR. WEISS: 18 Q. Has anyone at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic 19 management ever expressed any opinions as to whether 20 Chanel Samuel is guilty of assaulting and battering 21 Mydra McGarr? 22 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Calls for speculation. 23 THE WITNESS: No. 24 MR. WEISS: What is speculation about asking 25 if someone told him something? 0132 1 MR. ELLIS: You didn't ask. 2 MR. WEISS: Yes, I did. I said has anyone 3 expressed the opinion. Why is that speculation? 4 MR. ELLIS: If one person expressed it to 5 another, he is speculating what they expressed to each 6 other. He wasn't there for the conversation. 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. I am asking what you heard. Just so we can 9 not have any headaches about this. Were you ever 10 present when anyone in the Tenderloin Housing Clinic 11 management expressed the opinion that Chanel Samuel was 12 guilty of attacking Mydra McGarr? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Have you ever heard anyone in the THC 15 management express any opinions about the guilt or 16 innocence of Chanel Samuel with regard to the attack on 17 Mydra McGarr? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Has anyone in THC management ever told you not 20 to express opinions about whether Chanel Samuel is 21 guilty or innocent? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. Who is that? 24 A. Colleen. 25 Q. What did she tell you? 0133 1 A. Not to talk about this. 2 Q. When did she tell you that? 3 A. I would say once we found out we were being 4 sued. 5 Q. How about before that, did she ever say that? 6 A. She didn't have to. Confidentiality. I don't 7 discuss other tenants or employees issues with anybody 8 else besides my supervisor. 9 Q. During this meeting that you attended on the 10 31st or the 1st, where Colleen was present and you and 11 Valerie Simpson and James Holland, did anyone express 12 any opinions at that meeting about whether Chanel was 13 guilty or innocent? 14 A. No. 15 Q. Now, as far as you know, Chanel has not been 16 convicted of any crime. Right? 17 A. I have no idea. 18 Q. Do you know why -- did anyone ever tell you 19 why you were asked to evict Chanel Samuel from the 20 premises at the Hartland? 21 A. Who is anyone? 22 Q. Anyone in management ever tell you why they 23 wanted Chanel Samuel evicted? 24 A. Other than cause for nuisance? 25 Q. But I mean -- what did they say then? Why 0134 1 would they tell you to conduct a nuisance eviction? 2 A. Because of the nature of the event. 3 Q. So the nature of the event meaning that Mydra 4 McGarr was attacked? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. And so did you hear anyone at any 7 time -- strike that. 8 Did you hear anyone in management ever express 9 any doubt that Chanel Samuel was guilty? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Did anyone at the THC ever express the opinion 12 that Mydra McGarr started this incident which resulted 13 in her getting injured? 14 A. "Anyone" being management? 15 Q. Let's start with management. 16 A. Not management. 17 Q. How about below management? 18 A. From when talking with the desk clerks and 19 trying to investigate what happened, I would say yes. 20 Q. And give me an example. Like who said that? 21 A. I would say Maria Hunter was probably the one 22 who said that this was bound to happen whether it was 23 on-site or off-site. 24 Q. Did she say why? 25 A. Because of the nature of both parties 0135 1 involved, both of them were -- I guess whatever was 2 going on between them -- them being Mydra and Chanel -- 3 that sooner or later they were going to have a 4 confrontation. 5 Q. Isn't it true that Maria Hunter was good 6 friends with Chanel Samuel? 7 A. I have no idea. 8 Q. So aside from Maria expressing an opinion that 9 it was bound to happen, did anyone else beneath 10 management say it was bound to happen or likely to 11 happen? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Except for the two incident reports that you 14 received from Mydra, had you received any other 15 complaints from Mydra about Chanel Samuel? 16 A. Besides that one where she didn't want to work 17 with her. 18 Q. Okay. And had you received complaints from 19 anyone else at the Hartland, whether employee or tenant, 20 about Chanel Samuel? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Had Chanel Samuel ever complained about any 23 employee or management at the Hartland? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Has Chanel Samuel ever complained about any 0136 1 tenants at the Hartland Hotel? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Next in order, I. 4 (Notice of Belief of Abandonment marked 5 Plaintiff's Exhibit No. I for identification.) 6 7 BY MR. WEISS: 8 Q. Is that your signature at the bottom? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. What is this form? 11 A. This is a Notice of Believe of Abandonment 12 form. 13 Q. What's the significance of this? 14 A. This is the form that we use to post 15 abandonment. 16 Q. Do you have something at the hotel called an 17 86 list? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. What is the 86 list? 20 A. It's a list that desk clerks have to let them 21 know who are the guests that are not allowed in the 22 building for various reasons. 23 Q. Was Chanel Samuel ever put on the 86 list? 24 A. She should have. 25 Q. Was she? 0137 1 A. I never confirmed whether or not she actually 2 was put on there, but I instructed my assistant to do 3 so. 4 Q. You mean Mr. Williams? 5 A. Steven Williams, yes. 6 Q. When did you say that? 7 A. That same day that it happened or probably the 8 second day, the 31st or the 1st. 9 Q. Now, this 86 list, is it something kept on the 10 computer or is it posted at the desk? 11 A. At the front desk. 12 Q. So that way a desk clerk can see it and say: 13 Okay, this person is on the list and can't be in here? 14 A. Correct. 15 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this as the next one, 16 J. 17 (Tenant Move-Out Form marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 18 No. J for identification.) 19 BY MR. WEISS: 20 Q. And what is this form? 21 A. It's a Tenant Move-Out Form. 22 Q. Does your signature appear on it? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Down here where it says "Form Completed By"? 25 A. Correct. 0138 1 Q. And then moving up the page a little bit, it's 2 got an X, it says, "Reason: Physically assaulted hotel 3 janitor with a metal pipe to the head causing severe 4 cuts to head." Did you put that in there? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. Where it says, "e-mail facts to PS," is that 7 property supervisor? 8 A. Correct. 9 Q. Is that Colleen? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. And then "Move file to former tenant file," 12 what does that mean? 13 A. That means remove her from our tenant file 14 cabinet and put her in our former tenant file. 15 Q. And then also Housing Counselors has an X. 16 Does that mean that you get notice of it? 17 A. That means that the housing counselor was 18 informed that the tenant was no longer with us. 19 Q. Does the same apply to the case manager? 20 That's checked off also. 21 A. I'm sorry. Housing counselor is where they 22 pay rent so they are informed that this person will no 23 longer be paying rent because they are no longer with 24 us. And the case manager as well, they are informed 25 that the tenant is no longer with us so they don't have 0139 1 to provide case manager service. 2 Q. Okay. I wanted to ask you something on 3 Exhibit G. See where it says "rent rate: 493"? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. To the right of that it's got "MPP". What 6 does that stand for? 7 A. Modified Payment Program. 8 Q. And it's got "No" checked. What does that 9 mean? 10 A. That means that she is not on the modified 11 payment program. 12 Q. Is the modified payment program something to 13 help tenants that can't afford their rent to work out 14 their payments? 15 A. Can you repeat that again? 16 Q. What is MPP? Just tell us what it is? 17 A. That's -- that's Housing Department. But I'm 18 not too sure -- I know it stands for modified payment 19 program, and that's the program that our tenants have to 20 be on if they enter any of our hotels to live in. So 21 they have to be on this program. This basically to me 22 is kind of a shock, I don't know why I put no. 23 Q. What's the significance of checking "No"? 24 A. For example, as I said earlier, inherited 25 tenants would be a no. So this is more than likely a 0140 1 typo. She should have been a yes. Because she came 2 into the agency after the fact, that we already took 3 over the hotel. This mainly pertains only to tenants 4 who were living already in the hotel once the agency 5 took over the hotel as management. 6 Q. I get it. Do you remember the exact date that 7 you told your assistant to put Chanel Samuel on the 86 8 list? Was it May 30, do you know? 9 A. It had to be within days of the event. I 10 would say the day of or the day after maybe. Or if it 11 was on a Friday that this happened, then probably that 12 same day or that following Monday. 13 Q. Why would you say it would have to be then? 14 A. Because of the nature of the event. If she 15 were to be released -- well, actually, you know what? 16 Let me take that back, I'm sorry. We cannot put her on 17 the 86 list because of the fact that she is not legally 18 evicted. Until she is legally evicted we can put her on 19 the 86 list. So I would say she was put on the 86 list 20 as of the expiration of the abandonment form. 21 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this as Exhibit K. 22 (E-mail string with top one dated 6/17/08 marked 23 Plaintiff's Exhibit No. K for identification.) 24 25 0141 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. So this is an e-mail from Colleen to you. 3 Correct? 4 A. Uh-huh. 5 Q. And you and Steven, actually, it looks like. 6 Correct? 7 A. Uh-huh. 8 Q. Yes? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Okay. And it looks like she is advising you 11 not to put Chanel on the 86 list until she is evicted or 12 the abandonment takes place. I'm sorry, I misquoted 13 that. 14 So this tells you not to put Chanel on the 86 15 list until Chanel either puts it in writing that she is 16 no longer a tenant and gives back possession or the 17 abandonment expires. Right? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. So does this refresh your memory as to when 20 you might have put her on the 86 list? 21 A. Yes, it does. So as I previously mentioned, 22 we might of had a conversation as far as putting her on 23 the 86 list, but then it was determined that until she 24 is legally evicted or legally the abandonment letter 25 expires then we could put her on the 86 list. So I 0142 1 believe as of the 3rd, we put her on the 86 list. 2 Q. So if Chanel had returned prior to being on 3 the 86 list, what would you have done? 4 A. Give her access to her unit. 5 Q. Okay. I see. Then it looks like 6/17, 6 Colleen says you can add her to the 86 list. Right? 7 That's the last e-mail on there. 8 A. On the 16th -- on the 17th? She is saying not 9 to. 10 Q. Look at the bottom e-mail. "Hey all, add to 11 your list 86 list, Chanel Samuel. Laura, note this 12 addition for your records. Thanks and talk to your PS 13 if you have any questions." 14 A. That's the first e-mail. 15 Q. Oh, I see. Then four minutes later she says 16 don't do it. Okay. I understand. 17 Okay. Let's mark this as L. 18 (E-mail dated 6/17/08 marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 19 No. L for identification.) 20 BY MR. WEISS: 21 Q. Take a look at that. My question is, who is 22 Krista? 23 A. Krista is the Director of the Housing 24 Department. 25 Q. Why would Chanel not be in the data base as of 0143 1 June 17, 2008? 2 A. Housing Department error. 3 Q. Okay. And then it goes down, "Here's the 4 info: She signed her lease on Friday 3/14 for unit 601 5 and she never paid rent." Now, did you ever realize 6 that Chanel had never paid rent? 7 A. I did not. 8 Q. Wouldn't you as manager know somehow that 9 Chanel was not paying rent? 10 A. We should have gotten notice. But since she 11 wasn't on the database, we weren't able to determine 12 whether she paid rent or not. 13 Q. You knew she was a tenant, though. Right? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Who do the tenants pay the rent to at the 16 Hartland? 17 A. The chosen few, pay me or my assistant 18 manager. 19 Q. The "chosen few"? 20 A. The few who are inherited tenants that were 21 there when the THC took over are the only ones who pay 22 management. All the other tenants who came in after THC 23 took over pay at the Housing Department office. 24 Q. Where is that located? 25 A. 472 Turk. 0144 1 Q. Oh, I see. And so did people at 472 Turk know 2 that Chanel was living in there? 3 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Speculation. 4 THE WITNESS: I would assume so. 5 BY MR. WEISS: 6 Q. Don't you have to sign a lease to live there? 7 A. With me? 8 Q. Someone. 9 A. No. 10 Q. Doesn't the tenant -- In 2008, wouldn't a 11 tenant at the Hartland Hotel have to sign a lease to 12 move in? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. And who presents the lease to the tenant to 15 sign in 2008? 16 A. I do. 17 Q. Did you ever present a lease to Chanel to sign 18 in 2008? 19 A. I don't think I did. I believe my assistant 20 manager signed it with me. 21 Q. But you know for a fact that she signed one. 22 Right? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. How do you know that for a fact? 25 A. Because there is a lease in her file. 0145 1 Q. You've seen it? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. After the lease is signed, what is done with 4 it? 5 A. Put in the tenant filed, filed in the tenant 6 file cabinet. 7 Q. Does Housing office on Turk Street get a copy? 8 A. No. 9 Q. How does the Housing office on Turk Street 10 know who is a tenant and who is isn't? 11 A. They notify us who is going to be a potential 12 interview. They refer a potential tenant to us and we 13 interview and approve or deny as far as moving them in 14 or not. 15 Q. So they refer the people and you screen them 16 and determine if they are acceptable; is that how it 17 works? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. And after you determined that Chanel was 20 acceptable to be a tenant, didn't you notify the Housing 21 office that she was accepted? 22 A. I give them a referral letter which they take 23 back to Housing. 24 Q. So the tenant herself has to bring it back to 25 Housing? 0146 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Do you know if Chanel ever took her referral 3 letter back to the Housing Department? 4 A. I'm not sure. 5 Q. Is there anyway of verifying whether 6 tenants -- strike that. 7 So theoretically a tenant could just never 8 turn in the referral letter and just live there rent 9 free. Right? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Why not? 12 A. They have to provide a rent receipt. 13 Q. To whom? 14 A. To me or whoever signs the lease with them at 15 the building. 16 Q. I see. So once you accept a tenant, the 17 tenant signs the lease, the tenant gets a referral 18 letter to bring back to Housing. Right? 19 A. Right. 20 Q. And then every time the tenant pays rent, they 21 have to come back and give you, the manager, the rent 22 receipt proving they paid rent? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. Did you ever get rent receipts from Chanel 25 Samuel? 0147 1 A. I don't recall, because I don't recall doing 2 her lease. 3 Q. Well, did you ever see any rent receipts in 4 her tenant file? 5 A. I don't recall. I believe not. 6 Q. Is it your testimony that at no time while 7 Chanel was a tenant at Hartland, that you knew she 8 was -- strike that. 9 Is it true then that at no time did you know 10 that Chanel was not paying rent? 11 A. Not until the actual move out. When I was 12 creating the move out form is when I determined that. 13 Q. Did anyone above you, supervisory level, 14 comment on how come she didn't pay rent? 15 A. I mean, it was determined that I wasn't able 16 to find out she wasn't paying rent because of the fact 17 that she wasn't on the database. 18 Q. Do you have any sort of system at the hotel 19 where you can keep track of whether you receive rent 20 receipts from a tenant? 21 A. No. 22 Q. So if a tenant is not in the database, they 23 don't pay rent, they don't give you a rental receipt, 24 how do you know that they are paying rent or not? 25 A. We do what we call a rent roll and that pretty 0148 1 much prints out everyone's name of who has paid rent or 2 who hasn't paid rent. 3 Q. Did you ever see anyone on the rent roll 4 whether Chanel Samuel paid rent or not? 5 A. I never saw Chanel on the rent roll. 6 Q. Didn't you think to do something about that? 7 A. Didn't -- I didn't see her on it so I didn't 8 really -- I wouldn't see her on the rent roll so I 9 wouldn't really worry about whether or not she was 10 paying rent. I was assuming that she was, I guess. 11 Q. Does the rent roll contain names of tenants 12 who don't pay rent; is that all that's on there? 13 A. The rent roll contains all the tenants names. 14 So what I do is I run across the list and highlight the 15 ones who haven't paid rent. 16 So from my account, she was slipping through 17 the cracks because I only look for tenants who haven't 18 paid rent that are on the list. So since she wasn't on 19 the list, period, she never really caught my eye in the 20 sense of her name saying no rent. 21 Q. Now, you would see her from time to time in 22 the hotel. Right? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. I mean, wouldn't you remember whether she 25 handed you a rent receipt or not? 0149 1 A. They are not supposed to. The rent receipt 2 they get is for their own records. 3 Q. Maybe I misunderstood you. How do you know as 4 manager whether someone has paid rent? 5 A. Off the database I run the rent roll and that 6 list has everyone's name on a roster and it will say 7 next to the their name paid or not paid. 8 Q. So you never thought about: I see Chanel 9 Samuel here in the hotel but I never seen her on the 10 rent roll; that never meant anything to you? 11 A. It didn't dawn on me that she wasn't on there. 12 When I go through the list, I am looking for no rent, no 13 rent, that's what I am looking for. If it doesn't say 14 no rent, then I skip it. 15 Q. Her name wasn't even on there at all. Right? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Did I give you L? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Okay. Did anyone in management ever criticize 20 you for not collecting rent from Chanel? 21 A. Yes. Colleen, my supervisor. 22 Q. What did she say? 23 A. Pay more attention. 24 Q. Did you know Chanel Samuel before she moved 25 into the Hartland? 0150 1 A. Personally, no. As a supervisor, no. She 2 might have came into the building and worked at the 3 Hartland prior to moving in, but I don't recall. 4 Q. What I mean is, prior to her ever coming to 5 the Hartland for any reason, moving in as a tenant, 6 working there, did you know her? Because you 7 mentioned -- 8 A. No. 9 Q. -- you had worked in other properties. 10 A. No. I didn't know her until the first time 11 she either worked or moved into the Hartland. 12 Q. Do you know a Brian Samuel? 13 A. Brian Samuel? 14 Q. Right. 15 A. No. 16 Q. Have you heard that Brian Samuel was Chanel's 17 father? 18 A. I have no idea. 19 Q. Have you ever heard that Brian Samuel worked 20 at the Jefferson Hotel? 21 A. Not while I was there. 22 Q. Do you have any family members that work at 23 the THC also? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Have you ever had any other family members 0151 1 work at the THC? 2 A. No. 3 Q. When I say family, I don't necessarily mean 4 like brother or sister, it could be a cousin or uncle. 5 A. Not blood related. Not blood related. 6 Q. Do you have any friends that work at the THC? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. And you knew them before you went to work 9 there? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. Do you remember any of their names? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. What are their names? 14 A. Jaime Quijano. 15 Q. How do you spell his last name? 16 A. I don't know. I would say Q-U-I-J-A-N-O. 17 Q. We will just say that's phonetic for now. 18 Jaime is J-A-I-M-E? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. He is a friend of yours? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Now, in this Exhibit L, Colleen says something 23 to the effect that: Jesus will do a move out form and 24 list no re-entry because of violence at the hotel and 25 send it to Housing for you guys to update her record. 0152 1 Did you ever do that? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And, in fact, do you know if Housing did 4 update her record? 5 A. I'm not sure. 6 Q. Okay. So until this incident happened where 7 Chanel was arrested, there was never any talk about 8 evicting her for nonpayment of rent, was there? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Now, you went to the hospital once to visit 11 Mydra. Correct? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. Were you able to have any discussions with her 14 while you were at the hospital? 15 A. What kind of discussion? 16 Q. Anything? Did you talk to her? 17 A. Well, yes, in regards of her well-being. 18 Q. Okay. Now, when you went to visit Mydra at 19 the hospital, was it General Hospital? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And when you went to visit her, was anyone 22 else present? Aside from Mydra and her family or 23 friends. 24 A. Her family members. I was with my significant 25 other, my girlfriend at the time. 0153 1 Q. Okay. Do you know Mydra's sister, Dijada? 2 A. I don't remember her name, but I do know there 3 was a sister there. 4 Q. Did you ever tell Dijada -- strike that. 5 Did you ever tell Mydra's sister, while you 6 were visiting at the hospital, that you didn't think it 7 would blow up like this? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. What did you refer to? 10 A. From the two events that happened on the day 11 prior to the event on the 29th. 12 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this as Exhibit M, 13 please. Oh, let me see that. We need to go off the 14 record. I forgot to copy a couple of exhibits. 15 (Off the record.) 16 MR. WEISS: Okay. Let's give it another shot. 17 Let's mark this as M. 18 (Tenderloin Housing Clinic Record of Verbal 19 Counseling marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. M 20 for identification.) 21 BY MR. WEISS: 22 Q. So this is something called Record of Verbal 23 Counseling. And let me ask you this first, were you 24 working at the Hartland Hotel as of 11/8/06? 25 A. No. 0154 1 Q. And it looks like I got Chanel Samuel working 2 as a desk clerk at the Hartland. Do you see that? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. What is a record of verbal counseling? 5 A. It's just letting her know that there was an 6 infraction. We want to put her on notice that there 7 was -- I guess for this, when she showed up late for 8 work. 9 MR. ELLIS: Can I interrupt? 10 MR. WEISS: Yes. 11 MR. ELLIS: Did you ask if he worked there on 12 11/8/06? 13 MR. WEISS: Yes, I did. 14 MR. ELLIS: Then we might be looking at a 15 different form. 16 BY MR. WEISS: 17 Q. Let me re-ask then. I got two different ones. 18 So were you working at the Hartland on 5/27/07? 19 A. No. 20 MR. WEISS: Let's mark this next as N. 21 (Tenderloin Housing Clinic Record of Verbal 22 Counseling marked Plaintiff's Exhibit No. N 23 for identification.) 24 BY MR. WEISS: 25 Q. Were you working at the Hartland on 11/8/06? 0155 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And you told us what a record of verbal 3 counseling is. Why didn't you give Chanel a record of 4 verbal counseling after the two incident reports that 5 Mydra filed? 6 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 7 THE WITNESS: What was the question again? 8 BY MR. WEISS: 9 Q. Why didn't you give Chanel a record of verbal 10 counseling on 5/29/08? 11 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 12 THE WITNESS: These are I am assuming things 13 that happened prior to her new employment so I would 14 assume -- well, let me back up. 15 BY MR. WEISS: 16 Q. I am not asking you about -- I just wanted -- 17 I wanted to ask you to identify these, what they are, 18 what the reason for them is. Then I am asking -- we 19 have established that you know what they are -- why 20 didn't you give a record of verbal counseling to Chanel 21 Samuel on 5/29/08? 22 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 23 THE WITNESS: Because I was not her 24 supervisor. 25 0156 1 BY MR. WEISS: 2 Q. So you have to be the person's supervisor to 3 give a record of verbal counseling? 4 A. Correct. Or at least the supervisor for that 5 time. 6 Q. And I didn't see any record of verbal 7 counseling in Chanel Samuel's employment file. Do you 8 know why that is? 9 A. I have no idea. 10 Q. Did Colleen ever tell you why she did not give 11 Chanel Samuel a record of verbal counseling? 12 A. She did not. 13 Q. As a general manager, are you responsible for 14 employee safety? 15 A. In what sense? 16 Q. In any sense? Like keeping them from acts of 17 violence? Getting injured from faulty equipment? I 18 don't know. Anything? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And how often did Colleen check in with you 21 and talk about what's going on at the Hartland Hotel? 22 A. I would say we talk just about every day. I 23 check in with her just about every day and say -- for 24 whatever reason I might need to call her. But at least 25 once a day, I would say. Once every other day. 0157 1 Q. Just checking in and find out what's going on 2 and that type of thing? 3 A. Just whatever might be on my plate. If I've 4 got any questions: Colleen, I got a question on this. 5 I want to do this. What do you think? 6 Q. So you speak with her if not every day every 7 other day just about the general business of the hotel 8 and what's going on? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. Did Mydra ever talk to you about returning to 11 work? 12 A. I would say yes. I don't recall exactly when. 13 Q. Did Mydra since she has been out of the 14 hospital, she has returned to the Hartland for various 15 business matters, hasn't she? 16 A. I would say yes. 17 Q. If you have seen her. If you haven't -- 18 A. I personally haven't seen her at the building. 19 Q. Did Chanel Samuel ever complain to you that it 20 was Mydra who was hostile and violent toward her and not 21 the other way around? 22 A. No. 23 Q. I remember another one. Do you recall ever 24 asking Mydra if she was going to sue the THC? 25 A. I don't recall asking her that. 0158 1 Q. Didn't you ask her that right at the 2 preliminary hearing right in front of me? 3 A. I don't recall that. 4 Q. Don't you remember? She was sitting there in 5 the courtroom. You didn't know me at the time. You 6 walked up to her at the time and you asked her if she 7 was planning on suing. You don't remember that? 8 A. I don't remember that. 9 Q. Did you ever ask her if she was going to file 10 a lawsuit? 11 A. I don't recall asking her that. 12 Q. Did you ever discuss with any management 13 members of the THC whether Mydra was going to file a 14 lawsuit? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Was there any -- Let me ask you this: Aside 17 from talking to attorneys, was there any discussion 18 between you and Colleen about Mydra's lawsuit? 19 A. Just probably her informing me of upcoming 20 events or things and courts and such. 21 Q. So if Colleen says you did, she is wrong? 22 A. Huh? 23 Q. If Colleen does say that you did discuss the 24 lawsuit, she is wrong? 25 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Vague and ambiguous. 0159 1 Incomplete hypothetical. Misstates the testimony. 2 THE WITNESS: As far as discussing -- 3 BY MR. WEISS: 4 Q. In the sense of liability of the THC, what 5 could happen, that type of thing. 6 MR. ELLIS: Same objections. 7 THE WITNESS: I mean, we probably talked about 8 potential upcoming things. She might sue us or she is 9 going to sue us or she is suing us or things like that. 10 But never in a sense of what kind of action she wants me 11 to take. 12 BY MR. WEISS: 13 Q. I wasn't really thinking about action she 14 wanted you to take, but just discussing what might 15 happen at the THC with the lawsuit. Didn't she discuss 16 that with you? 17 A. She discussed -- once we got knowledge of her 18 suing us, then yes, she talked to me about that. 19 Q. What did she say about it? 20 A. Just informing me that Mydra is suing us. 21 Q. Did she say what the allegations of the 22 lawsuit were? 23 A. She just told me that I'll let you know as a 24 need-to-know basis. 25 Q. Here's another thing I wanted to ask. Is it 0160 1 the policy at the THC that a tenant will not work at the 2 same building the tenant lives in? 3 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Speculation. 4 THE WITNESS: I believe that policy -- there 5 is that policy, but I think it's more if it's a 6 permanent site. If they are going to be on site 7 permanently as their main job site. 8 BY MR. WEISS: 9 Q. If they are going to be working on the 10 premises -- 11 A. Permanently. 12 Q. -- then they shouldn't be living at the same 13 place? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. And do you know why that is? 16 A. Conflict of interest. 17 Q. And do you know what the conflict would be? 18 A. Worse case scenarios, they have access to the 19 building when they are off duty. 20 Q. You mean like have access to keys? 21 A. Potentially. 22 Q. A floating janitor on duty could go behind the 23 front desk. Correct? 24 A. To relieve for breaks. 25 Q. So if a floating janitor was at the Hartland 0161 1 Hotel working, for example, the only way that that 2 floating janitor could go behind the front desk is to 3 relieve the clerk for a break? 4 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Misstates testimony. 5 THE WITNESS: No. That's where we keep -- we 6 have the water tank. If they want to put their time 7 sheet at where everybody puts their time sheet, they 8 could put there if they are working on-site. 9 BY MR. WEISS: 10 Q. So if a floating janitor is working, does the 11 floating janitor have access to behind the front desk? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Why does the floating janitor have access to 14 get behind the front desk? 15 MR. ELLIS: Objection. Asked and answered. 16 Incomplete hypothetical. 17 THE WITNESS: To relieve a desk clerk for 18 breaks. They might want to put their food or their 19 lunch in the refrigerator that's located in the front 20 desk. We keep a file cabinet there for them to put 21 their personal information, if they want to put it 22 there. 23 BY MR. WEISS: 24 Q. How about to get keys? 25 A. Yes. 0162 1 Q. Then the floating janitor can also ask to get 2 keys, the clerk could just slide it under the window. 3 Right? 4 A. If that's the way they wanted to do it, yes. 5 Q. But to get behind -- who has the key to get 6 behind the front desk? You mentioned the front desk as 7 a locked enclosure. Correct? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. For someone to get back there, don't you have 10 to have a key to get in? 11 A. There is always someone there. There is 12 always a desk clerk there around the clock, 24 hours a 13 day. 14 Q. Is there a key to get back there, though? 15 A. There is a key on the key string that the desk 16 clerks have that has access to that door? 17 Q. So if the desk clerk left and there is no one 18 back there, then you would all be locked out of there. 19 Right? 20 A. No. The desk clerks have their own keyring, 21 which has access to the bathroom right in the lobby, 22 their office. And if they need to leave that front 23 desk, they can secure that door behind them, lock it 24 with the key. 25 Q. Do desk clerks take the keys home with them? 0163 1 A. No. 2 Q. So it's passed off, whoever is back there has 3 it; is that how it works? 4 A. From shift to shift. 5 Q. After this alleged assault occurred, did 6 anyone look around for keys to the elevator to see where 7 they were? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Who looked? 10 A. I did. 11 Q. And when did you look? 12 A. Either that same day or the next morning. 13 More than likely that same day. 14 Q. And where did you look? 15 A. In the key box. I went to the other janitors 16 who were on-site that day -- actually -- well, that was 17 a Friday so it should have been -- There was one key in 18 the key box, which belonged to Emmanuel. There was the 19 maintenance man's key, which he had on him. And there 20 was one set of keys missing, which was the one that 21 Mydra had in her possession. So I would say, I don't 22 know, weeks later we got back from Mydra -- not even 23 from Mydra, but her sister. 24 Q. If Mydra was working, she was entitled to have 25 that elevator key. Right? 0164 1 A. Correct. 2 Q. Were there any elevator keys missing? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Was it ever determined whether Chanel used the 5 elevator to get down there prior to the assault? 6 A. Not that I know of. 7 Q. The only two ways to get in the basement of 8 the Hartland would be the basement door or the elevator. 9 Correct? 10 A. Basement door and the elevator. And then 11 there is the door to the alley where the trash room was 12 at. But that door is also locked from the inside. So 13 to get in from the alley, you have to open the gate and 14 then have to open another door that's in the basement, 15 which is always locked. 16 Q. Did anyone ever suspect that somehow Chanel 17 got into the basement through the basement door that 18 goes to the alley? 19 A. It was locked. 20 Q. So if that was locked and she didn't go down 21 through the basement door on the lobby, the only other 22 way she could have gotten into the basement would be the 23 elevator. Correct? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. And as you sit here today, do you happen to 0165 1 know how she got down there prior to the assault? 2 A. I don't. 3 Q. And there is no video showing her going down 4 prior to the assault? 5 A. Not that I know of. 6 Q. Okay. Do you know if the elevator was just 7 left on? In other words, someone used the key and 8 turned it so it could go to the basement and just never 9 turned it off? 10 A. It has a self-returning mechanism, it turns 11 back off on it's own. So the minute you pull the key 12 out, it turns off. 13 Q. Got you. I'm going to go off the record. I 14 am going to talk to my clerk. I think I might be done 15 here. 16 (Off the record.) 17 BY MR. WEISS: 18 Q. Okay. Was there ever any sort of security 19 count to make sure that the keys were where they were 20 supposed to be -- 21 Was there any sort of security count so at any 22 given time you would know where all the elevator keys 23 were? 24 A. After the event or before? 25 Q. Before the event. 0166 1 A. Not before. But after the fact, I did look 2 for the keys. 3 Q. I know you looked for them. But what I mean, 4 is there any procedure where on any given day you have a 5 sign out sheet or some way of knowing whose got the 6 keys? 7 A. No. 8 Q. Okay. That's all the questions I have at this 9 time. 10 MR. ELLIS: Very good. 11 (The deposition of JESUS LOPEZ was concluded at 12 2:25 p.m.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0167 1 STATE OF __________________________) ) ss. 2 COUNTY OF _________________________) 3 4 5 6 7 I, the undersigned, declare under penalty of 8 perjury that I have read the foregoing transcript, and I 9 have made corrections, additions or deletions that I was 10 desirous of making; that the foregoing is a true and 11 correct transcript of my testimony contained therein. 12 13 EXECUTED this ____ day of _________________ of 14 20 ___, at ____________________, ___________________. [City] [State] 15 16 17 18 19 20 _________________________ 21 JESUS LOPEZ 22 23 24 25 0168