Subject: Phillips Depo of May 18, 2001
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 17:26:04 -0400
Organization: The Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc., 33 North Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33755 Telephone: (727) 467-9335
Message-ID: <aquqgtg4not5120odjt26coss8u9htjgg6@4ax.com>
1 IN THE COUNTY COURT FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA Criminal Division E ------------------------x CASE NO. CTC 01-00101-MMANO : POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA STATE OF FLORIDA :
:
vs. :
:
JESSE PRINCE :
SPN 02157727 :
:
------------------------x DEPONENT: MS. DENEEN PHILLIPS DATE: May 18, 2001 TIME: 3:30 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.
LOCATION: Criminal Justice Center 14250 49th Street North Room 1100 Clearwater, FL 33762 REPORTER: Crissy Cladakis Stenographic Reporter Notary Public State of Florida at Large ---------------------------------------------------- D & D REPORTING SERVICE 915 Chestnut Street Clearwater, FL 33756 (727) 468-2002 2 APPEARANCES:
For the State: LYDIA WARDELL, ESQUIRE Assistant State Attorney 14250 49th Street North Clearwater, FL 33760 For Jesse Prince: DENIS M. de VLAMING, ESQUIRE Denis M. de Vlaming, P.A.
1101 Turner Street Clearwater, FL 33756 For Deneen Phillips: JOHN M. MERRETT, ESQUIRE 2716 Herschel Street Jacksonville, FL 32205 * * * * I N D E X Examination by Mrs. Wardell ..................... 3 3 1 MRS. WARDELL: Did you want to place 2 something on the record?
3 JOHN MERRETT: Well, assuming that this is 4 just a typo and the subpoena is actually for an 5 appearance for deposition rather than before the 6 Court, but the State is stipulating this is a subpoena 7 for deposition. At this time, we would stipulate to 8 service of it and to a legal obligation to comply with 9 it.
10 MRS. WARDELL: Let me see it. Yeah, that 11 should have said to appear for deposition. Let me 12 just write that on there for you.
13 JOHN MERRETT: And if the -- assuming the 14 State is stipulating that this is a valid subpoena, 15 validly served?
16 MRS. WARDELL: Yes, it is.
17 ------------------------------------------------ 18 DENEEN PHILLIPS, 19 WAS CALLED AND AFTER BEING DULY SWORN WAS EXAMINED AND 20 TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:
21 22 EXAMINATION 23 BY MRS. WARDELL:
24 Q. Could you please state your name?
25 A. Deneen Phillips.
4 1 Q. And how are you currently employed?
2 A. I am employed with the Lisa McPherson Trust.
3 Q. And can you tell me your duties there?
4 A. Yes. I'm an executive, administrative 5 assistant.
6 Q. And what would that entail?
7 A. I'm just answering the phones, doing the 8 paperwork and filing and that kind of thing.
9 Q. Kind of like secretarial-type duties?
10 A. Exactly.
11 Q. And how long have you had this job?
12 A. Four months.
13 Q. And do you have this job independent of Jesse 14 Prince or do you have it because you knew who he was 15 and became employed? Did he help you get the job?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. Okay.
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. How is he employed?
20 A. I don't understand the question.
21 Q. Does he have a job?
22 A. Yeah, he does.
23 Q. And how is he employed?
24 A. With the Lisa McPherson Trust.
25 Q. And what is his position there?
5 1 A. He's vice president.
2 Q. And what do his duties entail?
3 A. I couldn't give you specifics.
4 Q. Is there a specific office building for the 5 Lisa McPherson Trust or -- like, do you wake up every 6 morning and go to a specific place for a job?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And where is that?
9 A. 33 North Fort Harrison, Clearwater.
10 Q. And does Mr. Prince do the same?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And how long has he been vice president of 13 the trust?
14 A. Going on two years.
15 Q. Okay. Were you employed prior to your 16 secretarial position with the Trust?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And how so?
19 A. I'm an optician.
20 Q. For who?
21 A. The last job?
22 Q. Yes, your most recent job.
23 A. Eye Site of Clearwater.
24 Q. And would that have been during the summer 25 time frame of 2000?
6 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And how much do you currently make with the 3 Trust? Are you paid hourly?
4 A. No. I'm on a salary.
5 Q. And how much is your salary?
6 A. I think $3,000.
7 Q. $3,000 a month?
8 A. Uh-huh.
9 Q. And how much did Mr. Prince make a month or 10 salary or whatever his is?
11 A. He's salary.
12 Q. And how much?
13 A. I couldn't tell you.
14 Q. Do you have an idea?
15 A. No, ma'am.
16 Q. Do you think it's more than what you make?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. What is your relationship with Mr. Prince?
19 A. I am his fiancee.
20 Q. Do you have a wedding date set?
21 A. No, we don't.
22 Q. And do you have any children with Mr. Prince?
23 A. No, ma'am.
24 Q. Do you live with him?
25 A. Yes, ma'am.
7 1 Q. And where is that?
2 A. 1949 Belleair Road, Clearwater, Florida.
3 Q. Is that a home?
4 A. Yes, it is.
5 Q. Did you purchase it together?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And are you both on the mortgage?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And same thing on the -- what do you call it, 10 whatever the paperwork is to buy the house?
11 JOHN MERRETT: The deed or title.
12 MRS. WARDELL: The title, right.
13 BY MRS. WARDELL:
14 Q. -- the title?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. How long have you been in a relationship with 17 Mr. Prince?
18 A. Two years.
19 Q. Two years to date or two years of the time of 20 his arrest?
21 A. No. Probably to date.
22 Q. Because it's been almost a year since the 23 arrest?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. Where did you meet Mr. Prince?
8 1 A. From a friend of mine, in Memphis, Tennessee.
2 Q. Were you living there at the time?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did you follow him to Florida?
5 A. What do you mean?
6 Q. Well, did you -- 7 MR. de VLAMING: Yes, rephrase it.
8 BY MRS. WARDELL:
9 Q. Did you have any reason to move to Florida 10 but/for furthering a relationship with Mr. Prince?
11 A. That's right.
12 Q. So you moved to Florida to be with him?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And he was already living here?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Y'all picked this spot together?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Okay. So you first had a relationship in 19 Tennessee and then decided, jointly, to come down to 20 the Clearwater area?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And what was the reason you chose this area?
23 A. Because this is where his work was.
24 Q. Okay. So you moved here for his employment?
25 A. Exactly.
9 1 Q. And that would have been with the Trust?
2 A. Uh-huh, yes.
3 Q. It's hard to remember.
4 Has he always maintained the same title, vice 5 president?
6 A. Yes, ma'am.
7 Q. Have you reviewed the police reports in this 8 case?
9 A. Yes, ma'am.
10 Q. Did you review them recently as it relates to 11 this deposition or did you review them way back when 12 he got arrested or both?
13 A. I don't understand your question.
14 Q. Well, did you review them in preparation of 15 coming here to talk to me today? In other words, in 16 the last week, did you look them over?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Was it today?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Okay. What else have you reviewed prior to 21 coming in here?
22 A. That's all.
23 Q. That's all?
24 A. Uh-huh.
25 Q. What about that statement you were reading 10 1 when I walked by a few minutes ago?
2 A. Yes. Same thing, yes.
3 Q. Whose statement -- well, it's not the same as 4 a police report. Whose statement were you reading?
5 A. Barry Gaston.
6 Q. Mr. Gaston's. Did you read anybody else's?
7 A. No, ma'am, not yet.
8 Q. Anything else you reviewed before coming to 9 talk to me today?
10 A. No, ma'am.
11 Q. What about the search warrant?
12 A. Okay. Yes, ma'am.
13 Q. The search warrant?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Now, I want to talk to you about -- do you 16 remember the date you moved into your home?
17 A. Yes, ma'am.
18 Q. And what was that?
19 A. February 25th -- 24th.
20 Q. And when you moved in, did your home have one 21 of those already installed alarm systems, you know, 22 like an EMT -- or ADT or whatever?
23 A. No, ma'am.
24 Q. There was no alarm system?
25 A. No, ma'am.
11 1 Q. Did you have it installed?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. When did you have it installed?
4 A. I'm sorry, I can't remember the exact date.
5 Q. Can you give me a time frame in relation to 6 how quickly -- in other words, when you moved into the 7 home, did your insurance want an alarm there to give 8 you a better rate? Sometimes they'll do that. I know 9 I had to put one in to get a decent rate. Was that 10 why you put one in or -- 11 A. No. I got a whole lot of calls when we 12 purchased the home from different alarm companies 13 wanting to do it.
14 Q. And is that why you put the alarm in?
15 A. Yeah, and for safety. Yeah.
16 Q. So would it have been within a month of 17 moving in? Can you just give me some type of -- I'm 18 not going to hold you to anything -- but just like a 19 general time frame?
20 A. Yeah, I would say a month.
21 Q. Okay. So certainly prior to Mr. Prince's 22 arrest, the alarm was intact?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And did it function properly?
25 A. Yes.
12 1 Q. Were you present when the people came out to 2 install it?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Were you the one that let them in and showed 5 them around the house?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. Was that a yes?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And do you remember the different places they 10 put the sensors?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Can you talk to me about that? Was there one 13 at the front door?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And what about the door that leads from your 16 house to the pool area?
17 A. No, there isn't. There's one in my bedroom, 18 on the front door.
19 JOHN MERRETT: I'm going to ask that, at 20 least, this portion of the deposition either be done 21 off the record or made confidential because of 22 Scientology's involvement in the case, their repeated 23 attacks on Ms. Phillips and her cohabits and the fact 24 that we're now dictating the blueprint for 25 burglarizing her house.
13 1 MR. de VLAMING: Yeah, Lydia, he does have a 2 point. He does have a point.
3 MRS. WARDELL: Well, that's one of the -- and 4 that's not my motive in asking her.
5 JOHN MERRETT: No. I know that.
6 MR. de VLAMING: We know that.
7 MRS. WARDELL: But there's a defense that's 8 been raised here that the marijuana plants were, 9 quote, planted, if you will. And I think it's 10 certainly relevant to me that there was a security 11 system that could have been activated to detected 12 these intruders that could have planted that 13 marijuana. So I have no problem, but I need to know 14 the answer.
15 JOHN MERRETT: Right.
16 MRS. WARDELL: I have no problem sealing the 17 answer, but it's certainly going to come out if it 18 comes to trial.
19 JOHN MERRETT: Okay.
20 MRS. WARDELL: So for now, I'll agree to seal 21 the answers -- 22 JOHN MERRETT: Thank you.
23 MRS. WARDELL: -- until we get to court. But 24 I do need to know this. So you can answer it knowing 25 that we're going to agree to seal these answers.
14 1 THE DEPONENT: Could I speak to Mr. Merrett?
2 MR. MERRETT: No. Just go ahead and explain 3 to her where the alarm's set and all of that stuff of 4 what she's asking.
5 THE DEPONENT: *** (Nine pages of this 6 transcript were omitted because they were sealed until 7 an order by the Court.) **** 8 Q. Can you tell me about the first time you met 9 an individual who you believed was named Rinzy 10 Trinidad? Do you recall where you were and what you 11 were doing?
12 A. Yes, ma'am.
13 Q. Tell me about that.
14 A. I was at Wilson's -- Wilson's -- 15 Q. Lounge?
16 A. -- Lounge. Yeah.
17 Q. Do you remember a date or a time frame?
18 A. No, ma'am.
19 Q. Do you have a month? How about before -- 20 A. March.
21 Q. After you moved into your new house?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Have you reviewed the reports that that 24 individual has prepared?
25 A. Yes.
15 1 Q. Did you look through them last night?
2 A. No.
3 Q. Well, we didn't get them until last night, 4 so -- 5 A. I've seen 25 sheets, as far as I know.
6 Q. Is this what you think you saw?
7 A. No, I didn't see that.
8 Q. Well, what kind of sheets did you see?
9 A. This (indicating).
10 Q. Oh, his depo. Okay. But you didn't see 11 this, these daily summaries of what he says occurred, 12 right?
13 A. No.
14 Q. All right. So tell me about the first visit 15 at Wilson's that you think was in March.
16 A. Me and Jesse was sitting at the bar, and we 17 usually just mind our own business.
18 Q. This is a small-type area, right?
19 A. Right.
20 Q. Kind of locals are known there?
21 A. Yes. It's a neighborhood bar. And this guy 22 -- there's never any black people in this bar. And 23 this guy, you know, talked friendly, hi, hi, you know 24 and that's how we met. I can't remember who 25 introduced who. I don't remember the little tidbits.
16 1 Q. Was it unusual to you that there was a black 2 man in this bar with you and Mr. Prince?
3 A. I wouldn't say it was unusual. But we had 4 been here at least three weeks and hadn't seen one.
5 Q. So do you think you -- you mentioned that 6 somebody was friendly to the other. Is it because 7 you, maybe, identified with each other, or what was 8 the reason that you were friendly with this person as 9 opposed to any of the other patrons in the bar?
10 A. That could be a very strong reason.
11 Q. You felt like somebody you could just sort of 12 relate to and talk to?
13 A. Well, we made friends, you know. We spoke.
14 Q. But you don't know who approached first?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you recall anything about what you did 17 that night, the first meeting?
18 A. We -- I really didn't notice him until we 19 were on our way out the door.
20 Q. Okay.
21 A. And we spoke. He spoke and we spoke and that 22 was it.
23 Q. That was it for the night?
24 A. Uh-huh.
25 Q. No buying of drinks or anything like that?
17 1 A. No.
2 Q. Well, that first visit, do you recall how you 3 arrived?
4 A. Yes. We drove.
5 Q. Do you know what car you drove, a Buick or -- 6 A. No, ma'am.
7 Q. Have you changed cars during this 8 year-and-a-half time frame?
9 A. No. I lost the Buick in a car accident two 10 days before this arrest.
11 Q. Is that the car that was in the driveway that 12 looked kind of smashed?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Of that night, do you recall how much alcohol 15 you consumed?
16 A. I had one drink and shared with -- and then 17 me and Jesse shared one.
18 Q. And what about Mr. Prince, do you recall what 19 he drank?
20 A. One, and we shared one.
21 Q. One and a half each?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. What about drugs that night, any drug use 24 that night?
25 A. No.
18 1 Q. Prior to getting to Wilson's Lounge, any drug 2 use?
3 A. No.
4 Q. And after Wilson's Lounge, any drug use?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Can you recall the second visit with -- let 7 me ask you this: That first night, did he actually 8 give you the name that he was going by?
9 A. No.
10 Q. No name at that point?
11 A. That I can remember.
12 Q. Do you recall the second visit?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And where was that?
15 A. Wilson's Lounge.
16 Q. Same place?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. All right. What do you recall about that 19 visit? How did you get there?
20 A. By car.
21 Q. This place is close to your home, right?
22 A. Yeah. It's probably not even a mile. It's 23 in walking distance, actually.
24 Q. And how was it the two of you -- the three of 25 y'all struck up a conversation?
19 1 A. Rinzy had -- was sitting in the back with 2 this lady. They were all kissing and, you know, 3 friendly. And we remembered -- I remembered that I 4 had seen him before.
5 Q. You recognized him?
6 A. Right.
7 Q. So he's kissing on somebody and you just 8 noticed it and thought, hey, that's the same guy I 9 saw?
10 A. Uh-huh. And I think he walked passed us and 11 we spoke, and he came up and introduced his 12 girlfriend.
13 Q. What was her name?
14 A. That I believed to be his girlfriend.
15 Q. And what was her name?
16 A. Joyce.
17 Q. Do you remember what she looked like?
18 A. She was a black lady. Maybe -- I couldn't 19 even tell you how -- I only saw her once. She had a 20 French roll. I remember she had a French roll. And 21 there was some more people, adults, in the lounge and 22 we played pool, shot pool. They weren't good -- 23 Q. With him?
24 A. -- at all.
25 Right. And afterwards -- it's this little 20 1 back door that you could go out of Wilson's, and he 2 had been out there before and he came back in. And he 3 invited us out, me and Jesse, to the back and they 4 were smoking marijuana.
5 Q. Who was smoking marijuana?
6 A. Rinzy and the people. And don't even ask me 7 their names. I don't know.
8 Q. Okay. Is this in the outside parking lot 9 area or is this a back room of a bar?
10 A. No, it's a backyard.
11 Q. Of the bar?
12 A. Yeah. It's like a porch.
13 Q. So in the back of the bar, it's an outside 14 area?
15 A. Uh-huh.
16 Q. He invited y'all out?
17 A. Uh-huh.
18 Q. And when you got out there, marijuana was 19 already being passed around?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. So he invited you out. How did the marijuana 22 come out? Did he pull it out of his pocket? Did 23 somebody else already have it? I don't understand.
24 A. I don't remember how. But when he invited me 25 and Jesse back there with his -- I thought was -- with 21 1 his friends. I don't know who -- how it started. I 2 don't know who had what, but I know it wasn't mine.
3 Q. At the point he invited you to go out back, 4 did he tell you it was to smoke marijuana?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. So you knew when you went out back it was to 7 smoke marijuana?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Did you go for the purpose of smoking 10 marijuana?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And did you smoke marijuana?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And was Mr. Prince present with you when 15 Rinzy invited you to go out back and smoke marijuana?
16 A. Yes, ma'am.
17 Q. And did he have the same understanding of 18 what was going to take place when you all went out 19 back?
20 A. Yes -- 21 MR. de VLAMING: Object to the form of the 22 question as to what Mr. Prince knew.
23 BY MRS. WARDELL:
24 Q. Did Mr. Prince accompany you out back?
25 A. Yes.
22 1 Q. And did he smoke marijuana as well?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. But you don't recall whose joint it was?
4 A. No, ma'am.
5 Q. Okay. Now, can you date this visit?
6 A. No, ma'am.
7 Q. Can you date it in proximity to the first 8 visit?
9 A. No, ma'am.
10 Q. You can't give my any kind of time frame?
11 A. No, ma'am.
12 Q. Was it hot outside?
13 A. Oh, yes.
14 Q. What about the time of night it was?
15 A. It was so long ago. And for me to answer 16 you, you know, I don't know.
17 Q. Okay. Well, was it just one joint that was 18 passed amongst a lot of people?
19 A. Yes. It was four people -- well, five.
20 Q. You, Mr. Prince, Rinzy, the girl that you 21 thought was his girlfriend; whose the fifth one?
22 A. And another little white guy.
23 Q. Any other drugs introduced?
24 A. No, ma'am.
25 Q. Any other drugs talked about?
23 1 A. No, ma'am.
2 Q. Was marijuana talked about?
3 A. No, ma'am.
4 Q. In other words, was this particular marijuana 5 compared to any other that had been had in the past by 6 any of you all?
7 A. No, ma'am.
8 Q. Like, you know, this the good, this is crap, 9 this is -- 10 A. I don't understand.
11 Q. Well, like, did someone say, oh, this joint's 12 crap or this is some pretty good stuff or any 13 conversation about the quality of the marijuana?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Any conversation about where the marijuana 16 came from?
17 A. No.
18 Q. All right. You just went out there and 19 smoked?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Was that the end of the night or you went 22 back inside and socialized or what?
23 A. Well, the little guy that was -- I assumed 24 was with Rinzy gave us some also.
25 Q. The white guy?
24 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Gave you some to take back with you -- 3 A. Yes.
4 Q. -- wherever you were going?
5 A. Right.
6 Q. Did you ask him for it?
7 A. No, ma'am.
8 Q. How did it come up that he gave it you?
9 A. He just gave it to us.
10 Q. Did you pay for it?
11 A. No.
12 Q. So a white guy just gave you marijuana?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Can you describe the white guy? Do you now, 15 in retrospect, believe the white guy was in on this 16 with Rinzy or do you think he was just a random guy in 17 the bar?
18 A. My personal -- 19 Q. Yes.
20 A. From now, yes.
21 Q. You think he was in on it?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Did you see the guy that left the room before 24 you came in, left this room before you came in?
25 A. No, ma'am.
25 1 Q. You didn't notice the guy that walked out?
2 A. Unh-unh.
3 Q. Did you see me walk out and walk by you?
4 MR. de VLAMING: Lydia, I think they went out 5 that door, so they didn't see him.
6 MRS. WARDELL: All right.
7 A. I saw you come in. I don't remember you 8 coming -- 9 BY MRS. WARDELL:
10 Q. So nobody here today looked like the white 11 guy that was in the back of the bar?
12 A. No.
13 Q. What about the different times you've come to 14 court, anybody in the courtroom that looked like the 15 white guy at the bar?
16 A. No.
17 Q. And have you and Mr. Prince tried to 18 investigate who the white guy at the bar could have 19 been?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Do you know what I mean? I know you 22 investigated to figure out who Rinzy was. Has there 23 been any other investigation with regards to who this 24 guy that gave you marijuana was?
25 A. Not that I know of.
26 1 Q. Okay. So what does he hand you, already 2 rolled joint?
3 A. No. Just a little bag maybe -- 4 Q. Of loose marijuana?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Did that strike you as odd?
7 A. No. Because -- no.
8 Q. Why not?
9 A. Because they were all just being friendly.
10 It was like they were welcoming us in because we were 11 new in the neighborhood, and they were, you know, just 12 being friendly.
13 Q. Who accepted it, you or Mr. Prince?
14 A. Mr. Prince.
15 Q. Where did he put it?
16 A. I don't remember.
17 Q. When was the next time you saw that baggy of 18 marijuana?
19 A. When he gave it to me.
20 Q. When?
21 A. The next day.
22 Q. At the house?
23 A. Uh-huh.
24 Q. Where did you put it?
25 A. In my coat pocket in the closet.
27 1 Q. Did you ever smoke it?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. When was that?
4 A. Rinzy came by, maybe, a week later and asked 5 do we have some of that stuff.
6 Q. So he came by, you let him in, and while 7 socializing, he said, "Hey, do you have any of that 8 stuff left"?
9 A. Uh-huh.
10 Q. And you went to your coat pocket and got it 11 out or where did you go to get it?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. It was still in your coat pocket?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Okay. So let me get this straight. A man 16 that you had briefly met once by saying good-bye as 17 you left the bar and a man that you smoked marijuana 18 with at Wilson's on your second meeting -- 19 A. Shot pool.
20 Q. -- stops by your house and you let him in 21 based on those two prior contacts?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. What did you think he had come over for?
24 A. To visit.
25 Q. How did he know how to get to your house?
28 1 A. We told him the night -- 2 Q. The night you smoked outside?
3 A. -- at Wilson's.
4 Yes.
5 Q. You told him how to get to your house?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. You gave him directions?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So you never actually let him follow you to 10 your house?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. When was that?
13 A. That was that day.
14 Q. Okay. So he follows you there that day?
15 A. Uh-huh, that night when we left.
16 Q. Well, then, let's back up and finish that 17 night and we'll go back to when -- 18 A. I'm sorry.
19 Q. No, that's okay. Because you answered my 20 question, which is, when did you see the marijuana 21 again, and then you said Rinzy came over.
22 Let's go back to that night. After smoking 23 the marijuana, he follows you to your house?
24 A. (Deponent nods head.)
25 Q. Is that a yes?
29 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. What was the point of him coming over?
3 A. We invited him over. He had a drink, him and 4 the lady Joyce.
5 Q. So he was invited over?
6 A. Uh-huh. And they stayed, maybe, 30 minutes 7 and had a drink and we smoked another joint.
8 Q. Where did you get the marijuana for that 9 joint?
10 A. That was the same joint that the white guy 11 gave us. The same bag.
12 Q. So did you have to roll another one at your 13 house?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And where did you get the papers to roll it?
16 A. Jesse came out with the papers.
17 Q. Do you know where -- so the papers were 18 already at your house?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Can I ask you how come you just happen to 21 have rolling papers around?
22 A. Yes. Because I occasionally -- we, 23 occasionally have smoked marijuana.
24 Q. So it's fair to say that when Rinzy offered 25 you marijuana in the back Wilson's, that wasn't the 30 1 first time you had smoked marijuana?
2 A. No, ma'am.
3 Q. Can you tell me how often you smoked 4 marijuana prior to meeting Rinzy? I mean, was it once 5 a week?
6 A. On occasion, maybe -- no, not once a week.
7 If there's an occasion, we'll smoke marijuana.
8 Q. So is it fair to say you've gotten it from 9 sources other than Rinzy?
10 MR. de VLAMING: You mean in the past?
11 MRS. WARDELL: Yeah.
12 BY MRS. WARDELL:
13 Q. In other words, the marijuana you've had in 14 the past came from places other that this Rinzy 15 individual?
16 MR. de VLAMING: Let me clarify that. You 17 mean before this investigation? You're excluding that 18 time?
19 MRS. WARDELL: Right.
20 BY MRS. WARDELL:
21 Q. Prior to meeting Rinzy, you said that you had 22 smoked marijuana in this past?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Now, that marijuana would have come from 25 somebody other than Rinzy?
31 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Do you know where Mr. Prince kept these 3 papers?
4 A. They were in a little, black box.
5 Q. Where was the black box?
6 A. In a drawer. In a drawer.
7 Q. All right. Let me back you up again. When 8 you met Mr. Prince, can you recall how long it was 9 before you and he smoked marijuana together and how 10 long into your relationship?
11 We didn't talk about this previously. Did 12 your attorney explain to you the significance of 13 receiving a subpoena prior to talking to me? You 14 don't have to give me any communications, but just to 15 make sure you understand that -- make sure you feel 16 comfortable speaking to me. The subpoena means you 17 have immunity for whatever you say to me. Do you 18 understand that?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Okay. So how far into the relationship 21 between -- before you started smoking marijuana?
22 A. Probably -- well, that week.
23 Q. The first week you met him?
24 A. Uh-huh.
25 Q. Do you remember who introduced it?
32 1 A. My friend that introduced us.
2 Q. How soon after meeting him did you begin 3 living together?
4 A. February 24th, when we bought the house.
5 Q. Oh, the buying of the house was the first 6 that you actually lived together?
7 A. Yes. We came from two different places.
8 That was the first time.
9 Q. So it's fair to say that prior to the night 10 with Rinzy in the back of the bar, that you and 11 Mr. Prince had smoked marijuana together?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Well, let's finish that night. You said -- 14 A. He's been to my house, you know, but it's not 15 like we were living together. We lived together here.
16 Q. Right. You spent the night at each other's 17 houses when you were together?
18 A. Uh-huh.
19 Q. That's fine.
20 So you smoke another joint. You use the 21 marijuana the white man gave you, but you had your own 22 paper so you rolled it?
23 A. Uh-huh.
24 Q. And after that, does everybody leave and go 25 to bed?
33 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Anything else significant happen that night?
3 Did you go out to the pool area?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And was there any conversations with regards 6 to any plants in the pool area?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And tell me about that.
9 A. That I had beautiful plants. They were very 10 beautiful and...
11 Q. Were they already there or did the homeowner 12 prior, before you, leave them?
13 A. The homeowner had left a few. And I bought 14 some here.
15 Q. All right. So you took them out there to 16 show them your beautiful plants?
17 A. No. I took them out there to smoke a joint.
18 Q. So you smoked it outside by the pool?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Was there any conversation about your 21 beautiful plants?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Tell me about that.
24 A. How do you make -- how do you have them 25 growing so pretty.
34 1 Q. What kinds were they?
2 A. I have some wandering Jews, philodendrons, 3 some -- and then there's a lot of tropical plants 4 that, to this day, I couldn't tell you. Because I'm 5 from Tennessee and we don't have -- the plants -- I've 6 almost thrown away plants before and people say, that 7 thing is $50, you know, it'll grow pretty when, you 8 know, the summer comes. But I'm thinking it's just a 9 stick, you know, and I'm ready to just throw it away.
10 Q. Was there any marijuana plants growing in any 11 of these pots on this night?
12 A. Not that I noticed.
13 Q. Not that you noticed. Have you ever seen a 14 marijuana plant?
15 A. Yeah. I have now, yeah.
16 Q. Prior to this?
17 A. But -- 18 Q. Prior to Mr. Prince's arrest, were you 19 familiar with what a marijuana plant looked like?
20 A. No, not at all.
21 Q. All right. So you never saw the plants that 22 Mr. Prince has been referring to as the ones he was 23 pulling up and throwing away?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. So you did see those?
35 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. So when's the next time you encounter 3 Mr. Rinzy?
4 A. He came over one night with a bottle of 5 Puerto Rican rum and we sat down and drank rum. And 6 again he asked, after we each had a couple of drinks, 7 if we had any more smoke.
8 Q. Now, is this the one you started to talk 9 about earlier, this visit that you started to talk 10 about earlier?
11 A. Right, I think. Say it again? I'm sorry.
12 Q. Well, earlier when I asked you when was the 13 next time you saw the marijuana you put in your coat 14 pocket, you said when Rinzy came by and asked if there 15 was any left.
16 A. No, this is again. No. We still keep 17 rolling.
18 Q. After the night that you smoked at your pool, 19 when was the next time you see him? You said he 20 brings over the rum.
21 A. Uh-huh.
22 Q. And he asked if you had any more "smoke"?
23 A. Yes, you're right. Yes. I'm sorry.
24 Q. And then, what did you tell him?
25 A. Yeah.
36 1 Q. What did you do?
2 A. Jesse went and got it.
3 Q. Where did he get it from?
4 A. Out of a little can, a little tin.
5 Q. How did it get from your pocket to the tin 6 can?
7 A. From the night that we was on the patio, the 8 first time.
9 Q. That's where you stored it?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Was that in your bedroom?
12 A. Yes, ma'am.
13 Q. Who rolled the joint?
14 A. Jesse.
15 Q. How did he know how -- well, do you know how 16 to roll a joint?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And it was apparent that he knew how to roll 19 a joint?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Rinzy didn't teach him how to roll a joint?
22 A. No.
23 Q. He already knew?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Do you recall who lit it?
37 1 A. Probably me.
2 Q. Are you a smoker?
3 MR. de VLAMING: Cigarettes?
4 BY MRS. WARDELL:
5 Q. -- cigarette smoker?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Is Mr. Prince a cigarette smoker?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Do you have lighters around? Do you have 10 cigarette lighters around?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Was Rinzy a cigarette smoker?
13 A. I don't know.
14 Q. You didn't notice?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Okay. Was it just the one joint that night?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And then how long do you think that visit 19 lasted?
20 A. About an hour-and-a-half to two hours.
21 Q. Was Rinzy always pleasant and friendly?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Do you know what time of day this was when 24 you were smoking the joint?
25 A. About 9:00. I want to say 9:00.
38 1 Q. You have -- 2 A. We were in the bed when Rinzy came this time.
3 Q. When he brought the rum?
4 A. Yes, ma'am.
5 Q. And you have two children?
6 A. Yes, ma'am.
7 Q. What are their ages?
8 A. One is 10 and one is 11.
9 Q. And where were they?
10 A. I mean -- I'm sorry. I'm so nervous. One is 11 10 and one is 14.
12 Q. Don't be nervous. Is there anything I can do 13 to make you not be nervous?
14 A. No.
15 MR. de VLAMING: Yeah. Finish up.
16 MRS. WARDELL: That ain't happening.
17 BY MRS. WARDELL:
18 Q. Where were they when you were smoking this 19 joint?
20 A. Upstairs asleep.
21 Q. After this visit, when is your next visit 22 with Rinzy?
23 A. I had some girlfriends that came down in, I 24 want to say, July. And I saw him again then.
25 Q. Did he come to your house?
39 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Was he invited?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. In between the time he brought the rum over 5 and what you believe to be the July visit, did you and 6 Mr. Prince smoke marijuana when Rinzy was not around?
7 A. No.
8 Q. No marijuana smoking?
9 A. No.
10 Q. What about in between the first visit at 11 Wilson's where marijuana was done at the back porch 12 and the visit where he brought the rum, any smoking of 13 marijuana between you and Mr. Prince when Rinzy was 14 not around?
15 A. No.
16 Q. All right. So tell me about this visit.
17 He's at the house. He was invited to the house?
18 A. Uh-huh.
19 Q. What happens?
20 A. He meets my girlfriends and then we go out.
21 We go out.
22 Q. Do you have any alcohol at the house before 23 you went out?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. What about drugs?
40 1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Marijuana?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Where did it come from?
5 A. One of my girlfriends.
6 Q. Not Rinzy?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Were they staying with you all?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And when they got to your home, did you know 11 they had brought marijuana with them?
12 A. No. We rode around a little bit, and when we 13 got back, it was late and another joint was fired up.
14 And I don't -- I couldn't tell you who lit it at all.
15 Q. But your girlfriends brought them with them 16 from -- where were they from, Tennessee?
17 A. I'm not saying that that was the same. I 18 don't know. All I know is we were out there and the 19 next thing you know when I come back out, there was 20 another one.
21 Q. But you don't know -- well, but you do know 22 your girlfriends had brought some, you just don't know 23 if the one you smoked was what they brought?
24 A. Right.
25 Q. What was the other possible source?
41 1 A. Rinzy.
2 Q. Did you see him bring it or you're just 3 guessing?
4 A. Guessing.
5 Q. All right. Did you know that your 6 girlfriends had brought marijuana with them?
7 A. No.
8 Q. When was the first you knew your girlfriends 9 had marijuana at your house?
10 A. When we smoked the joint.
11 Q. Prior to you leaving?
12 A. Before leaving, yeah.
13 Q. So you smoked -- 14 A. I didn't see them with it, you know.
15 Q. Well, did you all sit down and roll it 16 together or -- 17 A. No.
18 Q. -- how did that happen?
19 A. It was already ready.
20 Q. So you smoke a joint from the marijuana they 21 brought, you leave to run an errand, you come back and 22 now there's another joint?
23 A. Right.
24 Q. What errand did you go run?
25 A. We didn't run an errand.
42 1 Q. Where did you go?
2 A. We went to shoot pool at -- it was downtown 3 Clearwater, Mac -- downtown Clearwater.
4 Q. Did Mr. Prince participate in the first joint 5 that was rolled and smoked?
6 A. I want to say he did, yes.
7 Q. And did he go with you to shoot pool or did 8 he stay behind?
9 A. He went.
10 Q. He went with you?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Did Rinzy go?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And the two woman?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And when you got back, did all four of you 17 smoke that joint as well?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Including Mr. Prince?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Was this the night of, like, a concert or 22 something when you went to Coachman Park or no?
23 A. Unh-unh. That wasn't the same night.
24 Q. Okay. So when's your next visit with Rinzy?
25 A. Coachman Park.
43 1 Q. So the visit you were just discussing with me 2 may not have been in July? Because wasn't Coachman 3 Park July 3rd -- 4 A. Yes.
5 Q. -- because it a 4th of July concert?
6 A. Right.
7 Q. So this visit may even have been after 8 July 4th? I'm not going to pin you to these days.
9 A. Yeah. Because I have no -- just -- I can't 10 just tell you what month.
11 Q. I know.
12 A. I mean what date.
13 Q. Okay. Understanding that what you just 14 described may have happened after the concert, it may 15 have happened before, it was still an event as you 16 described it, correct?
17 A. Right.
18 Q. And so let's talk about the concert visit.
19 Tell me about that. Did he come to your house?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Invited?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Just showed up?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Tell me about that.
44 1 A. The doorbell rang and Jesse went to the door 2 and it was Rinzy. And he came by wanting Jesse to go 3 out with him, trying to get him to go with him, you 4 know, and he didn't want to go. You know, he was 5 wanting me to go, but Rinzy -- it was like he didn't 6 -- I can feel that he just wanted to go with Jesse.
7 And Jesse's like, come on Dee. And I'm like, no, go 8 with your -- go, you know, I want you to go. But he 9 wouldn't go with, you know -- I'm not going.
10 We always go everywhere together. We're 11 pretty much like this, because as you can see, we're 12 the only friends we have. So I went and maybe -- and 13 Rinzy followed.
14 Q. Where did y'all go?
15 A. To Coachman Park.
16 Q. Do you know why he took his own car?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Go ahead.
19 A. And -- 20 Q. Did y'all smoke a joint before y'all went?
21 A. No. Because I think it was just a spur of 22 the moment, come on. He wanted Jesse to go with him, 23 and I'm trying to put on something. No, I don't think 24 so.
25 Q. So when you got to the park, were there any 45 1 drugs at the park?
2 A. No.
3 Q. Were there any drugs at all that night?
4 A. No.
5 Q. What about alcohol?
6 A. Beer that they do at the Coachman Park.
7 Q. And did you have a baby-sitter for the kids?
8 A. My son is -- he's 14, probably, at this 9 point. What is this July? Yeah, he's 14 now.
10 Q. So they were home asleep or home watching TV 11 or whatever?
12 A. Right.
13 Q. All right. So no drugs that night?
14 A. No. Because we separated. He went in his 15 car. He met this girl down there immediately. When 16 we got there, there was a lady dancing. You know, she 17 was with another lady, and I felt sorry for the other 18 lady because he just tuned into this lady and the girl 19 tuned with him. And they hit it off pretty good and 20 he left with her.
21 Q. Okay.
22 A. And she was like, "I'm going to talk to you 23 later." I don't remember her name, but she told me, 24 "I've got his face." I remember laughing at her 25 because she was happy she got his cell phone number, 46 1 his home number, office number, gave her -- she was 2 from somewhere and gave him her -- she says, "I gave 3 him my pager number, cell phone number." I'm 4 laughing. She says, "I will be back in contact 5 because we'll see each other again." But I never saw 6 her again.
7 Q. Had you and Mr. Prince made any efforts to 8 try to locate her?
9 A. No. I couldn't even tell you what her name 10 is or...
11 Q. All right. Somewhere in here we skipped a 12 visit where Rinzy brings somebody named Mitch to your 13 house.
14 A. Right.
15 Q. We need to back up.
16 A. Okay. Mitch is about almost late. Mitch is 17 this guy that came to the house. He was supposed to 18 be some friend of his from out of town that was trying 19 to break into real estate with Rinzy.
20 Q. Okay.
21 A. And he was a nice guy. A white guy, and he 22 had a brace on his knee.
23 Q. Wait. Is this the second visit or the first 24 visit?
25 A. What do you mean?
47 1 Q. Well, my understanding is -- 2 A. The first visit.
3 Q. My understanding is that Mitch came to your 4 house twice.
5 A. Oh, with Mitch, the first visit.
6 Q. So the first visit with Mitch, he has a brace 7 on his knee?
8 A. Uh-huh. And we exchanged, you know -- 9 because I have two surgeries here too (indicating).
10 So what me and Mitch's conversation was is exchanging 11 war wounds, actually. You know, what happened to you, 12 what happened to you, you know.
13 Q. Uh-huh.
14 A. And Rinzy says -- asks Jesse did he have any 15 more of that stuff, and Jesse asked me, and I told 16 him, I didn't think so but I'd look. And I went and 17 looked and it was enough, maybe, to scrape up, but he 18 was determined to just use it up. I was like -- 19 because I'm thinking it was his friend that gave it to 20 us in the first place, so he was like, I'm not going 21 to let you have it all to yourself or whatever. I 22 don't know why he would, you know.
23 Q. He didn't say that; you just kind of thought 24 that's what he meant?
25 A. No -- yeah, that's how I kind of felt.
48 1 Q. Wow, that one little bag lasted a long time.
2 A. We got like four or five joints out of it.
3 Q. Okay. So you brought out marijuana again.
4 Did you bring it out or did Mr. Prince bring it out?
5 A. I brought it out. I went and got it.
6 Q. Was this in the computer room?
7 A. The marijuana?
8 Q. Where you smoked it.
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And was it in that same black box?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Do you remember who rolled it?
13 A. Me.
14 Q. Do you remember in retrospect now looking 15 back, did it look like Rinzy was faking smoking or did 16 it look like he was just playing right along?
17 A. No. Rinzy was smoking.
18 Q. Can you tell a difference?
19 Can you fake smoking and blow it out of your 20 nose and -- 21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Would you be able to recognize it if it was 23 being faked?
24 A. If you blow it out of your nose, I would 25 think you inhaled it. I don't know. I'm -- you know, 49 1 I don't know about which way it goes afterwards, but 2 he smoked it.
3 Q. So coming out the nose indicates it went all 4 the way down?
5 A. To me.
6 Q. What about Mitch, did it look like Mitch was 7 smoking?
8 A. Yes. And he had a few beers.
9 Q. So far all of the marijuana that's been 10 smoked has all come from that same baggy that you got 11 that night?
12 A. And that is all gone.
13 Q. With the exception of what the girls brought?
14 A. Right. You know, that was theirs, so they -- 15 right. They were gone. I think, at this time I don't 16 think -- I know Mitch never met them. I only met 17 Mitch twice in my life.
18 Q. Well, tell me about your second visit with 19 Mitch.
20 A. Mitch came by on a Sunday with Rinzy. We 21 hadn't seen him in a while. In fact, neither one of 22 them. And he came by and I was outside watering my 23 plants. I only had on a little, bitty sleep shirt 24 because, pretty much, everybody was in the bed. And I 25 was outside watering my plants, and when I looked up, 50 1 Mitch and Rinzy was coming back there. Jesse had his 2 robe on. And Mitch said, oh, those plants are just so 3 pretty, you just -- oh, how did, you know -- for a 4 young woman, you just really can grow plants. And I 5 was like, thank you, you know.
6 And I offered them -- I had nothing, so I 7 offered them some soda, which is like orange or -- it 8 was a fruity -- because I warned them it was fruity.
9 It was for the kids, and that's all I had, you know, 10 to give them was a -- but Mitch said, "No, thank you."
11 And I fixed Rinzy a glass of the soda.
12 And they had said that they were on their way 13 to the Keys, and when I knew anything, they were 14 leaving. He didn't stay a good -- long enough that I 15 don't think Rinzy didn't even finish the soda. He 16 didn't stay long at all, maybe 15, 20 minutes.
17 Q. Did they have a conversation with Mr. Prince 18 that you weren't around for?
19 A. Yes. Evidently -- I don't know. I don't 20 know if they had a conversation or what, but I know it 21 wasn't a lot of time. And when I said, "Okay. You're 22 leaving?" He said, "Yeah." They were on their way to 23 the Keys. And I'm like, "Well, okay." And I went and 24 hugged Rinzy and Mitch hugged -- he says, "Well, I'm 25 going to see you soon. I'm going to see you very 51 1 soon."
2 Q. Was there any marijuana growing in any of the 3 potted plants that morning?
4 A. There was a plant -- a pot -- a plant on my 5 -- the door that's busted right there. There was a 6 dead pot that was there when I got there, and I would 7 use it to shake the dirt out and then reuse the dirt, 8 and a plant started growing out of that, right there 9 at the door.
10 Q. What kind of plant?
11 A. Come to find out, a marijuana plant.
12 Q. When did you first notice it?
13 A. I noticed it in the spring.
14 Q. What did you do about it?
15 A. That particular plant, nothing.
16 Q. You just let it grow?
17 A. Uh-huh.
18 Q. Was it the one that the cops, ultimately, 19 came and took? Because you were there when they took 20 it, right?
21 A. Right.
22 Q. So the same plant that the cops took -- and I 23 think it was August 11th was when Mr. Prince was 24 arrested?
25 A. Right.
52 1 Q. That same plant that they seized was the same 2 one that you noticed growing in the spring?
3 A. Yes. It was -- probably wasn't even the 4 spring. I don't even want to -- because spring is 5 March and April. I would say I noticed them in June 6 or July or something. It wasn't spring.
7 Q. All right. Were you watering it?
8 A. No, not until, you know -- I'm watering, you 9 know, doing these other trees and stuff and I have a 10 sprinkler system, so it could have gotten water. I'm 11 not going to say it couldn't have gotten water.
12 Q. It got water while you would routinely water 13 the other plants?
14 A. Right. I have a sprinkler system inside that 15 does my other bushes and everything.
16 Q. Did you ever give it fertilizer?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Did you give your other plants fertilizer?
19 A. No. Every time I give my plants plant food, 20 they die. They turn -- I don't use -- 21 Q. When did you realize that this plant growing 22 there was marijuana?
23 A. In the summer. Right then when I told you.
24 Q. So you knew what it was when you saw it?
25 A. Yeah. There were other little plants growing 53 1 around that we would pull up and throw away.
2 Q. But the particular one that the cop seized 3 that you said you saw in June or July, did you know it 4 was marijuana when you saw it?
5 A. Uh-huh.
6 Q. You recognized it?
7 A. Uh-huh.
8 Q. Is that a yes?
9 A. Yes. I'm sorry.
10 Q. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Prince 11 about the plant?
12 A. What do you mean "a conversation"?
13 Q. Well, did you say, "Oh, shit, where did that 14 come from?"
15 A. We had conversation about why all of these 16 other ones, which is -- why all these plants -- the 17 only conversation I had was not like we were not 18 talking about marijuana. The conversation we had was 19 that, "Oh, all of these plants are just coming up."
20 Q. What kind of plants? The marijuana plant?
21 A. These little marijuana plants is just 22 springing up.
23 Q. Where were they springing up?
24 A. In my plants.
25 Q. Okay. So in your other potted plants -- 54 1 A. Potted plants, yes.
2 Q. -- random, smaller marijuana plants were 3 springing up?
4 A. Uh-huh.
5 Q. And you were pulling them up?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. Did you all pull them up together?
8 A. Jesse was pulling them up. I -- really, I 9 don't know what I'm pulling up. I'm not like I go 10 around just pulling up everything. But he pulled up 11 marijuana and said, "Oh, look at this stuff, it's just 12 wild." I remember him saying that.
13 Q. What were you doing with it after you pulled 14 it up?
15 A. Throwing it in a garbage, I guess. I don't 16 know what he did with it afterwards.
17 Q. Did you ever throw any in a garbage?
18 A. I have. If I throw it away, it's in the 19 garbage. I only done it maybe once with him.
20 Q. Did you ever have any reason to be concerned 21 that members of The Church of Scientology were going 22 through your garbage?
23 A. Members of The Church of Scientology went 24 through my garbage in Tennessee.
25 Q. Did you have any reason to believe that they 55 1 would go through your garbage in your home in 2 Clearwater?
3 A. I could see they would. But -- 4 Q. So why would you throw away a marijuana plant 5 knowing that somebody might go through your garbage?
6 A. Where else would you put it? Where would I 7 throw it?
8 Q. Did you call the police when it started 9 springing up?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Where did you think it was coming from?
12 A. Originally, I thought -- and this is the 13 truth. Originally, I blamed the people before us.
14 Q. Did she leave some of those potted plants?
15 A. There's -- well, yeah. There was other 16 little plants there, and there's a little spot where 17 everything has died, a lot of stuff. The winter has 18 killed a whole lot of stuff, but there is a spot where 19 she left another plant. You know, she forgot.
20 Q. Was it only growing inthe pots that she 21 left?
22 A. No. It was growing in the ones that I 23 bought, too.
24 Q. So how did you think it was getting there?
25 A. I don't know. I don't know. This stuff is 56 1 just wild, that's all I know.
2 Q. Did you ask Mr. Prince, "Gee, I wonder where 3 all of this is coming from?"
4 A. I have -- I made the comment that it was -- 5 you know, I had no idea.
6 Q. At any point while it's popping up -- well, 7 give me a time frame as to when it starts popping up 8 and when you're pulling it up. Does it date all the 9 way back to Junish?
10 A. No. The popping up in the little, bitty 11 ones, that was in spring.
12 Q. Okay.
13 A. Starting in the spring, I would say.
14 Q. Did it ever occur to you that somebody was 15 sneaking into your lanai and planting it?
16 A. (Deponent shakes head.)
17 Q. Never?
18 A. (Deponent shakes head.)
19 Q. That's a no?
20 A. No. I'm sorry.
21 Q. That's okay.
22 So why pull up all of these small, random 23 ones and leave the big one?
24 A. Because it was cute, to tell you the truth.
25 Q. It was "cute"?
57 1 A. Uh-huh. I'm a plant fanatic, and it was cute 2 and I kept it.
3 Q. Did you ever pull off any leaves and take 4 them into the bathroom and let them dry out?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Did Mr. Prince?
7 A. No, not to my knowledge.
8 Q. What did Mr. Prince say with regards to you 9 leaving the larger plant and only pulling out the 10 smaller ones?
11 A. We never commented. It's not like it was a 12 subject of conversation, that plant. And then by this 13 time, this is the other thing, I'm working, maybe, in 14 June -- yeah, in June, I started working. I'm not out 15 there anymore like I used to be, you know, so I'm not 16 -- you know, it's not like I'll see it every day or 17 even think about it.
18 Q. So was it out there the night you and your 19 girlfriends and Rinzy smoked marijuana at the pool?
20 A. That one, yes.
21 Q. That's a yes. Okay. Was it out there the 22 first time Mitch came over for the barbecue?
23 A. I don't recall Mitch ever coming for a 24 barbecue.
25 Q. His first visit, didn't you all socialize -- 58 1 oh, okay. You went to the computer room. I'm sorry, 2 maybe I misspoke.
3 The first visit Mitch came, I think, you went 4 to the computer room and rolled a joint. Was it out 5 there that day?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And was it out there when he came by on his 8 way to the Keys?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Was there ever a conversation between you and 11 Mr. Prince as to why you would leave that one and pull 12 up the other ones?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Did he ever say, don't throw that one away?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Did you ever pull up any marijuana plants 17 that were actually growing in the yard?
18 A. Not that I know of, no.
19 Q. Did you ever have a conversation with Rinzy 20 about marijuana plants growing in the yard?
21 A. No, just in the inside.
22 Q. Okay. What was your conversation with Rinzy 23 about the inside plants?
24 A. This stuff is just coming everywhere, you 25 know. It's just in my plants.
59 1 Q. And what did he say?
2 A. Nothing.
3 Q. Did he ask you how come you're leaving the 4 big one and throwing small ones away?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Did he ever comment on the big one and say, 7 "Oh, that looks good"?
8 A. Not that I can think of, not to me, no.
9 Q. So that plant never came up in conversation 10 between you and Rinzy?
11 A. No. The only -- it's my plants. And when we 12 say "plants," we mean my tropical plants. Any 13 conversations that I have is about tropical, not the 14 little marijuana thingy.
15 Q. So from the time you moved into your home, 16 February 24th or 25th, up until the time your husband 17 -- excuse me -- Mr. Prince was arrested, did you and 18 he ever smoke marijuana when Rinzy was not around?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Can you tell me about that?
21 A. When he was not around?
22 Q. Uh-huh.
23 A. There's nothing to tell. We just -- 24 Q. Well, I mean, can you tell me where you were, 25 how many times it was? Was it at your house? Was it 60 1 at Wilson's? Where was it?
2 A. At home.
3 Q. At your house?
4 A. Uh-huh.
5 Q. And how many times?
6 A. Explain -- say it again? Are we talking 7 about before his arrest?
8 Q. Well, we'll start with from the time you 9 moved into your house, which we know is February of 10 2000, up until the time he was arrested, August 11th, 11 of 2000. During that almost five-month window, was 12 there ever a time that you and Mr. Prince smoked 13 marijuana that Rinzy was not there?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And was it at your house?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And where did that marijuana come from?
18 A. Out of the tin.
19 Q. Same bag from -- 20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. Seems like we've used that up by now.
22 A. We have. But just because Rinzy wasn't there 23 that day, don't mean, you know -- 24 Q. Okay.
25 A. I would say we got about four or five joints 61 1 out of that bag. Yeah, that little bag.
2 Q. And we know Rinzy was present for at least 3 three of them?
4 A. Right.
5 Q. So does that mean how many times -- 6 A. But I'm not saying that he didn't have his 7 own. I was just saying that we smoked marijuana. I'm 8 not saying that I know exactly, each time, who pulled 9 out a marijuana cigarette. I'm not saying that I know 10 exactly who did it and where it came from. It's not 11 like we were the only ones just, you know -- it's not 12 like he was a moocher, you know.
13 Q. So you didn't always turn to the baggy as the 14 source of marijuana?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you know where -- did you and Mr. Prince 17 get any marijuana during that time frame from a source 18 other than the white male at the bar?
19 A. No.
20 Q. The only marijuana you smoked came from that 21 bag that was given to you that night at Wilson's?
22 A. Yes. And after he was arrested, there is no 23 way you can pay me to, no.
24 Q. None since the arrest?
25 A. Unh-unh.
62 1 Q. What about Mr. Prince since the arrest?
2 A. Not that I know of.
3 Q. Not in your presence?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Well, let's go to the morning of the arrest, 6 were you treated fairly?
7 A. No, ma'am.
8 Q. Do you want to tell me about that?
9 A. First, I had no idea what was going on. And 10 I had wrecked my car, as I stated before, on Wednesday 11 and I was off of work that Friday for -- just because 12 I had that accident and was sore from the car 13 accident.
14 Someone knocked on the door. I can't tell 15 you what time. I know it was early in the morning.
16 No one was woke. They knocked -- they rang the 17 doorbell and knocked on the door.
18 Jesse answered the phone -- I mean, answered 19 the door with his robe on. We had just got straight 20 up out of the bed and it was early, so I got up too to 21 see, you know, and went behind him. And the guy -- 22 well, he went ahead. And I could hear, because my 23 bedroom is right at the front door, you know. There's 24 someone saying they want to talk to him about this car 25 accident, this car sitting out here. And he said, 63 1 "Oh, my fiancee had an accident in that car."
2 So when I hear that, I immediately spring up, 3 you know. And I sleep in a T-shirt. I just threw on 4 some shorts and went to the door too because I'm 5 hearing they want to talk about this car out here.
6 And he says, let me get you -- and by then, 7 I'm at the door now too -- let me get you to step out, 8 you know, let's go out here and talk about it.
9 Oh, my Lord. By the time we stepped out, 10 there was guys all in my plants here and on this side, 11 on both sides of my house. And they grabbed him. And 12 I just about died, you know. I'm like, "What?" From 13 that point on, I'm asking, what -- we're on the part 14 of being fair -- what, what, what, what, to the 15 point -- because I'm just moving here with Jesse, you 16 know, and I'm a mom with two kids, I want to know 17 what.
18 They never would, never, ever, ever, until 19 they had brought him back into the house and sat him 20 down on the couch and told me to stay right here. I 21 can't hear this guy. He's got a paper (humming) -- 22 Q. Reading.
23 A. And I'm trying -- I'm like, what, to the 24 point to where I'm so nervous I just fall on my knees, 25 what, what. They never would say what.
64 1 By this time -- okay. We got guys all in the 2 backyard, all in the -- if you look up -- now, I'm 3 looking up. There's guys in my little shed outside.
4 There's a guy in the backyard. They all have these 5 ski masks and everything on.
6 And my biggest concern was me and my kids in 7 a case of -- to me, we were getting raided, you know, 8 and I've never been in a situation like this. And my 9 biggest thing is what, what, what. They never 10 answered me. I fall on my knees and say, what is 11 going on. And he's just (humming). Nobody else is 12 speaking. Not a sole. It was like seven, eight or 13 nine. I don't know how many.
14 Q. At this point, did Scientology enter your 15 mind at all?
16 A. Yes. I already -- let me finish. Okay.
17 They -- I knew. I didn't know what it was at first, 18 but the first thing I thought about was Scientology.
19 Because I've seen -- I've never heard of them before 20 until they started practicing the crap on me, you 21 know. When I met him, I thought he was -- no, nobody 22 could do that. They do it.
23 But anyway, I'm like, well, tell me what.
24 The guy says, "Well, do you mind if we go -- can you 25 take me upstairs," one of officers. I couldn't tell 65 1 you what they look like or anything because they all 2 have their little ski gear and all of this stuff. The 3 guy have -- they all have these rifle things like the 4 one they used on little Julian, the little boy from 5 Cuba. They had the same kind of guns, you know.
6 And he says, "Well, can I go upstairs?" He 7 says, "Do you have any children up here?"
8 I said, "yes."
9 "Okay, I'll be quiet" -- beating against my 10 walls. Beating against -- you know, wondering why are 11 these walls so thick. I'm still going, "What?"
12 So we're upstairs, and I'm thinking to 13 myself, this is a chance he can tell me, you know.
14 And I'm telling him, "You can tell me. What? You can 15 tell me. I don't want you to tell me down here. I 16 want you to tell me right here. What are you here 17 for? What are you here for?"
18 This guy, to this day, has never told me what 19 he was there for. He beat on the walls. He went 20 through the closets. He says, "I'm just doing this to 21 make sure there's no other people or nothing in here."
22 And he's beating and asking me the structure of the 23 building and why is my walls so deep and why is my 24 closet so big. I just can remember that.
25 And we go back downstairs. It's not until 66 1 they come in the house with a little, bitty -- with 2 that little plant. He come in there dripping dirt all 3 through the thing.
4 And the guy goes, "Did you take a picture of 5 that?" And he goes, "Oh, no." "You better go back."
6 He sticks it in the little -- 7 Q. Pot.
8 A. -- pot. And he takes his pictures, takes 9 pictures out there. And I'm like, "Well, okay, since 10 you're an expert, what about all of this other stuff 11 that's around here?" He goes, "Uh?" I'm like, "You 12 know what's going on here."
13 You've lived in this town. By this time, I 14 know what's going on because I've lived in this town 15 long enough. I've seen what's going on. And I'm 16 like, you know; you know what this is, you know this 17 is Scientology. You know this is Scientology. I'm 18 constantly telling them -- you know, I'm panicking -- 19 you know who this is.
20 He goes, yeah, but it's on your back step or 21 something, and walks out with it, you know.
22 And by that time, they're in there going 23 through drawers and everything, and Jesse's putting on 24 -- because he had nothing on, period. And they're 25 getting him ready to transport him and everything.
67 1 And he says, "Well, he'll be out in an hour."
2 And I'm like, "What?" Because it can't be this.
3 Please. Not for all of this, you know. And he says, 4 "You'll have him back in an hour." He still did not 5 tell me. I then -- well, after they got rid -- they 6 made him stay out here this long just in handcuffs.
7 I'm begging them, "Can you put him in a car?" Because 8 I don't want my neighbors to look at this. They've 9 got him like this (indicating), you know, parading 10 him, basically, you know.
11 Q. Have you seen the video?
12 JOHN MERRETT: Raftery's video? The 13 Scientology video?
14 MRS. WARDELL: Yes.
15 BY MRS. WARDELL:
16 Q. Did you watch the video?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. When did you watch it? Last night?
19 A. No.
20 Q. When did you watch it?
21 A. Today.
22 Q. Okay.
23 A. And they have him handcuffed. I don't have 24 to look at the video. I know by heart. And they have 25 him in handcuffs and I'm begging them, please, please, 68 1 please. And so Jesse is trying to tell me something 2 and I can't understand what he's talking about. I'm 3 like, please.
4 The only way I knew anything is for me to go 5 and get that paper that the guy was mumbling over.
6 And I sat there and calmed down and I read it and I 7 read it. And I'm like, oh. And that's how I found 8 out what happened to Jesse. Not one sole told me what 9 was going on. I got up. I'm like -- because I just 10 did not believe that they're worried about this little 11 plant, and then I cannot believe they sent all of 12 these people. I'm thinking it's something really, 13 really bad. I'm thinking, you know, what is going on.
14 And it was that one plant in the end that caused all 15 of this.
16 Q. Well, did Rinzy ever tell you to keep that 17 plant?
18 A. Me and Rinzy never discussed that plant.
19 Q. Well, you did discuss the pulling up of the 20 smaller ones with him, right, because you had pointed 21 out to him how you were pulling them up every which 22 way?
23 A. Jesse let him know that we're pulling them 24 up.
25 Q. At any point where you had that conversation 69 1 with Rinzy, did he ever tell you to keep the big one?
2 A. No, not that I know of. Not to me, he 3 didn't.
4 Q. Did he ever tell you -- tell Mr. Prince in 5 your presence that Mr. Prince should keep that big 6 one?
7 A. Not in my presence.
8 Q. Did anybody, other than yourself, tell you to 9 keep that larger plant?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Did anybody tell Mr. Prince, that you're 12 aware of, to keep that plant?
13 A. No, that I'm aware of.
14 MRS. WARDELL: Is there any other topic you 15 think I've missed?
16 MR. de VLAMING: No.
17 A. And I don't think the plant was any larger 18 than -- 19 MR. de VLAMING: Wait. Just a minute.
20 MRS. WARDELL: Anything?
21 MR. de VLAMING: Well, the only other thing I 22 want to make sure that the record is clear is some 23 time ago, Mrs. Wardell asked you a question that if 24 you knew what marijuana looked like, you know, before 25 Jesse's arrest and you said, no.
70 1 Did you mean to say that? I mean, did you 2 know what a marijuana plant looked like back at that 3 time?
4 THE DEPONENT: Yes.
5 MR. de VLAMING: All right.
6 THE DEPONENT: I'm sorry.
7 MR. de VLAMING: I didn't think you meant 8 that, but I'm not allowed to testify.
9 THE DEPONENT: I'm sorry.
10 MR. de VLAMING: That's all right. That's 11 all I have.
12 BY MRS. WARDELL:
13 Q. So you knew in the Junish time frame, when 14 you saw the bigger plant, that it was a marijuana 15 plant?
16 A. Uh-huh.
17 Q. Is that a yes?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Nobody had to tell you what it was?
20 A. No.
21 MRS. WARDELL: Is there anything you think I 22 haven't covered.
23 MR. de VLAMING: No.
24 MRS. WARDELL: Okay. Thank you.
25 MR. de VLAMING: Put her down for a read.
71 1 (At this time the deposition in the 2 above-captioned matter was concluded at 3 4:50 p.m.)
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 15 STATE OF FLORIDA ) 16 COUNTY OF PINELLAS ) 17 I, CRISSY CLADAKIS, Court Reporter, certify 18 that I was authorized to and did stenographically 19 report the foregoing deposition; and that the 20 transcript is a true record of the testimony given by 21 the witness.
22 I further certify that I am not a relative, 23 employee, attorney, or counsel of any of the parties, 24 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties' 25 attorney or counsel connected with the action, nor am 72 I financially interested in the action.
I, the undersigned authority, certify that DENEEN PHILLIPS personally appeared before me and was duly sworn.
WITNESS my hand and official seal this 21st day of May, 2001.
Crissy Cladakis Notary Public - State of Florida My Commission No. CC 736558 Expires: April 23, 2002 ERRATA SHEET READING AND SIGNING OF DEPOSITION TO BE ATTACHED TO THE DEPOSITION OF DENEEN PHILLIPS TAKEN ON MAY 18, 2001, IN THE MATTER OF STATE OF FLORIDA VS. JESSE PRINCE BY CRISSY CLADAKIS TO THE DEPONENT: IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, THIS IS ATTACHED FOR YOUR INSPECTION AND SIGNATURE. ANY CHANGES IN THE DEPOSITION IN FORM OR SUBSTANCE WHICH YOU CARE TO MAKE ARE TO BE MADE ON THIS SHEET WITH YOUR REASON THEREFORE.
DO NOT WRITE ON THE DEPOSITION ITSELF RETURN THIS FORM AND THE ORIGINAL SIGNATURE PAGE WITHIN 14 DAYS TO D & D REPORTING SERVICE.
FOR THE STATE: Lydia Wardell, Esquire FOR MR. PRINCE: Denis de Vlaming, Esquire FOR MS. PHILLIPS: John Merrett, Esquire LINE & PAGE NO. CHANGE OR CORRECTION AND REASON ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ DENEEN PHILLIPS __________________________ Date _____________ DEPONENT'S CERTIFICATE I have read the foregoing transcript of my oral deposition taken on the date and at the location indicated on the title page of the deposition, and I certify that said transcript is true and correct, with the provisions that any errors appearing therein have been corrected by me by listing on a separate sheet as to page number, line and content of said error(s), and further indicating the language to be substituted.
I also understand that upon completion of the reading, signing and correcting of the transcript, I am to return this original signature page, my list of corrections and said file copy provided for my inspection to the person or company listed on the pre-addressed envelope provided to me.
I further understand that if I do not carry out the instructions stated above within thirty days from the date I receive the transcript, I automatically waive my right to read and Scientology the deposition.
DATE: _____________________ NAME: ____________________ DENEEN PHILLIPS MAY 18, 2001
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