1 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 3 IN RE: PELLICANO CASES: CASE NO. BC 316318 (Lead Case) 4 Anita Busch vs. Anthony BC316459; BC349590; Pellicano, et al., Bo Zenga BC350832; BC354840; 5 vs. City of Los Angeles, BC356529; BC356722; et al.; Keith Carradine, BC358270; BC358271; 6 et al. v. Anthony Pellicano, BC361319; BC361621; et al.; Lisa Bonder SC092684 7 Kerkorian vs. AT&T Corp., et al.; Donna Dubrow v. 8 Anthony Pellicano, et al.; Monika Zsibrita, et al. v. 9 City of Los Angeles, et al.; Stephen Kolodny v. Terry N. 10 Christensen, et al.; Alexander Kasper v. Pacific 11 Bell Tel. Co., et al.; Erin Finn v. Pacific Bell Tel. 12 Co., et al.; Andrew Miller v. City of Los Angeles, et al.; 13 Ami Shafrir v. City of Beverly Hills, et al. 14 ____________________________________________________ 15 VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF CHERYL SHUMAN 16 VOLUME 1 17 Los Angeles, California 18 Monday, February 11, 2008 19 20 21 Reported by: THERESA TRANG HOANG 22 RPR, CSR No. 11952 23 Job No. 81510 24 25 2 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 3 IN RE: PELLICANO CASES: CASE NO. BC 316318 (Lead Case) 4 Anita Busch vs. Anthony BC316459; BC349590; Pellicano, et al., Bo Zenga BC350832; BC354840; 5 vs. City of Los Angeles, BC356529; BC356722; et al.; Keith Carradine, BC358270; BC358271; 6 et al. v. Anthony Pellicano, BC361319; BC361621; et al.; Lisa Bonder SC092684 7 Kerkorian vs. AT&T Corp., et al.; Donna Dubrow v. 8 Anthony Pellicano, et al.; Monika Zsibrita, et al. v. 9 City of Los Angeles, et al.; Stephen Kolodny v. Terry N. 10 Christensen, et al.; Alexander Kasper v. Pacific 11 Bell Tel. Co., et al.; Erin Finn v. Pacific Bell Tel. 12 Co., et al.; Andrew Miller v. City of Los Angeles, et al.; 13 Ami Shafrir v. City of Beverly Hills, et al. 14 ____________________________________________________ 15 16 17 Videotaped deposition of CHERYL SHUMAN, 18 Volume 1, taken on behalf of Plaintiff, at 19 600 South Commonwealth Avenue, 17th Floor, 20 Los Angeles, California, beginning at 21 1:48 p.m., and adjourning at 5:48 p.m., on 22 Monday, February 11, 2008, before Theresa 23 Trang Hoang, RPR, Certified Shorthand Reporter 24 No. 11952. 25 3 1 APPEARANCES: 2 For Plaintiff AMI SHAFRIR: 3 LAW OFFICES OF GREGORY A. YATES, P.C. 4 BY: GREGORY A. YATES Attorney at Law 5 16830 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 250 Encino, California 91436 6 310.858.6944 -and- 7 NEVILLE L. JOHNSON Attorney at Law 8 439 North Canon Drive, Suite 200 Beverly Hills, California 90210 9 310.975.1080 njohnson@jjllplaw.com 10 11 For Plaintiffs: 12 KABATECK BROWN KELLNER LLP BY: REZA SINA 13 Attorney at Law 644 South Figueroa Street 14 Los Angeles, California 90071 213.217.5000 15 16 For Plaintiff ANITA BUSCH: 17 EVAN D. MARSHALL Attorney at Law 18 233 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 550 Santa Monica, California 90401 19 310.458.6660 20 For Defendant PACIFIC BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, 21 ET AL.: 22 PILLSBURY, WINTHROP, SHAW, PITTMAN, LLP BY: DOUGLAS RAY TRIBBLE 23 Attorney at Law 501 West Broadway, Suite 1100 24 San Diego, California 92101-3575 619.234.5000 25 4 1 APPEARANCES (Continued): 2 For Defendants CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS, DAVID SNOWDEN, MARVIN IANNONE, and WILLIAM HUNT: 3 WOODRUFF, SPRADLIN & SMART 4 BY: MARK M. MONACHINO Attorney at Law 5 555 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1200 Costa Mesa, California 92626 6 714.415.1077 mmonachino@wss-law.com 7 8 For Defendants TERRY CHRISTENSEN and THE CHRISTENSEN FIRM: 9 CHRISTENSEN, GLASER, FINK, JACOBS, WEIL & 10 SHAPIRO, LLP BY: LAURA PREMI 11 Attorney at Law 10250 Constellation Boulevard, 19th Floor 12 Los Angeles, California 90067 310.553.3000 13 lpremi@chrisglase.com 14 For Defendants DENNIS WASSER and THE WASSER FIRM: 15 BIRD, MARELLA, BOXER, WOLPERT, NESSIM, 16 DROOKS & LINCENBERG BY: PETER J. SHAKOW 17 Attorney at Law 1875 Century Park East, 23rd Floor 18 Los Angeles, California 90067-2561 310.201.2100 19 pjs@birdmarella.com 20 For Defendant CITY OF LOS ANGELES: 21 OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY 22 BY: GEOFFREY PLOWDEN Deputy City Attorney 23 600 City Hall East 200 North Main Street 24 Los Angeles, California 90012 213.978.7038 25 geoffrey.plowden@lacity.org 5 1 APPEARANCES (Continued): 2 For Defendant GORRY, MEYER & RUDD: 3 WAXLER, CARNER, WEINREB, BRODSKY, LLP 4 BY: WENDY M. CONOLE Attorney at Law 5 1960 Grand Avenue, Suite 1210 El Segundo, California 90245 6 310.416.1300 7 For Defendant MARK ARNESON: 8 RON ORR & PROFESSIONALS, INC. 9 BY: RONALD S. ORR Attorney at Law 10 578 Washington Boulevard, Suite 389 Marina Del Rey, California 90292-5442 11 310.301.4849 ronorresq@aol.com 12 13 For Defendant MICHAEL OVITZ: 14 DREIER, STEIN, KAHAN, BROWNE, WOODS, GEORGE BY: GENE F. WILLIAMS 15 Attorney at Law 450 North Roxbury Drive, Seventh Floor 16 Beverly Hills, California 90210 310.274.7100 17 gwilliams@dskbwg.com 18 Also present: 19 GREG KRIKORIAN, Los Angeles Times 20 JONATHAN MILLER, Videographer 21 22 23 24 25 6 1 I N D E X 2 WITNESS EXAMINATION 3 Cheryl Shuman 4 BY MR. YATES 13 5 BY MR. MONACHINO 72 6 7 8 E X H I B I T S 9 DEPOSITION: PAGE 10 A - Notice of Taking Deposition of 13 Cheryl Shuman [Jane Doe] (4 pages) 11 1 - Declaration of Jeanne 19 12 Caligiuri, M.D. (2 pages) 13 2 - E-mail exchange, the latest 60 dated 10/9/07 from Cheryl Shuman 14 to Greg Yates (5 pages) 15 3 - Article from Page Six (1 page) 64 16 4 - Photograph(s) from Cheryl Shuman's 70 digital camera (to be subsequently 17 provided by the witness) 18 5 - Copy of a screen capture (1 page) 70 19 6 - Declaration of "Jane Doe" (2 pages) 154 20 21 22 INSTRUCTION NOT TO ANSWER 23 Page Line 24 100 21 25 7 1 Los Angeles, California; Monday, February 11, 2008 2 1:48 p.m. 3 4 VIDEOGRAPHER: Good afternoon. Here begins 5 videotape number 1 of the deposition of Cheryl 6 Shuman, in re pellicano Cases, specifically Ami 7 Shafrir versus City of Beverly Hills, et al. The 8 case is in the Superior Court of the State of 9 California, the County of Los Angeles, and the lead 10 case number is BC316318. 11 Today's date is February 11, 2008, and the 12 time is 1:48 p.m. This deposition is taking place 13 at the L.A. Superior Court, West Central, at 14 600 South Commonwealth Avenue, Department 322, in 15 the judges' lounge, and is being taken on behalf of 16 the plaintiff. 17 The videographer is Jonathan Miller 18 appearing on behalf of Sarnoff Court Reporters and 19 Legal Technologies, located in Irvine, California. 20 Would Counsel please identify yourselves 21 and state whom you represent. 22 MR. YATES: Gregory A. Yates, Y-a-t-e-s; Ami 23 Shafrir. 24 MR. JOHNSON: Neville Johnson for Plaintiff 25 Shafrir. 8 1 MR. SINA: Reza Sina; various plaintiffs. 2 MR. WILLIAMS: Gene Williams, representing 3 Michael Ovitz. 4 MR. SHAKOW: Peter Shakow, representing Dennis 5 Wasser and The Wasser Firm. 6 MS. PREMI: Laura Premi, representing Terry 7 Christensen and The Christensen Firm. 8 MR. MONACHINO: Mark Monachino, representing 9 the City of Beverly Hills, Defendants Snowden, 10 Iannone, Hunt. 11 MR. TRIBBLE: Douglas Tribble, representing 12 Pacific Bell Telephone Company. 13 MR. MARSHALL: Evan Marshall for Plaintiff 14 Anita Busch. 15 MR. KRIKORIAN: I'm Greg Krikorian with the 16 Los Angeles Times, here at the invitation of 17 attorneys. 18 MR. ORR: Ronald Orr appearing especially for 19 Mark Arneson. And I'd like to make an objection at 20 the appropriate time to the deposition. 21 MR. PLOWDEN: Geoffrey Plowden for the City of 22 Los Angeles. 23 MS. CONOLE: Wendy Conole for Gorry, Meyer & 24 Rudd. 25 VIDEOGRAPHER: Thank you. 9 1 Would the court reporter please swear in 2 the witness. 3 THE REPORTER: Ms. Shuman, please raise your 4 right hand. 5 6 CHERYL SHUMAN, 7 Deponent, was sworn, examined 8 and testified as follows: 9 10 THE REPORTER: You do solemnly swear that the 11 testimony you will give in the cause now pending 12 will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 13 the truth, so help you God? 14 MS. SHUMAN: So help me God, yes. 15 MR. YATES: Okay. Before we start, I think 16 there's indication by Counsel that they'd like to 17 put their objections on the record. Would now be 18 the best time to do that? 19 MR. TRIBBLE: Yes, it would. I'll start off. 20 The defense, as a whole, objects to the 21 deposition proceeding at this time. We believe it 22 violates the defendants' due process rights since we 23 have not had the opportunity to brief the various 24 issues before the Court, which include the Court's 25 consideration of the fact that the defendants have 10 1 been subject to a stay of discovery; and not have 2 been able to adequately prepare for the deposition; 3 and due to the fact that access to certain 4 information within the United States government's 5 control at this point in time has not been available 6 to the defendants in preparation for this 7 deposition; that the deposition was not listed in 8 the discovery plan and scheduling that had been 9 worked out in this case set forth in the December 13 10 order; that the defense had reasonably relied upon 11 the stipulation that was filed with the Court just 12 two days -- two court days now -- before this 13 deposition where it was agreed that the case was 14 going to be stayed again for all purposes. Based 15 upon those facts, we believe it's not -- it's 16 inappropriate to go forward at this time. 17 Further, we understand that there may be an 18 attempt to limit the deposition in terms of the 19 timing. And we'll address that if that occurs. 20 But, initially, we'd like to say that's -- that 21 unilateral limitation without the Court's order and, 22 again, briefing on the issue, would be 23 inappropriate. 24 MR. MONACHINO: Just so it's on the record, I 25 would join in that objection. And, also, I'm not 11 1 sure about the presence of the L.A. Times. I also 2 object to the presence of the representative from 3 the L.A. Times. They're not a party to this 4 lawsuit. 5 MR. TRIBBLE: I think which is inconsistent 6 with some of the briefing that was before the Court 7 and the confidentiality concerns of this particular 8 witness. 9 MR. ORR: On behalf of Mark Arneson, I adopt 10 the objections of the City -- of Pacific Bell. 11 Also, I think that the presence of the reporter is 12 inconsistent with the protective order and the 13 nature of the declaration that was filed and the 14 fact that we were told it was confidential. 15 In addition, on behalf of Mr. Arneson, 16 we've been unable to prepare for this deposition and 17 ask appropriate questions by virtue of the fact that 18 we are unable to access information from our client. 19 We've talked to our client about the information 20 that is subject to the protective order, by virtue 21 of that protective order. 22 And it's also unclear whether this 23 deposition is going to be used in connection with 24 all of the cases involving Mr. Pellicano, or just 25 this case. We're not a defendant in the Shafrir 12 1 case, but we're concerned that since the notice of 2 deposition was not clear as to whether or not this 3 will be used in connection with -- or sought to be 4 used in connection with cases other than the Shafrir 5 case. 6 MR. PLOWDEN: The City of Los Angeles also 7 joins in the objections stated by prior counsel. 8 MS. PREMI: Terry Christensen and The 9 Christensen Firm also join in the objections. We 10 also ask the L.A. Times reporter be excluded from 11 this deposition. 12 MS. CONOLE: Gorry, Meyer & Rudd echoes those 13 same objections. 14 MR. SHAKOW: As does Dennis Wasser and The 15 Wasser Firm. 16 MR. WILLIAMS: As does Michael Ovitz. 17 MR. YATES: Anyone? 18 MR. TRIBBLE: One initial -- I think it may 19 make things go a little smoother down the road, is, 20 for the purposes of preservation of objections for 21 trial, since there's a number of defendants here and 22 there's only one microphone, if it can be stipulated 23 that an objection by any defendant is deemed joined 24 for purposes of objection at trial, and at the 25 deposition, by all the defense counsel. 13 1 MR. YATES: I have no problem with that. So 2 stipulated. 3 Anyone else? 4 Okay. First of all, addressing the subject 5 of Mr. Krikorian being here. I think this is a 6 public proceeding. I don't expect -- I certainly 7 won't be bringing up anything that has to do with 8 any protective orders. Unless the witness has an 9 objection to his presence, I really leave it up to 10 Mr. Krikorian to decide whether he wishes to stay or 11 not. 12 Do you have a problem with Mr. Krikorian 13 being here? 14 THE WITNESS: No. 15 (Deposition Exhibit A was marked for 16 identification and is attached hereto.) 17 18 EXAMINATION 19 BY MR. YATES: 20 Q Would you please state and spell your name 21 for the record, please? 22 A Yes. My name is Cheryl, C-h-e-r-y-l. Last 23 name is Shuman, S-h-u-m-a-n. 24 Q And Ms. Shuman, have you ever had your 25 deposition taken before? 14 1 A Yes. 2 Q All right. So you understand the basic 3 nature of this proceeding; correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And if you want to speak up a little bit, 6 that will help so that the other attorneys can hear 7 you, also. 8 A Yes. 9 Q Even though you're being picked up on a 10 mic, it would be good to try to speak up as loud as 11 you can. 12 A Yes, I will do that. Thank you, Mr. Yates. 13 Q Are you here voluntarily? 14 A Yes. 15 Q All right. Let me just remind you of a few 16 things that will make things hopefully go a little 17 bit smoother. 18 It's important that when we ask you 19 questions, if you try to listen as best you can to 20 the question and just answer the question. If it 21 calls for an explanation, someone will ask for the 22 explanation. Okay? There's nothing wrong with 23 saying, "I don't know; I don't recall," if that's 24 the case. I don't expect you to say you don't 25 recall if that's not the case. Is that okay? 15 1 A Yes. 2 Q Okay. Another thing; it's fine that you 3 nod your head "yes" or "no." But it's important 4 that you also indicate with a verbal response. 5 Okay? 6 A Yes, Mr. Yates. 7 Q Even though the videographer is here, the 8 formal record -- the official record, that is -- is 9 this lady down here who's taking everything down, 10 and it will be transcribed -- okay? 11 A Yes, I understand. 12 Q -- into the official record. All right? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And another thing; with intelligent, 15 quick-minded witnesses, this is especially a 16 problem. And I'll venture to say both of us are 17 going to violate this, but try not to interrupt my 18 question until I'm completely done, and I'll try not 19 to interrupt your answer until you've completed your 20 answer. Okay? 21 A I understand. 22 Q And bear with me; I'm getting to the point 23 where sometimes there's a little hesitation. Just 24 make sure that I finish the question or you might 25 answer the wrong question. Okay? 16 1 A Yes. 2 Q All right. Are you prepared to go forward? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Are there any questions you have before we 5 start? 6 A No. 7 Q All right. 8 MR. MONACHINO: Mr. Yates, sorry to interrupt 9 you. There's some rumbling back here. We think 10 it's necessary at this point in time maybe to talk 11 to the judge. I think there's a consensus at this 12 point in time to exclude the L.A. Times despite your 13 representation that this is a public forum. We'd 14 like to just suspend the deposition at this point 15 and see if the judge is available to make a ruling 16 whether Mr. Krikorian could stay and hear the 17 deposition testimony. 18 MR. YATES: Before we do that let me have a 19 moment here with my co-counsel. 20 (Inaudible discussion) 21 MR. YATES: May I make a suggestion? To not 22 hold things up -- unless Mr. Krikorian decides of 23 his own volition that he wants to leave -- what I 24 would suggest is that maybe somebody be designated 25 on behalf of all the defendants, and Mr. Johnson can 17 1 go from Mr. Shafrir's case -- our case -- and go 2 visit with the judge about this, so we can at least 3 get through some of the preliminary matters for the 4 next 15 to 20 minutes? 5 MR. JOHNSON: I'll go with somebody now to see 6 if he's available. Right now they're going to 7 ask -- yeah, you should stay and -- 8 MR. YATES: I'll try not to ask any contentious 9 questions until they get back. How's that? 10 MR. JOHNSON: All right. We're going. 11 MR. YATES: Does anyone object to that 12 procedure? 13 MR. PLOWDEN: No. As long as you stick to 14 preliminary questions. 15 (Ms. Premi and Mr. Johnson are not present.) 16 BY MR. YATES: 17 Q How was it that you came here today? 18 A I was asked to come here by Mr. Johnson and 19 Mr. Yates. 20 Q Myself? 21 A Yes. 22 Q Okay. Is this the first time you met me? 23 A Yes. 24 Q We've had discussions over the telephone; 25 is that correct? 18 1 A Yes. 2 Q Communications by e-mail? 3 A Yes. 4 Q All right. Are you prepared to give your 5 best testimony here today? 6 A Yes, I am. 7 Q Do you know basically the general area that 8 we're going to be going into? 9 A Yes, I do. 10 Q Okay. Could you tell us what your medical 11 condition is at present time, as you understand it? 12 A All of the conditions? 13 Q As best you can describe those conditions. 14 A I had ovarian cancer. I have advanced -- 15 or acute pulmonary histoplasmosis, high blood 16 pressure. Those are the main things. 17 Q Have you taken any medication -- 18 A Today? 19 Q -- within the last 24 hours. 20 A Yes, I have. 21 Q Can you tell us what medication that is? 22 A Yes. I take Synthroid for hypothyroid or 23 something; it's Synthroid. I take Vanasipril 24 [phonetic] for my high blood pressure. And I have 25 to take Primarin, which is a hormone, because I had 19 1 to have a radical hysterectomy. 2 Q What about -- within the last 24 hours, 3 have you had any alcoholic beverages? 4 A No. 5 Q Consumed no alcoholic -- 6 A No. No. 7 Q -- beverages? 8 A No. 9 Q Have any doctors advised you about whether 10 or not you should be giving this deposition today? 11 A My doctors have advised me to put my health 12 first, to not get too stressed, and to be very aware 13 of my body and anxiety levels and stress levels, 14 because it could be detrimental to my health. 15 Q Did I ask you to bring a medical report or 16 a doctor statement today here with you concerning 17 your condition? 18 A Yes, you did. 19 Q Did you bring the original? 20 A Yes, I did. 21 Q May I please see it? 22 MR. YATES: I'd like to mark this Exhibit 1 to 23 the deposition. 24 (Deposition Exhibit 1 was marked for 25 identification and is attached hereto.) 20 1 BY MR. YATES: 2 Q I'm going to hand this to you, Ms. Shuman, 3 and ask you what exactly that is that you just 4 handed me. 5 A It's a declaration from my internist about 6 the statement of my health condition. 7 Q Okay. 8 MR. TRIBBLE: May I ask Counsel a question so 9 we won't have to interrupt? Is this the same 10 declaration that was submitted by Mr. Johnson? 11 MR. YATES: I believe it is. Let me look at it 12 real quick. 13 Here. Why don't you take a look at it and 14 see if it is. I believe it's just the original. 15 MR. TRIBBLE: I got a copy. Okay. 16 MR. YATES: Appears to be the same? 17 MR. TRIBBLE: Appears to be the same. 18 MR. YATES: All right. 19 BY MR. YATES: 20 Q Have you read this report? 21 A I glanced through it. 22 Q Do you recall if the doctor that signed 23 this report, Dr. -- Dr. Caligiuri -- is that -- 24 A "Caligiuri." 25 Q "Caligiuri"? 21 1 A Uh-huh. 2 Q -- told you about any limitations you might 3 have in terms of how long you should be deposed 4 today? 5 A Yes. She was told -- she told me not to be 6 under deposition for more than an hour at a time, 7 and to make sure I had adequate time for rest; and 8 if I got too stressed or anxious during the course 9 of the deposition, to please ask to be excused. 10 Q Did she give you a maximum amount of time 11 that you could be available for us today? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And what was that amount of time? 14 A One hour. 15 MS. PREMI: Excuse me. We're going to have to 16 interrupt. The judge wants to see us all in the 17 courtroom. 18 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record at 19 2:04 p.m. 20 (Recess) 21 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on the record at 22 2:37 p.m. 23 BY MR. YATES: 24 Q Okay. We're back on the record. Sorry for 25 the delay, Ms. Shuman. 22 1 A Okay. 2 Q I think, if my memory serves me correctly, 3 we left off about the limitation and the time that 4 you were going to be able to give a deposition; 5 correct? 6 A Yes. 7 Q All right. And when you said an hour, did 8 you mean an hour total, or just an hour at a time? 9 A An hour at a time, is my understanding. 10 Q Okay. Now, what about total? Was there a 11 limitation? 12 A I don't recall exactly what it is. 13 Q Okay. So whatever it would be, if there 14 was any, would be in this exhibit, which is the 15 Dr. Caligiuri's report, declaration of January 18, 16 2008? 17 A Yes, sir. 18 Q And you would abide by that? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Now, do you know why Dr. Caligiuri limited 21 your testimony? 22 A Yes. 23 Q And what's that? 24 A My health. 25 Q Okay. Is it your understanding that you 23 1 have terminal cancer? 2 A I was diagnosed as terminal December of 3 2007, and was told that I wouldn't make it past 4 through March of 2008 -- oh, no, no, no. I think 5 it's -- wait. December 18th of last year -- 6 whatever this past March was. 7 Q Okay. So you've lived past -- beyond your 8 life expectancy -- 9 A Yes. I'm sorry. 10 Q -- according to what you were told? 11 A Right. I shouldn't be here today, 12 technically. 13 Q We're glad you are. 14 A I'm glad, too. 15 Q So, again -- 16 A But you guys are kind of intimidating. 17 Q Well, don't let us be. 18 A Okay. 19 Q But do let us know if you want to take a 20 break, please. 21 A Yes, I will. 22 Q Are you okay to start again? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Let us know if you want to take a break, 25 please. 24 1 A Do I just, like, hold up a red flag? 2 Q Just raise your hand and say, "I want to 3 take a break." Okay? 4 A Okay. 5 Q Okay. Let's start. If you could -- one 6 thing that might help is if you could listen to the 7 question and just answer the question -- okay? -- as 8 best you can. 9 A Yes. 10 Q Like I said, if I need an explanation, any 11 of these gentlemen or ladies need an explanation, 12 they'll ask you. You can be assured of that. Okay? 13 A Yes. 14 Q This is not -- shouldn't necessarily be 15 that difficult for you. No one wants to make it 16 that difficult for you. Okay? 17 A Yes. 18 Q We just need the truth. 19 A Yes. 20 Q All right. So let's start -- just give me 21 a brief summary of your past -- for that matter, if 22 you're still working -- occupation. 23 A I have been a licensed optician since 1984. 24 Q A licensed optician? 25 A A licensed, registered, dispensing 25 1 optician; yes. 2 Q Did you work -- strike that. 3 Are you still working as an optician, by 4 the way? 5 A No, I am not. 6 Q Is that because of your condition? 7 A That's correct. 8 Q All right. Did you work in the industry, 9 if you will; the entertainment industry? 10 A I worked exclusively in the entertainment 11 industry. 12 Q For how many years? 13 A Since 1984. 14 Q All right. Let me cut to the chase. At 15 some point in time did you work with or for the 16 actor Steven Seagal? 17 A Yes. 18 Q And can you give us a brief -- again, if 19 you will -- tell me the circumstances under which 20 you met Mr. Seagal. 21 A It was a working relationship on the set of 22 one of his films, when we initially met. And I was 23 called in as a professional, working in the capacity 24 as a licensed optician. 25 Q A licensed optician. For Mr. Seagal, 26 1 personally? 2 A For Mr. Seagal and the rest of the cast of 3 that particular film. 4 Q Can you give me the approximate time frame 5 that this initial introduction took place? 6 A It was the late '80s, and it was -- it was 7 the film that co-starred his wife, Kelly Le Brock, 8 at the time. 9 Q What was the name of that film? 10 A It was Kelly Le Brock. I think it was -- I 11 want to say "Above the Law," but it was the only one 12 that they both starred in, and right now I just 13 can't recall the name of it. 14 Q Okay. And I guess you've -- strike that. 15 How long did you work, total, for 16 Mr. Seagal in that capacity? 17 A Over the years, as an optician, I worked 18 with him on roughly five films, after that, all the 19 way up to 1994. 20 Q Okay. So give me the approximate time 21 frame when you first started working for him. Was 22 that in the late '80s then? 23 A I would say roughly seven years, 24 approximately. 25 Q Seven years total. Okay. 27 1 Give or take a few months or a year? 2 A Yes. 3 Q All right. So the last time you worked for 4 him would have been in what? '94? 5 A It was on the film "On Deadly Ground." 6 Q So whenever that film came out? 7 A Yes. 8 Q All right. Was that the last film you 9 worked for him on? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And was your relationship with Mr. Seagal 12 always a business relationship? 13 A It was a working relationship, with my 14 capacity as an optician, that became sexually 15 aggressive on his part. 16 Q Okay. So it did change from -- to that 17 extent, that initially it was just business, to a 18 "business but sexually aggressive on his part" 19 relationship towards the end. Is that what you're 20 saying? 21 A That is correct. That's absolutely 22 correct. 23 Q And did there come a time when you had a 24 falling out with Mr. Seagal? 25 A Yes. 28 1 Q Can you again summarize that occasion; what 2 happened? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Take your time. 5 A He had become very sexually aggressive with 6 me on the set. He was the director, producer and 7 star of this particular film. And with my 8 occupation as an optician, I specialized in making 9 house calls for celebrities and people in the 10 entertainment business. 11 The entertainment business is not basically 12 a 9:00-to-5:00 job, so you make house calls, which 13 was what my niche was, was making house calls to 14 celebrities. 15 So he started pursuing me very 16 aggressively, sexually, and then started inviting me 17 to his house. And there was no one I could report 18 to that was above him, because it was getting very 19 sexually tense. 20 Q All right. Did that culminate in some kind 21 of an event that led to a complete breakdown between 22 the two of you? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Can you tell us about that event? 25 A Yes. There -- there was a situation -- 29 1 just before they had left for Valdez for filming, 2 when he had called me and said that there was a 3 problem, and that it was going to hit the New York 4 Post that he and I were romantically involved. 5 Q All right. But it had not hit the New York 6 Post at that time? 7 A Not at that time. 8 Q All right. What did he say to you 9 specifically about that? What did you say to him? 10 A I said -- I said, "Romantically involved? 11 Is that what they call what you've done to me?" He 12 said, "Look. This is serious. You're going to shut 13 your fuckin' mouth. And you're going to get a call 14 from Marty Singer and Paul Bloch and you're going to 15 do exactly what they tell you to do. Do you 16 understand me?" 17 Q What did you say in response to that? 18 A I -- at first I said, "Fuck you." And then 19 he said, "Do you understand that I can destroy you?" 20 And then I got scared and I said, "Okay. Yes, I'm 21 listening. What do I have to do?" 22 Q And what did he say you had to do? 23 A He said, "You need to shut up and listen. 24 You're going to get a call first from Marty Singer, 25 who is my attorney. And then you're going to get a 30 1 call from Paul Bloch, who is my publicist, and 2 you're going to do exactly as they tell you. Do you 3 understand me?" And I said, "Yes." And it was made 4 perfectly clear to me if I did not do exactly as I 5 was told, that there would be very serious 6 consequences. 7 Q Well, what were the exact words, if you can 8 recall, in that regard; the very serious 9 consequences? 10 A He -- at that time, there had been many 11 conversations prior to this, obviously. He was very 12 proud of the fact that he had powerful connections; 13 and that if he wanted to eliminate me, whether it be 14 figuratively or physically, that he had the power to 15 do that; and that no one would ever believe me. 16 Q Okay. So did you receive, in fact, a call 17 from Mr. Singer, Mr. Bloch, or both? 18 A Both. 19 Q Okay. Who called you first? 20 A Marty Singer. 21 Q What did he say to you and what did you say 22 to him? 23 A The first thing that Mr. Singer asked me 24 was if I had legal counsel or an attorney 25 representing me. I said no, I did not. He said, "I 31 1 understand you've spoken to Mr. Seagal." I said, 2 "Yes, sir, I have." And he said, "Do you understand 3 what we need to do?" I said, "Yes, sir, I do." He 4 said, "Okay. Great. Next you're going to get a 5 call from Paul Bloch and he's going to explain to 6 you how you have to handle the media." I said, 7 "Thank you." And roughly 15 minutes later Mr. Bloch 8 called. 9 Q And what did Mr. Bloch say to you and what 10 did you say to him? 11 A The phone call was pleasant at first. He 12 was always very pleasant, very professional. It 13 turned out that we had some friends in common, so 14 the conversation was specifically discussing, at 15 first, the media people that we knew in common. And 16 he basically said, "Your position, Ms. Shuman, has 17 to be the following. When someone from the media 18 contacts you, you are to state clearly, concisely 19 and consistently that you and Mr. Seagal have a 20 business relationship and a business relationship 21 only, and that you have nothing but respect and 22 admiration for Mr. Seagal." 23 Q That was it? 24 A Basically. 25 Q Did you follow those instructions from both 32 1 Mr. Singer and Mr. Bloch? 2 A I did exactly what they made me -- or told 3 me to do. 4 Q And you were contacted by some members of 5 media, print or whatever, and you -- 6 A Yes. 7 Q -- that's what you said? 8 A That's exactly right. 9 Q Did there come a time after that that you 10 heard from Mr. Seagal again? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Okay. What was that occasion? 13 A Roughly two weeks after the initial New 14 York Post -- approximately -- he had called me from 15 Valdez -- 16 Q Excuse me. Did we skip over the fact that 17 an article was written in the New York Post? 18 A Yes, there was an article that came out in 19 the New York Post. I'm sorry. 20 Q Okay. Tell us about the article in the 21 New York Post. 22 A There was an article in the New York Post. 23 It was by Richard Johnson on Page Six. At the time 24 I wasn't familiar with the New York Post, but I was 25 told that there was an article that came out. And, 33 1 basically, it said something to the effect that 2 "Steven Seagal leaves wife, Kelly Le Brock, for 3 mystery eyeglass woman," and "on the set" -- that 4 was the gist of it. 5 Q And was it your understanding that you were 6 the supposed mystery woman? 7 A Oh, yeah. They identified me by name. 8 Q All right. Okay. Let's go back to the 9 call that you received two weeks after the New York 10 Post article, from Mr. Seagal. 11 A Yes. 12 I did exactly what I was told to do by 13 Mr. Singer and Mr. Bloch. Roughly two weeks after 14 things kind of settled down, the media stopped 15 calling, so it was kind of settled. I got a call 16 from Steven Seagal from Valdez where they were 17 filming. He wanted to know when I can come up for a 18 visit; he wanted to close escrow. And when I asked 19 him what he meant by that, he said, "I've spent 20 30-some thousand dollars having you on this film and 21 I want what I've paid for." 22 Q So what was your understanding he meant by 23 "close escrow"? 24 A The way I took it -- I don't know how to 25 state this. Steven Seagal is a very aggressive man. 34 1 He is the type of man that I witnessed, several 2 times -- even including with myself -- that he's 3 used to, if he wants someone or something, he 4 doesn't ask; he takes, and he gets. 5 So when I asked him what closing escrow -- 6 I said, "What exactly do you mean by that?" He 7 said, "Don't be stupid. You know exactly what I 8 mean. I want what I paid for." 9 Q And what did you understand that to be? 10 Having sex with him? 11 A That's how I understood it. 12 Q So what did you say to that? 13 A "Absolutely not." 14 Q What happened next? 15 A He said that if I didn't comply with his 16 wishes he would make sure that my name was basically 17 destroyed. And he said something to the effect 18 that, "Do you really" -- "do you really believe that 19 people will think you're an optician when I tell 20 them that your eyeglass business is a front for a 21 prostitution ring?" 22 Q All right. 23 A And I just kind of froze. 24 Q So what happened after that, next, that 25 related to his comment to you? 35 1 A I spoke to him. I said -- I basically was 2 pleading with him. I said, "Look. I did everything 3 that you asked me to do. I followed your 4 instructions exactly. I am a single parent with two 5 small children. Please don't do anything to hurt 6 me. Just let me live my life. Let me take care of 7 my two daughters and let's just all forget this 8 happened. I don't have a problem with being quiet. 9 I did what you told me to do. And all I want to do 10 is live in peace and quiet. I'm begging you to let 11 me just be safe with my kids. That's all." 12 Q So what happened after that? 13 A Within weeks the rumor on the streets was 14 that I was a high-class call girl and my business 15 was a front for a prostitution ring, and I was 16 pretty much put out of business. 17 Q What was going on or what happened with 18 respect to -- at least to your understanding, your 19 recollection -- to the situation between Mr. Seagal 20 and Kelly Le Brock at that time? 21 A Could you repeat the question, please? 22 Q What happened between Mr. Seagal and Kelly 23 Le Brock at that point in time? Were they having 24 disharmony? 25 A It was a turbulent, turbulent relationship. 36 1 Q And were you contacted at some point in 2 time by Mr. Seagal or anyone regarding Kelly 3 Le Brock? 4 A I was contacted by the Law Offices of 5 Sorrell Trope, who, from my understanding, was 6 representing Kelly Le Brock in a divorce action. 7 Q And what did they ask you? What did they 8 say to you; what did you say to them? 9 A They asked me if I had medical records when 10 I had worked with her -- on the film that I worked 11 with her on with Mr. Seagal, and if I would be 12 willing to produce those records, and if I would be 13 willing to testify on her behalf, if necessary, as a 14 witness. 15 Q What did you say? 16 A "Absolutely." 17 Q Did you assist? 18 A I provided them with everything they asked 19 for. 20 Q Did you hear from Mr. Seagal after that? 21 A I did not hear from Mr. Seagal. 22 Q Who did you hear from regarding that? 23 A I -- within an hour and a half, roughly, of 24 agreeing to supply those pieces of information to 25 Trope & Trope, I started getting death threats. And 37 1 it was -- it was as if all hell broke loose. It was 2 just insane. And it scared me. 3 Q Did you take any action? 4 A I called a number of friends, including my 5 ex-husband, who's a reporter for Fox. I explained 6 to him what was happening. I was scared. I had my 7 children with me. And I explained to him exactly 8 what was happening and I said, "I don't know what to 9 do." And I said, "I've done everything they've told 10 me to do. But now there's a divorce. I agreed that 11 I would cooperate and testify if called to testify. 12 And now I'm getting death threats, and I'm afraid 13 for me and I'm afraid for the children and I need 14 your advice because I don't know what to do." 15 Q And this, you're speaking of your 16 conversation with your ex-husband? 17 A Ex-husband, yes. 18 Q Did he give you some advice? 19 A Yeah -- well, yes. 20 Q What was that advice? 21 A The advice was, put the children in a safe 22 place so that the children would not be harmed, and 23 for me to go on record somewhere and make sure that 24 someone knew what was happening. 25 Q Did you go on record somewhere? 38 1 A Yes, I did. 2 Q What did you do? 3 A I was contacted by "A Current Affair," and 4 they sent a camera crew over right away -- excuse 5 me -- they did not -- they did send a camera crew, 6 but I met them at a location, because I was afraid 7 for anyone to -- you know, I -- I was afraid. 8 Q What time frame are we talking about now? 9 A This is within 48 hours of the death 10 threats coming. 11 Q What year? 12 A Oh, gosh. I don't recall at the moment, 13 Mr. Yates. But if I saw -- it was -- it was right 14 after -- Kelly had just filed official. 15 Q Sometime in the mid '90s? 16 A Yes. I'd say '95, '96, somewhere -- 17 Q So you gave the interview to "A Current 18 Affair"? 19 A Yes, I did. 20 Q And what happened after that? 21 A After that -- a friend of mine had been 22 watching my daughters for me, because I didn't want 23 my daughters to be exposed to what was happening. 24 My friend had left a little early. It was later in 25 the evening, but they had been tucked in -- it was a 39 1 school night, so they were tucked in and asleep. I 2 got back to my apartment building and there was an 3 underground garage and I was attacked in the garage. 4 Q What city was that in? 5 A Beverly Hills. 6 Q Who were you attacked by, if you know? 7 A I don't know who the person was. 8 Q Okay. Can you describe that attack? I'm 9 sorry to ask you, but if you can just give us, you 10 know, a brief description of what happened to you. 11 A Yes. I was going in... 12 Q You want to take a break? 13 A No. 14 I was going into the underground parking 15 facility and I was putting my car in the place. And 16 as I was getting out of the car and locking it up, I 17 was attached from behind from a man. And he grabbed 18 me by the arm and head and slammed me into the car, 19 and told me if I were smart I would keep my stupid, 20 fuckin' mouth shut; and if I thought I was so smart, 21 I needed to understand and realize that they knew 22 where I lived and they could get me any time I 23 wanted -- or they wanted. And I just -- I collapsed 24 and sat on the ground until he was gone, and just 25 waited there. 40 1 Q Did you file a police report? 2 A Yes, I did. 3 Q With which police agency? 4 A Beverly Hills Police Department. 5 Q Did they take photographs of you? 6 A Yes, they did. 7 Q Did you get a copy of that police report? 8 A Yes, I did. 9 Q Do you have a copy of it with you? 10 A I sent it to you guys. I don't know if I 11 have one on me. 12 Q Okay. It's your understanding you sent it 13 to Mr. Johnson or I? 14 A Yes. I actually took it to Mr. Johnson and 15 showed him a copy of it. 16 Q What did -- well, let me ask you, if you 17 recall, who it was you met with initially at the 18 Beverly Hills Police Department when you gave this 19 report. 20 A There were a number of officers. They took 21 me into a room. There were cameras, there was 22 lighting, and they were holding color charts and 23 stuff up to the bruising and the injuries to 24 document it. But everything was -- everything was 25 very surreal. So -- it's not like I was walking in 41 1 and saying, "Hi. I'm Cheryl. How are you?" There 2 was probably 20 police officers in there, I'm 3 guessing. 4 Q Male and female, or just -- 5 A Male and female. 6 Q Okay. What did they advise you to do, if 7 anything? 8 A They took the photographs. They said, "If 9 you want to wait here, we'll have a report for you. 10 Our suggestion is that you go to the domestic 11 violence clinic at the Santa Monica Courthouse. 12 They open at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, and you need to do 13 this as soon as possible." 14 Q Did you do that? 15 A I did. 16 Q And what kind of document, if any, did you 17 file with Santa Monica Courthouse? 18 A I filed a request for an emergency 19 temporary restraining order. 20 Q Against whom? 21 A Against Steven Seagal and John Does 1 22 through 500. 23 Q Did you get it? 24 A Yes. 25 Q After you filed this report, were you 42 1 contacted again at any time by someone from Beverly 2 Hills Police Department? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Do you know their name? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Who? 7 A Detective Craig Stevens. 8 Q Okay. Did Mr. Seagal honor the temporary 9 restraining order? 10 A Honor it? 11 Q Yes. In other words, did he abide by it? 12 A Not in my opinion. 13 Q Okay. Well, give me a circumstance or a 14 situation where you do not feel that he abided by 15 the restraining order. 16 A This was the first restraining order I'd 17 ever filed. So my understanding was, if you filed a 18 restraining order it makes people leave you alone. 19 So my understanding was, in the domestic 20 violence clinic, that it would protect me from not 21 only Steven Seagal but anyone that he hired, anyone 22 who was associated with him, and so forth and so on. 23 And they told me that at the domestic 24 violence clinic specifically to make sure that I put 25 John Does 1 through 500 because I clearly told them 43 1 I'm not sure who else is involved but I'm positive 2 that he's behind this. 3 Q All right. So did a situation arise where 4 you believed that Mr. Seagal's agents or persons, 5 you know, working at his -- under his direction, did 6 something that, in your opinion, was a violation of 7 that restraining order? 8 A Yes. 9 Q What? 10 A Within roughly 24 to 48 hours after the 11 temporary restraining order, there was a school 12 carnival where my daughters attended elementary 13 school, and Mr. Pellicano was there; Anthony 14 Pellicano. And I was there with my children and my 15 ex-husband. And I was very angry because I felt 16 that that was a violation of the protection order, 17 and I was angry that I felt like I couldn't protect 18 my children. 19 Q Well, what made you think there was a 20 connection between Mr. Pellicano being there and 21 Mr. Seagal? 22 A A couple of things. Number one: He was 23 speaking to Marty Singer. Number two: It was a 24 well-known fact, especially in my business -- in the 25 entertainment business -- it's a well-known fact 44 1 that if celebrities or anyone in the entertainment 2 business or anyone with power and money, if you 3 needed a go-to guy to do your dirty work, Anthony 4 Pellicano was the guy you called. 5 Q You indicated he was speaking to 6 Mr. Singer. Is that Marty Singer? 7 A Marty Singer. 8 Q Okay. 9 MR. JOHNSON: Who's he? 10 BY MR. YATES: 11 Q Who's Mr. Singer? 12 A Marty Singer is the legal counsel for 13 Steven Seagal. He was also -- Marty Singer was also 14 the person that instructed me on how to handle the 15 media, and he was also the attorney that told me to 16 speak to Paul Bloch. 17 Q All right. Do you know whether Mr. Singer 18 or Mr. Pellicano had children at your children's 19 school? 20 A I don't know. 21 Q You indicated that Mr. Pellicano was 22 speaking with Mr. Singer. 23 A Yes. 24 Q Okay. How do you know that? Did you 25 observe that? 45 1 A I saw them from across the track. There 2 was a track around the playground and I saw them. 3 We were at a cotton candy vendor and they were 4 across the walkway, speaking. And I recognized them 5 immediately. 6 Q Did you have a conversation with one or 7 both of them? 8 A Yes, I did. 9 Q And how did that occur? 10 A I asked my ex-husband to keep the children 11 safe and to take them away so that they couldn't see 12 what was happening. And I walked over to them, and 13 I was angry, and I asked them why they were there, 14 and why and how could they violate the protection 15 order that I had in place, and intimidate my 16 children and intimidate my family. 17 Q What did they say to you? 18 A They laughed. 19 Q When we say "they," tell me what Mr. Singer 20 said; or if it's Mr. Pellicano, what he said. 21 Distinguish between the two instead of just saying 22 "they." Okay? 23 A Yes. 24 They were standing there, and they had been 25 speaking intimately; they were very close in range. 46 1 And I approached them, and I think it took them by 2 surprise. 3 When I asked them specifically what they 4 were doing there and how they could do that, because 5 I felt it was violating the protection order, Marty 6 Singer said nothing. He looked directly to 7 Pellicano. Pellicano then laughed and he said, 8 "Ms. Shuman, am I restricting your movements?" And 9 I had to think about it; I said, "No." He said, "Am 10 I touching you in any way?" I said, "No." 11 He said, "Well, then, little girl, you need 12 to check out your restraining order, because I'm not 13 violating anything. As long as I don't restrict 14 your movements or cause anything and stay within a 15 certain space from you, I'm not violating anything. 16 So my suggestion, little girl, is to get an attorney 17 and figure out what you're doing. Because you've 18 brought a pocket knife into a nuclear war." 19 Q "You've brought a pocket knife into a 20 nuclear war"? 21 A "A pocket knife into a nuclear war." 22 Q Did you say anything in response to that? 23 A Did I say anything in response to that. 24 I told them that I was going to call the 25 police. I mentioned to him -- I said, "There's a 47 1 detective by the name of Craig Stevens that 2 contacted me." I said, "I'm going to go and I'm 3 going to call him right now and tell him what you 4 just said to me." 5 Q What did he say? 6 A He said, "Go ahead." 7 Q Did you -- 8 A Yes. 9 Q -- call Craig Stevens? 10 A Yes, I did. 11 Q And did you essentially tell him what you 12 just told us occurred? 13 A Yes, I did. 14 Q What did he say? 15 A He said, "Ms. Shuman, I'm sorry to inform 16 you but he is correct. As long as he is not doing 17 those things, there is really nothing that the 18 Beverly Hills Police Department can do. I'm very 19 sorry." 20 Q Up until that point in time, how many times 21 had you talked to Mr. Stevens, approximately, from 22 when you first talked to him that you testified 23 about earlier? 24 A I spoke to Detective Stevens almost on a 25 daily basis, if not several times a day. 48 1 Q Before that? 2 A Well, this was then just days. 3 Q Okay. So then after that? 4 A Yes. 5 Q For what period of time would you say that 6 you talked with him that frequently? 7 A For several months. Several months. 8 Q Give me an example of a situation where you 9 had a discussion with him over those several months. 10 A The initial call from Detective Stevens was 11 after the attack, and Marty Singer had gone in to 12 try to get the restraining order knocked out, saying 13 something to the affect that he had not -- 14 Mr. Seagal had not been given proper notice. That 15 was turned down by the judge. The judge would not 16 throw it out. 17 So it was within -- within a couple of 18 hours after that when I got home that I received my 19 first call from Craig Stevens. He explained to me 20 that he was personally handling the case, wanted me 21 to have his contact numbers, all of them, and said, 22 "If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to 23 contact me; it doesn't matter what time, day or 24 night. I'm going to handle this case personally. 25 And if you need anything or if anything happens, 49 1 call me immediately. I don't care what it is. Call 2 me immediately." 3 Q Okay. So that was the beginning of that 4 several-months -- 5 A Yes. 6 Q -- relationship, if you will, where you 7 spoke with him as frequently as you've testified to? 8 A Yes. 9 Q Sometimes even several times a day? 10 A Correct. Correct. 11 Q All right. And, generally, what would 12 those conversations involve over that several-month 13 period? 14 A Generally, he would call me just to check 15 in and see if I was doing okay, which I really 16 appreciated. It really endeared him to me. I felt 17 as if he was a fatherly type. I felt as if he 18 really cared what was happening. I definitely felt 19 like he was protecting me. I felt like as long as I 20 kept in constant contact with Detective Stevens, 21 that I would be safe. 22 Q Did he advise you specifically of anything 23 to do? 24 A I'm not sure. 25 Q Other than to keep in contact with him, is 50 1 there anything specifically that he told you to do? 2 A Oh. He basically said, "If anything out of 3 the ordinary happens, call me immediately and I will 4 file the appropriate police reports." He said, "The 5 most important thing is to document everything. So 6 if anything whatsoever, out of the ordinary, even if 7 you think it's not important, you call me 8 immediately. I will file a report on your behalf. 9 I will make sure that everything is taken care of." 10 Q All right. So that kind of relationship 11 continued, if I understand you correctly -- 12 A Yes. 13 Q -- for several months. 14 A Correct. 15 Q Did there come a point in time where 16 something happened that caused you to question, if 17 you will, Detective Stevens' sincerity in 18 investigating or, you know, assisting you in solving 19 the crimes that have been committed against you? 20 A Yes. 21 Q What was that and when? 22 A There were a number of instances that I had 23 called and reported to Detective Stevens. On this 24 last particular day, I had received a phone call 25 from someone who identified themselves as being a 51 1 member of the FBI. They left a message, said that I 2 was in danger, that this was very serious, and that 3 I needed to contact them immediately because I 4 didn't really understand what I was involved in. 5 And I had gotten a number of crank calls 6 and prank calls who -- I didn't know who was real, 7 who was crazy. The only person I knew is that I 8 could call Detective Stevens and he would handle 9 things for me. So I called him. I said, "Detective 10 Stevens" -- I said, "I'm very concerned because I 11 received a phone call from someone claiming to be 12 with the FBI, and I'm not sure if it's someone 13 trying to lure me out to hurt me or if it's really 14 the FBI." I said, "Because things are happening so 15 fast and I'm scared, I don't know what to do." 16 Q So what happened? 17 A He said, "Sit tight, I'm going to send some 18 officers over, and everything is going to be fine." 19 Q Did officers come over to your house -- or 20 your apartment? 21 A There were two men that showed up at my 22 door, that were dressed in police officer uniforms, 23 that I had assumed were sent by Detective Stevens 24 because they arrived roughly 20 minutes after our 25 conversation. 52 1 Q And what happened? 2 A The door bell rang, and I peeked through 3 the -- the little hole, and I saw the two gentlemen 4 dressed in police officer uniforms. 5 Q Did you open the door and let them in? 6 A Yeah. I was happy they were there. 7 Q And then what happened? 8 A I turned my back to walk down the highway 9 [sic] -- or not highway -- hallway, and I was 10 thanking them for coming so quickly. And I told 11 them how grateful I was that Detective Stevens had 12 sent them. And then when I turned around, I just 13 got whacked and I was brutally attacked and raped. 14 Q By both men? 15 A By both men. 16 Q Did you report this to Beverly Hills Police 17 Department? 18 A I did report it, yes. 19 Q Who did you speak with? 20 A I reported the incident after I got out of 21 the hospital. 22 Q Okay. So after you were raped you went to 23 a hospital? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Which hospital? 53 1 A Rehoboth McKinley Hospital in Gallup, 2 New Mexico. 3 Q Did you seek any medical assistance in 4 California before that? 5 A I did. 6 Q Where was the first place you went? 7 A The first place I went was to the Century 8 City Hospital. My friend, Dori, and I had an 9 agreement that I would call her every three hours 10 because the death threats were so -- they were 11 increasing in intensity and my fear was increasing. 12 It seemed like even though I reported 13 everything to Detective Stevens, I wasn't getting 14 any help. No one was -- things were still 15 happening, and I -- I was terrified. 16 And my friend, Dori, hadn't heard from me 17 within those three hours. So I went over to the 18 Century City emergency room. I was waiting there. 19 There was a lot of blood. And I was sitting there 20 and I gave them my information and I waited for them 21 to call me. 22 And within 10 minutes or so of being there, 23 two Beverly Hills police officers were there in the 24 emergency room. And it struck me as really odd 25 because it was Century City and I thought, why would 54 1 the Beverly Hills Police be here in Century City? 2 And then I panicked and I got in my car and I 3 started driving. 4 Q Where did you drive to? 5 A I drove to Gallup, New Mexico. 6 Q That's Gallup, New Mexico? 7 A G-a-l-l-u-p. 8 Q And what did you do when you arrived there? 9 A Well, I was just driving, driving, driving 10 until I saw a sign that had said "Hospital." And I 11 knew that I needed -- I knew I was seriously hurt. 12 So I just pulled over and followed the directions to 13 the hospital. It was the first time I could 14 remember seeing a hospital across the state lines. 15 Q Were you admitted to the hospital? 16 A Yes. 17 Q Do you remember the name of the hospital? 18 A Rehoboth McKinley Hospital. 19 Q Can you spell that? 20 A R-e-h-o-b-o-t-h, M-c-K-i-n-l-e-y. 21 Q How long did you stay at the hospital? 22 A Several days. Several days. 23 Q More than a week, or less than a week? 24 A I think it was more than a week. 25 Q More than a week? 55 1 A Yes. 2 Q While you were there, did you hear from 3 anyone? 4 A Yes. 5 Q Who did you hear from? 6 A I got a call from Detective Stevens. One 7 of the doctors came in and said, "There's a 8 Detective Stevens on the line for you from the 9 Beverly Hills Police Department." 10 Q Do you know how Detective Stevens found out 11 you were in that hospital? 12 A I -- I believe I do. My friend, Dori, had 13 gone over to the apartment when she didn't hear from 14 me. And she had a key, and she'd gone into the 15 apartment and saw the broken glass and the blood all 16 over the walls and the sofa. 17 And -- so I had given her Detective 18 Stevens' name and said if anything happened to me, 19 make sure to call him because he would make sure 20 that everything was taken care of. So she had 21 called him and told him that she hadn't heard from 22 me within the agreed time period, and that she was 23 concerned, because I had also told her about the FBI 24 thing and that I was worried that someone was going 25 to lure me out and hurt me. 56 1 So she called Detective Stevens. He sent 2 over officers to her. They took the keys from her. 3 They went upstairs. She had already seen the blood 4 and everything and was going to go get her digital 5 camera to make -- to take pictures of it for 6 evidence. 7 And then the police officer, she told me, 8 came back down and said that they didn't see 9 anything, that she needed to go home. And she said 10 that she just felt really funny about it because 11 Detective Stevens never called her back after that. 12 So she went over the next day with the digital 13 camera, let herself in, and the place had been 14 completely cleaned. 15 Q While you were down there at Gallup, 16 New Mexico, in Rehoboth Hospital, did you ever have 17 a conversation with Detective Stevens himself? 18 A Briefly. 19 Q What did he say to you and what did you say 20 to him? 21 A He -- well, Dr. Zhitnitsky, who was the 22 supervising doctor there at the hospital, called me 23 and asked me if I knew of a Detective Stevens, 24 because I had told them what was going on. And I 25 said, yes, I know who that person is. He says, "I 57 1 need to speak with you because he called today and 2 there's a missing person's report on you." And I -- 3 I wasn't aware of that. 4 And he said, "There was a missing person's 5 report filed at the Beverly Hills Police Department 6 and Detective Stevens is calling to see if you are 7 here." Because my car and license plate had been 8 spotted in the parking lot. 9 Q You left the hospital eventually after 10 about a week -- or more than a week -- correct? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Where did you go from there? 13 A I had called Gloria Allred's office. I was 14 recommended to her by a mutual friend. And I tried 15 to tell her -- or her representative or what have 16 you -- what had happened. And I was going to drive 17 back to L.A. To me, my -- my feeling, my intuition 18 told me that there was something really odd about 19 the Beverly Hills Police Department and something 20 just wasn't right. 21 I called Dori to tell her that I was coming 22 back into town. She told me; she says, "This 23 Detective Stevens guy, I'm telling you, something is 24 wrong there, Cheryl, because this is what happened." 25 And she went over what had happened. And she said, 58 1 "When I went up there, there was blood all over the 2 place. It was obvious something had happened. I 3 called Detective Stevens like you told me to. The 4 guys came over. They told me I couldn't go back in. 5 And then the next day, we went over to take pictures 6 and the place had been completely cleaned up, like 7 nothing had happened." And she said, "I don't think 8 he's a good guy." 9 Q So did you do anything about it? Did you 10 take this to higher authorities or to someone else? 11 A I went to -- I had called and went to -- I 12 don't remember the proper name of it but it was a 13 victim assistance program for people who are victims 14 of violent crimes. And I filled out all the 15 paperwork that they had asked me to do. 16 And -- can we take a break? I'm sorry. 17 This is kind of -- 18 Q Sure. Yes. I was just about to ask you -- 19 A Yeah. I'm -- 20 Q Certainly we can take a break. 21 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record at 22 3:24 p.m. 23 (Recess) 24 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on the record at 25 3:32 p.m. 59 1 BY MR. YATES: 2 Q Going to the -- well, let me ask you this: 3 When was the last time you spoke with Detective 4 Stevens? 5 A When he called me at Rehoboth McKinley 6 Hospital. 7 Q Have you ever tried to reach him since 8 then? 9 A No. 10 Q To your knowledge, has he ever tried to 11 reach you since then? 12 A I don't think -- I don't know. 13 Q To your knowledge he hasn't? 14 A To my knowledge, no. 15 Q Have you ever heard from anyone from the 16 Beverly Hills Police Department since then? 17 A Yes, I have. 18 Q Okay. And who is that? 19 A I received an e-mail on August 24 of '06 20 from a gentleman who identified himself as Detective 21 Steve Miller. 22 Q Steve Miller? 23 A Steve Miller from the Beverly Hills Police 24 Department. And I have that e-mail. 25 MR. YATES: Okay. I'd like you to mark this 60 1 as -- what's the next exhibit? "2"? 2 (Deposition Exhibit 2 was marked for 3 identification and is attached hereto.) 4 BY MR. YATES: 5 Q Okay. Exhibit 2 will be -- ask you to look 6 at -- 7 A Is this the same? 8 Q Yeah. I'm going to ask you to look at what 9 you have there. Can you tell me what that is? 10 A This is the e-mail that Detective Steve 11 Miller sent me, from the Beverly Hills Police 12 Department. 13 Q Okay. "The e-mail." Is this -- let me -- 14 A It's an exchange of e-mails. 15 Q All right. So it's an exchange of e-mails 16 between you and -- 17 A Detective Steven Miller. 18 Q -- Detective Steven Miller, not Stevens; 19 right? 20 A Correct. 21 MR. YATES: All right. I'm going to hand these 22 down and go around the room. If there's some extras 23 left, give them back so I can submit for 24 reimbursement. 25 /// 61 1 BY MR. YATES: 2 Q What is the essence, in general, of this 3 exchange of e-mails between you and Mr. Miller 4 about? 5 A The essence of the e-mails between 6 Detective Miller and myself are: He contacted me. 7 I did not remember him. He explained to me that he 8 was very apologetic. That his -- that the way the 9 Beverly Hills Police Department handled the case, he 10 felt was biased or prejudiced. And, basically, he 11 wished that he had known more about me and more 12 about what was really going on so that I would have 13 been protected. And he felt really bad and guilty 14 about what happened to me. 15 Q All right. Just so we're clear on what 16 we're talking about as the e-mail exchange, do you 17 have in front of you -- it's page 1 through 5? 18 A Yes. 19 Q Okay. And if you go to page 5 where it 20 says "Cheryl" -- 21 A Yes. 22 Q -- and at the bottom it says "Steve 23 Miller," is that the first communication you 24 received from Mr. Miller? 25 A Yes, it is. 62 1 Q Okay. And then if we go from the bottom 2 and come forward, does that take you to the most 3 recent exchange between you and Mr. Miller? 4 A Yes. 5 Q All the way up to page 1 where you finally 6 see, at the very top, an e-mail to "Mr. Yates 7 (Greg)." That being me; correct? 8 A Correct. 9 Q That's when you sent me this e-mail 10 exchange on October 9, 2007; is that correct? 11 A Yes. 12 Q All right. Now, these exchanges between 13 you and Mr. -- 14 A "Detective." 15 Q -- excuse me -- Steve Miller, Detective 16 Steve Miller -- am I correct -- in looking at this, 17 it appears as though they're all in the latter part 18 of August of 2006; is that correct? 19 A Correct; August of 2006. 20 Q And then have you heard from Detective 21 Steven Miller since then? 22 A Not since this last exchange. 23 Q All right. And -- okay. Do you know why 24 the exchange terminated between you and Steven 25 Miller? 63 1 A No, I don't. 2 Q Did you send the last e-mail to him? 3 A Yes. 4 Q All right. Having received that e-mail 5 from Steven Miller, which is Exhibit 2, did that 6 refresh your recollection as having ever met Steven 7 Miller at Beverly Hills Police Department? 8 A It did. When he said in here he was the 9 one that took the initial interview, he had to have 10 been one of the men while they were taking pictures 11 and report from the initial attack. 12 And I was concerned that it was, once 13 again, maybe a set-up to lure me out somewhere. And 14 I asked him, "How do I know that you're really 15 Detective Miller from the BHPD?" And I said, "Can 16 you identify in some way so that I know this isn't 17 some kind of a set-up?" And I told him -- I said, 18 "I live every day in fear that I'm going to be 19 killed; to this day." And he wrote me back on here, 20 something that only someone truly involved with the 21 case would have known. 22 Q Okay. So that verified to you that he was 23 there? 24 A Yes. 25 Q But as you sit here or when you received 64 1 the e-mail from him, or both, if that's the case, 2 did that give you a picture in your mind's eye of 3 who he was? Or do you -- 4 A Yes. 5 Q Okay. So you can picture him physically? 6 A Yes. 7 MR. YATES: Would you please mark this Exhibit 8 3. 9 (Deposition Exhibit 3 was marked for 10 identification and is attached hereto.) 11 BY MR. YATES: 12 Q Exhibit 3 will be an article entitled 13 "Witness saw [victim] on Seagal's 'ex.'" And at the 14 bottom underneath that article it says "PAGE SIX," 15 "A CURRENT AFFAIR 12/19/1994." 16 Have you seen that -- what appears to be a 17 copy of -- photocopy of an article, before? 18 A I saw this today. 19 Q Is that the first you've ever seen that? 20 A Yes. 21 Q And who provided it to you? 22 A You, Mr. Yates. 23 Q All right. And did you review it today? 24 A Yes. 25 Q All right. And were you aware of the 65 1 subject matter discussed in that, as ever being out 2 in the public forum, that an article was written on 3 it before I provided you with this article? 4 A No, not until today. 5 Q Okay. And if you look in that article -- 6 it's a little difficult to read because it's a poor 7 copy. 8 A Uh-huh. 9 Q Having read that article, did that verify 10 to you that someone witnessed the facts relating to 11 the event that you had experienced in the garage in 12 Beverly Hills -- 13 A Yes. 14 Q -- when you were attacked? 15 A In the article -- 16 Q Does it describe the event accurately? 17 A Yes; very accurately. 18 Q And you took no part in writing this 19 article? 20 A Oh, God, no. No. 21 Q At some point in time did you find out that 22 Officer -- or Detective Stevens had been charged and 23 pled guilty to certain charges? 24 A I learned of that roughly a year later. 25 Q "A year later" being how long ago from 66 1 today? 2 A Ironically, it was roughly August 26 of 3 2007, almost a year later when -- from Detective 4 Miller contacting me. 5 Q And how did you find out about Officer 6 Stevens being charged and pleading guilty? 7 A I didn't know that per se. But I was 8 referred to Mr. Johnson and to you. And before I 9 went to your offices, I wanted to make sure that I 10 had copies of the police reports, because I'd always 11 trusted Detective Stevens to make sure that 12 everything was filed and documented and everything. 13 So I went to the Beverly Hills Police Department to 14 get copies of the police reports. 15 Q Okay. And what happened when you attempted 16 to get copies of the police reports? 17 A They gave me the first police report. 18 Q That's the one where you were beat up in 19 the garage? 20 A From the initial attack in the garage. 21 Q Okay. 22 A I explained to the girl that there had to 23 be many, many others because I told her that I spoke 24 to Detective Stevens on almost a daily basis and 25 that I knew for a fact that he had been documenting 67 1 this because he had promised me that he had. 2 And I kept pushing and pushing and pushing 3 to try to get the rest of the reports. And I waited 4 there for almost an hour, and then she came back up 5 and she said, "I found this other report," which was 6 the rape report, and it had been buried somewhere -- 7 she said she had to go down to the basement or 8 something to get it, and that she couldn't release 9 it to me. And she wouldn't even let me see it. 10 And I said, "I don't understand, because my 11 understanding is if you're the victim of a violent 12 crime I should be entitled to see that police 13 report." And she said, "I'm very sorry. You might 14 want to get an attorney. But I can't release it to 15 you; it has to go through our media relations 16 department." 17 Q Okay. So is that when you contacted 18 Mr. Johnson and eventually myself? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Okay. As you sit here right now today, do 21 you presently feel that you are in danger of bodily 22 harm? 23 A I know that I am. 24 Q Why is it that you say you know that you're 25 in danger of bodily harm? 68 1 A I receive death threats, attack threats, 2 threats of violence towards both myself and my 3 family on almost a daily basis through the Internet. 4 Q Prior to coming to Los Angeles to give this 5 deposition, when was the last time that you received 6 a death threat, or what you interpreted to be a 7 death threat? 8 A This morning. 9 Q Tell us what that was. What was the 10 substance of that? 11 A The substance was posted on a message board 12 on YouTube, that there would be someone waiting to 13 shoot me on the courthouse steps before I got to be 14 deposed. 15 Q Is that why you requested that this 16 deposition be someplace like a courthouse? 17 A Yes. 18 Q Have you recently been a victim of some 19 physical retaliation -- 20 A Yes. 21 Q -- as you see it, retaliation -- 22 A Yes. 23 Q -- as a result of what you've testified to 24 here today? 25 A Yes. 69 1 Q You know, the nature of all the events that 2 you've testified to here today. 3 A Yes. 4 Q Okay. 5 A Yes. 6 Q Tell me about that. 7 A For several months now I've been receiving 8 death threats and -- that basically that they were 9 going to make sure that I couldn't testify. And as 10 I was leaving to go to my doctor's -- I was going 11 out to my car and there was a man that threw 12 something at me. And it -- I went to cover my face, 13 and it was like a splash here [indicating] and my 14 arm. 15 At first I assumed it was battery acid, 16 because he was working on the van. But it must have 17 been like -- I don't know if it was Drano or bleach. 18 I don't know what it was but it -- it burned my arm, 19 and those same burns were all over the side of my 20 face. And so I went and they tried to correct what 21 they could on my face, but my arms and stuff are 22 scarred. 23 Q Now, before we came in here today, is it 24 true you showed me a picture of some of the burns on 25 your face, that's actually on your digital camera; 70 1 is that correct? 2 A Yes, that's correct. 3 Q Would you be kind enough to see if you can 4 print those out so that we can attach those to the 5 deposition as exhibits to the deposition? 6 A Yes. I don't have my printer with me, but 7 I can e-mail it. 8 Q We'll make that next in order, which will 9 be Exhibit 4, if I'm not mistaken; to be supplied by 10 the deponent. 11 (Deposition Exhibit 4 was identified and 12 will subsequently be provided by the 13 witness.) 14 MR. YATES: And I'm going to hand you 15 another -- what will be marked Exhibit 5, a printout 16 of a photograph. 17 (Deposition Exhibit 5 was marked for 18 identification and is attached hereto.) 19 BY MR. YATES: 20 Q Do you recognize that as being yourself in 21 that photograph? 22 A Yes. 23 Q And what does that depict? 24 A This -- this is after the doctors had tried 25 to correct the burns and so forth. And the 71 1 gentleman on the right of the photograph is a man by 2 the name of Sam Conti, Jr., who lives in Folsom, 3 California. And this is a video capture from one of 4 his videos that he and the cybergangs make to 5 intimidate me. 6 Q Okay. Now, let me ask you: Does this 7 depict the injuries that were sustained in the event 8 that you just described when some substance was 9 thrown in your face? 10 A Correct. 11 Q In your opinion, is this somehow related to 12 what you're here testifying about here -- 13 A Absolutely. 14 Q -- today? 15 A Yes. 16 MR. YATES: No further questions. 17 MR. TRIBBLE: I want to go off the record for a 18 few minutes. 19 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record at 20 3:48 p.m. 21 (Recess) 22 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on the record at 23 4:00 p.m. 24 /// 25 /// 72 1 EXAMINATION 2 BY MR. MONACHINO: 3 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Shuman. My name is 4 Mark Monachino and I represent the City of Beverly 5 Hills and the individual defendants in the Shafrir 6 matter. 7 Do you understand that? 8 A Yes. 9 Q Are you okay to continue your deposition 10 testimony today? 11 A Yes. 12 Q If I need to speak up or something, let me 13 know. I've got a cold, so -- 14 A Okay. Just don't breathe on me. 15 Q Yes, I know. I'll try not to. 16 A Nothing personal. 17 Q No; that's okay. I understand. 18 Where do you currently reside? 19 A I'm not really comfortable giving out that 20 information. 21 Q How about a state and a city? 22 A How about a state and a city? 23 Q How about a state and a city? 24 A Right now I'm staying in Los Angeles with 25 friends. 73 1 Q Okay. Are you from Ohio? Are you 2 residing -- living in Ohio right now? 3 A I do not have a residence in Ohio right 4 now. 5 Q You don't live in Ohio currently? 6 A Not at this moment, no. 7 Q Okay. And in this moment, you only live in 8 Los Angeles? 9 A Right now I am staying with friends in 10 Los Angeles. 11 Q Okay. And you're staying with friends. 12 And who paid for your trip out here? 13 A I did. 14 Q Okay. And are you paying -- the friends 15 you're staying with, are you paying to stay with 16 them? 17 A No. 18 Q How long have they been your friends? 19 A Years. 20 Q Okay. I'm going to follow up on some of 21 the questions that Counsel asked you and go through 22 some of your story that you told. 23 A Okay. 24 Q Have you ever been convicted of a felony? 25 A Yes, I have. 74 1 Q And how many times have you been convicted 2 of a felony? 3 A I don't know. 4 Q You don't know? 5 A I don't know. I've never seen the records. 6 Q Okay. Possibly more than twice? 7 A I don't think so. 8 Q To your understanding can you describe the 9 convictions that you've had that you would consider 10 a felony? 11 A Could -- I'm sorry. Could you say the 12 question again? 13 Q Yes. 14 What felonies have you been convicted of, 15 to your understanding? 16 A To my understanding? 17 Q Correct. 18 A I went underground after this whole 19 situation blew up and I lived under another 20 identity. And when I signed to get a passport and a 21 driver's license, I signed the DMV records under 22 penalty of perjury or something that the foregoing 23 was true and correct. That's my understanding. 24 Q And where were you arrested for that; what 25 city? 75 1 A I think it was in Beverly Hills. There was 2 a Beverly Hills arrest and then there was another 3 arrest at the Barrington Plaza. 4 Q And what was the arrest at the Barrington 5 Plaza involving? 6 A Basically the same thing where I was under 7 another identity. 8 Q So you were arrested twice in two separate 9 incidents for false identity? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q And did you spend any time in jail? 12 A Yes, I did. 13 Q And how about the first incident, the one 14 incident -- the one you reported to the Beverly 15 Hills? 16 A I'm sorry? 17 Q The one that occurred -- sorry. The one 18 that occurred in Beverly Hills, that you believe. 19 A Oh, the very first instance. My 20 recollection is that I was in Sybil Brand for 21 roughly five days, but I was never arraigned. 22 Q So you were in jail for five days? 23 A Approximately; to my recollection. 24 Q And were you convicted? 25 A I was never even arraigned. 76 1 Q Okay. And then which one came first, the 2 incident at the Barrington Hotel or -- 3 A The Beverly Hills. 4 Q And what about the Barrington? Did you 5 spend any time in jail? 6 A Yes. 7 Q How much time in jail? 8 A I honestly don't remember. 9 Q Was it more than a month? 10 A I think so. 11 Q More than six months? 12 A No. 13 Q Less than six months? 14 A Less than six months. 15 Q Do you remember years those two incidents 16 occurred? 17 A I don't. 18 Q Can you give me an approximate date those 19 two incidents occurred? 20 A I know that they were after all of this 21 happened and before 1999. 22 Q So probably somewhere between 1994 and -- 23 A I'd say between '96 and '99 would be more 24 accurate. 25 Q And when you were underground, what name 77 1 were you going under? 2 A I don't remember. 3 Q You can't remember? 4 A I mean, I could probably go back and find 5 them for you. 6 Q So you signed -- 7 A I'm sure they would be on my arrest record. 8 Q Didn't use a family name or anything like 9 that? 10 A I could have. That's possible. I don't 11 really remember. 12 Q So when you spent the five days in jail 13 arising out of the Beverly Hills incident, was that 14 in the Beverly Hills Jail? 15 A No. It was at Sybil Brand. 16 Q Okay. And then what about the second 17 incident? Where did you spend your time in jail? 18 A That was -- I believe they called it Twin 19 Towers. 20 Q Have you ever been arrested, apart from 21 those two incidents, before? 22 A No. 23 Q So it was only those two incidents? 24 A Correct. 25 Q Were you ever arrested in connection with 78 1 any other type of fraud involving the preparation of 2 a memo sent out under the -- Steven Seagal's 3 assistant's name? 4 A That was the first incident that I just 5 told you about. 6 Q That was the Beverly Hills incident? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Okay. So what about signing your passport 9 under penalty of perjury? Was that the Barrington 10 Hotel incident, too? 11 A I have never, ever seen the records from 12 those arrests, to this day. So I really don't know 13 what are in those records. 14 Q Okay. So you just knew you were arrested? 15 A Yes. 16 Q Did you retain counsel? 17 A I couldn't. 18 Q Why not? 19 A I -- all of the money that I had under my 20 name was taken, and I had nothing. So they put me 21 with the public defender. 22 Q Who took your money? 23 A I would assume the police or whoever would 24 gather -- I mean, I don't know. To this day, I 25 don't know what happened to my things that were in 79 1 that apartment. I have no idea. 2 Q And you're saying -- what apartment -- what 3 apartment is this? 4 A The -- it was 9667 Olympic Boulevard, near 5 the Roxbury Park. 6 Q And you believe the police took your 7 possessions out of that apartment? 8 A My understanding was that they had taken 9 all of my computers, fax machine, et cetera. I was 10 never there again. 11 Q And do you know what police department did 12 this? 13 A My understanding is it was the Beverly 14 Hills Police Department. 15 Q And -- could have been the LAPD? 16 A I don't think so, no. Because it was the 17 Beverly Hills Police Department jurisdiction. 18 Q And they took your computer? 19 A That's my understanding. 20 Q And it was your understanding they were 21 looking for what? 22 A I don't know. 23 Q And you never came to any understanding? 24 A No, I don't. 25 Q So those -- to your recollection you were 80 1 only arrested twice? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And you were convicted twice? 4 A I was not convicted the first time. I was 5 arrested; I was never even arraigned. 6 Q I noticed you're staring at your computer 7 in front of you. 8 A Yes. 9 Q Is that yours? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And -- and that's a picture of you; 12 correct? 13 A Yeah. 14 Q And is there a reason why you brought that 15 with you today? 16 A Well, I -- as I had stated in the very 17 beginning of this, I like to keep a record of 18 everything that is said so I know -- I'm -- this is 19 all new to me. And no personal offense, but I don't 20 trust the Beverly Hills Police Department or anyone 21 associated with them. 22 Q I understand that. 23 Now, you said "keep a record." How are you 24 keeping a record? 25 A I have the Web cam on, exactly as I stated 81 1 when we started. 2 Q Sorry. I didn't hear. Did I miss 3 something? 4 A I made it perfectly clear. It was the very 5 first thing I said before I ever plugged it in. 6 Q And where is the Web cam pointed at? 7 A Me. 8 Q Just you? 9 A Yes. 10 Q So you're recording your conversation? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And I request that you stop that. 13 MR. MONACHINO: Counsel, I request that she 14 stop recording. 15 MR. YATES: I have nothing to do with it. 16 She's an independent witness. I can't tell her what 17 to do. 18 THE WITNESS: Does that mean I can't keep -- 19 BY MR. MONACHINO: 20 Q Well, I'd request that you stop recording 21 it. 22 A Do I have to abide by that? 23 Q Well, you're not an authorized court 24 reporter, so I think you should stop. 25 A So I can't keep a record of my own 82 1 statements? 2 Q You can get one after the deposition. 3 A Am I breaking a law -- 4 Q Ma'am -- 5 A -- by recording this? 6 Q Well, that's a good question, but no. But 7 if you want to continue recording, I'm going to let 8 you record it, but I request that you don't. 9 And so do you take a video log of -- is 10 that your practice, to take video logs of -- 11 A I document a lot of things since those 12 incidents; yes. 13 Q And did you document everything with 14 Mr. -- Officer Stevens -- Detective Stevens? 15 A Some of the things; yes, I did. 16 Q And you said you spoke to him on a daily 17 bases for several months; correct? 18 A Yes. 19 Q And did you document that? 20 A Some of the conversations; yes. 21 Q And can you describe the extent; the 22 volume? Do you still -- 23 A The volume? 24 Q Yeah. Do you still have notes, videotape, 25 audio tape, anything? 83 1 A I believe that I do. I'm not exactly sure 2 where they are. Some of the things were salvaged 3 from the apartment. Dori was able to go in and get 4 some of the things but a lot of it was gone. 5 Q Okay. And this -- was it 1967 Olympic, was 6 the address? 7 A 9667. 8 Q 9667. 9 A It was the rear apartment. 10 Q And that's where the rape occurred? 11 A That's correct. 12 Q Have you been raped more than once? 13 A I'm not really comfortable answering that 14 question. 15 Q How about in the same -- what time frame 16 was this? 17 A There were two men. 18 Q Can you describe them to me? 19 A They were both dressed in police officer 20 uniforms, both dark hair, both approximately between 21 5'11" and 6' tall. I'd say -- that's -- I mean, 22 that's what I remember off the top of my head. 23 Q And when you say "police uniforms," what do 24 you mean by that? 25 A They had -- it was what a police uniform 84 1 looked like. They're dark. They had the badges, 2 the... 3 Q So would it be safe to say "police uniform" 4 means you'd see as someone driving around in a 5 marked police car? 6 A I'm not familiar with what someone would 7 wear in a marked police car. I don't really keep 8 tabs on the police. 9 Q Have you met any detectives from the 10 Beverly Hills Police Department? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Were they in casual clothes or -- 13 A The detectives usually were in suits. 14 Q Now, these two were in actual -- they were 15 not in suits; correct? 16 A No. 17 Q They were actually in police uniforms? 18 A That's correct. 19 Q And they had gun -- gun belt? 20 A I believe they did. When I looked through 21 the peephole you can only see like this 22 [indicating]. But when they came in, they -- they 23 did have guns on, because I could feel it. Yes -- 24 Q Okay. 25 A -- they had guns. 85 1 Q So two men dressed in police uniforms with 2 guns on? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Okay. And did they -- 5 A And they had the other thing, too; the 6 billy club. 7 Q The baton? 8 A Whatever it's called. 9 Q Billy club. 10 Both of them? 11 A At least one of them. I couldn't swear to 12 both of them. 13 Q And you said both dark hair? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And would you -- can you describe their 16 race at all? 17 A Race? Do you mean were they Italian mix? 18 German? 19 Q Caucasian? 20 A Oh, they were Caucasian, yeah. One could 21 have possibly been of Latin descent, because his 22 features were a little darker; his skin coloring was 23 just slightly darker. But it could have been 24 Black-Irish, you know. 25 Q And you had never seen them before? 86 1 A No. No. 2 Q And did both identify themselves as police 3 officers? 4 A Yes, they did. 5 Q And both -- were you conscious while you 6 were being raped? 7 A Not the entire time. 8 Q But you realized that both of them were 9 participating? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And both entered your apartment? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And since you were 18, say, had you ever 14 been raped before? 15 MR. YATES: Just out of respect, I'm going to 16 object because there is such a thing as a Rape 17 Shield Law. You know, I don't represent Ms. Shuman. 18 I just -- I'm going to lay that objection down. 19 Okay? 20 MR. MONACHINO: Well, she's making accusations, 21 and pretty strongly, about the City of Beverly Hills 22 and its police officers. 23 MR. YATES: There is a Rape Shield Law. 24 BY MR. MONACHINO: 25 Q And, certainly, I'm not asking her any 87 1 details about any other specific events except for 2 whether you have been raped before, apart from this 3 incident with these alleged two police officers. 4 A Well, I want to ask clarification on what 5 your definition of rape is. 6 Q Anything that you'd consider. 7 A Do you consider date rape, rape -- 8 Q Sure. 9 A -- when it goes too far? 10 Okay. Then -- God, I don't -- there was 11 another instance with Steven Seagal that I would 12 consider a date rape-type situation. But prior to 13 that, I'd never really had any problems with men. I 14 was a respected business woman. 15 Q Did you ever have sexual intercourse with 16 Mr. Seagal? 17 A No, I did not. 18 Q So -- and I'll get back to the -- that 19 incident. I know it's a sensitive subject for 20 you -- 21 A It is. 22 Q -- and it's tough, but it's something I 23 need to cover. 24 A I understand. 25 Q Did you -- have you reviewed any documents 88 1 in preparation for your deposition here today? 2 A Only what was shown to me this morning. 3 Q And what was shown to you? 4 A The New York Post article that named 5 Detective Miller. 6 Q Anything else? 7 A No. 8 Q And you said you started -- you tried to 9 get your police report; is that correct? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q And when did you try to do that? 12 A It was late August, roughly, or the first 13 week of September of '07. And I could tell you the 14 exact date because it was the exact date that I met 15 with Mr. Johnson in his office. I went there 16 directly from the police station. 17 Q So you had contact with Mr. Johnson before? 18 A I had contacted him from the police 19 department. 20 Q And how did you get his number? 21 A He was referred to me as someone that I 22 should talk to. 23 Q And who referred you to him? 24 A I'd rather not say at this point. 25 Q I'm asking you to answer the question. 89 1 A Do I have to answer the question? 2 Q Yes. 3 A A person named Paul Barresi had called me. 4 Q And who is Mr. Paul Barresi? 5 A He was known as Pellicano's enforcer. 6 Q And did you -- when you went to the Beverly 7 Hills Police Department and tried to get reports, 8 did you have contact with a particular person there? 9 A I did. 10 Q And what was that person's name? 11 A I did not get her name. She was a black 12 lady, relatively small, slightly overweight but very 13 nice; she wore glasses. But I did not get her name. 14 Q And -- 15 A Or it may -- it may -- her name may be on 16 the police reports that I gave to Mr. Johnson, 17 because I was trying to make notes. 18 Q And how many police reports did you get? 19 A I only was able to get the initial police 20 report of the attack that led to the restraining 21 order. And she had the rape report but she said she 22 could not release that to me. 23 Q And that was one of the reasons why you 24 contacted Mr. Johnson? 25 A That's correct. 90 1 Q And have you gotten that report, the rape 2 report, since? 3 A No. 4 Q Have you ever looked at the rape report? 5 A I've never seen it. 6 Q Do you remember the officer's names that -- 7 or officer's name -- that interviewed you at all? 8 A I don't. 9 Q Do you remember if they were male or 10 female? 11 A When we sat in the room with the tape 12 recorder, it was two females. 13 Q Okay. And to your recollection it was 14 recorded? 15 A Yes. Yes. They asked me for permission to 16 record it. 17 Q And when did you -- when did you speak 18 to -- is it -- how do you spell -- Mr. Barresi? 19 A Oh, "Barresi"? 20 Q "Barresi." 21 A He called me, I would say, roughly 22 mid August of 2007. 23 Q And do you know why he called you? 24 A He called me to apologize. He said... 25 Q And what for? 91 1 A His statement was, "Ms. Shuman, you don't 2 know me but my name is Paul Barresi. I used to work 3 with Mr. Anthony Pellicano, with whom I understand 4 you've had some dealings." 5 And he said, basically, "I had worked with" 6 -- he, referring to himself -- "had worked for 7 Mr. Pellicano." He said, "If you look me up on the 8 Internet or Google me you'll see that I was known as 9 Pellicano's enforcer." 10 And I said, "Okay." And I said, "What do 11 you want with me?" He said, "I just want you to 12 know that I know what happened to you. I feel 13 really bad about it but I had nothing to do with it, 14 even though I know Pellicano did." 15 Q And did he tell you anything else? 16 A He asked me if I was safe. He asked me 17 where I was living. He asked me if I had an 18 attorney. He asked me if I had ever had any more 19 trouble from the Beverly Hills Police Department 20 since those incidents. And then he said, "You need 21 to get an attorney immediately, and you need to talk 22 to some people because what you said, what you 23 experienced, I know all about it." 24 Q And the experience is the assault in the 25 garage? 92 1 A I assumed that's what he was referring to. 2 I didn't know him at the time so I didn't really 3 feel comfortable speaking with him at length. 4 Q And you said you're getting death threats 5 almost daily and continue to get them. Who are they 6 from? Who do you believe they're from? 7 A There are some of them that I know exactly 8 who they are. 9 Q Okay. And who are they? 10 A The first gentleman is Mario George 11 Nitrini, III, who lives in Reseda, California. The 12 second is a woman by the name of Joyce Danelen, who 13 lives in Van Nuys, California. The third one is a 14 gentleman by the name of John David Briley, who 15 lives in the area of Kennesaw, Georgia. Another 16 person is Kenneth Dennis, who lives in Fayetteville, 17 North Carolina. And those are the ones that I know 18 by name. Oh, excuse me; there's one more. Brian 19 Murray, who lives in Taiwan. 20 Q And do you have any understanding of why 21 these people are giving you death threats? 22 A Do I have any understanding as to why? 23 Q Why do you believe that they're giving you 24 death threats? 25 A Yes, I understand. 93 1 Q Okay. Why? 2 A Mario Nitrini is a gentleman who has 3 claimed to have links to Pellicano and other people 4 related to Pellicano in a number of cases including 5 O.J. Simpson and the Pellicano case and a number of 6 others. He is also a member of a group called the 7 SmartFellowsPress.com gang, who writes a lot on the 8 Internet about police corruption, conspiracy 9 theories, so forth and so on. O.J. Simpson is a big 10 topic as well as Anthony Pellicano's things. 11 He is partnered basically with Mario 12 Nitrini, Brian Murray, and at one point -- which I 13 just realized within the past 24 hours -- Daniel 14 Nicherie. Those are one group of people that have 15 been identified and that I know who they are. 16 Q And how do you know your connection with 17 Daniel Nicherie now? 18 A Daniel Nicherie was on Mario Nitrini's 19 MySpace page; it says, "#1 top 8 buddy for 3 years." 20 Q And how do you know that? 21 A Because when Mario Nitrini would write to 22 me, I would look to see his profile, and Daniel 23 Nicherie was pictured there in a white T-shirt with 24 -- it looked like a mugshot, actually. It may have 25 been a mugshot. But I remember the name very 94 1 clearly. 2 Q And why do you think they're still giving 3 you death threats? 4 A Why do I think they're still giving me 5 death threats? 6 Q Correct. 7 A Well, you'd have to ask them. But my 8 impression, my instinct says that Mario George 9 Nitrini simply wants to make a name for himself. I 10 don't think he is a sane man. 11 Q Do you want to make a name for yourself? 12 A No. I'd like to disappear and live a 13 peaceful life of what I have left. 14 Q And do you have a book deal or anything 15 going on now? 16 A No. 17 Q No? 18 A No. 19 Q Did you ever try to write a book about 20 your experience? 21 A I've kept a video journal. I keep a video 22 journal, and have since 1974. 23 Q Have you ever tried to sell your story to 24 anybody? 25 A No. 95 1 Q Have no interest in it? 2 A I'm probably not going to be alive that 3 long. 4 Q You mentioned you had terminal cancer, and 5 you were told that. At least that's what my ears 6 heard. 7 A Yeah. 8 Q Do you still have terminal cancer? 9 A I have to see new doctors and everything. 10 And I don't really know what stage I'm in right now 11 because they found another mass on my liver. 12 Q And a mass on your liver. Is it benign or 13 is it cancer -- 14 A We don't know yet. It was just recently 15 done before I left. There's a 10.7 centimeter mass 16 that covers part of -- well, most of my liver, and 17 is extended in through the fundus and gallbladder. 18 Plus, I have calcified nodules throughout my lungs 19 and acute pulmonary histoplasmosis. 20 Q But you still haven't answered my question. 21 To your knowledge, do you have terminal cancer? 22 A That is my understanding. 23 Q Okay. And where -- what type of cancer is 24 terminal? 25 A They originally diagnosed me with ovarian 96 1 cancer that had spread to my colon and part of my 2 bladder. 3 Q And do you still have cancer, ovarian 4 cancer, and is it still in your gallbladder and 5 liver? 6 A I've had a radical hysterectomy, which has 7 removed my ovaries, my fallopian tubes, my cervix, 8 my uterus, part of my colon, part of my bladder. I 9 have not been able to get an appointment because my 10 insurance has been canceled with another oncologist. 11 When we went in for the checkup when I 12 changed doctors to go to an internist and 13 endocrinologist for my thyroid, they did an MRI and 14 a CAT scan, and that's when they were trying to find 15 out the condition of my lower abdomen. 16 When that was performed, they caught part 17 of my liver and my right lower lung, and that's when 18 they found the calcified nodules throughout my lungs 19 and the mass in my liver, fundus, and gallbladder. 20 And I need to see specialists in those particular 21 areas. 22 Q I guess, since I'm just a layperson and -- 23 I mean, can you answer this question "yes" or "no"? 24 Do you currently have terminal cancer? 25 A My understanding is that my condition is 97 1 terminal. 2 Q Okay. Well, I'm -- what type of cancer is 3 terminal that you have? 4 A What type of cancer is terminal? 5 Q Yeah. Is it your lung cancer that's 6 terminal? It's ovarian cancer that's terminal? 7 It's different that's terminal? 8 A I don't know yet what's happening with my 9 body until I can get in to see the appropriate 10 doctors. 11 Q So right now you do not know whether you 12 have terminal cancer or not; correct? 13 A I don't know whether the mass in my liver 14 is terminal or not. I do not know whether it has 15 metastasized or not until we have a follow-up MRI. 16 Q Okay. And there's no other type of cancer 17 that you have, to your knowledge, that is terminal, 18 currently as we sit here today? 19 A The last -- my understanding is that I've 20 already outlived my life expectancy. Where the 21 cancers are in my body right now -- like you, sir, 22 I'm a layperson and I don't understand half of what 23 the doctors tell me. But I do what I'm told and I'm 24 taking the course of healthcare that they've offered 25 to me and I've been following it strictly, and I 98 1 don't really know what's happening with my body 2 right now. But you're welcome to come to the 3 operating room with me. 4 Q Okay. To your knowledge you have ovarian 5 cancer, as you sit here today? 6 A Yes. That's my understanding. 7 Q Even though you had a hysterectomy? 8 A Well -- I don't mean to laugh but, you 9 know -- and, again, I'm not a doctor; I'm a 10 layperson just like you -- but does someone still 11 have ovarian cancer when your ovaries are removed? 12 I don't know. I don't know what the technical term 13 for that is, sir. 14 Q Okay. And that was -- the surgery was done 15 in March of 2007 or somewhere around there? 16 A There were three different surgeries 17 between January, February and March; three different 18 surgeries. 19 Q How long are you going to be in 20 Los Angeles? 21 A I was hoping to go -- get out of here 22 today. 23 Q Do you have a plane flight today? 24 A No. No. 25 Q And the sole reason you came to Los Angeles 99 1 was for this deposition? 2 A That's correct. 3 Q When was the last time you were in 4 Los Angeles? 5 A Back when I saw Mr. Johnson in September of 6 2007, roughly. 7 Q And is the reason -- why did you come to 8 Los Angeles? 9 A Why did I come to Los Angeles? It was -- I 10 had been in hospitals off and on for a year. I miss 11 my friends. I -- I wanted to see what I was going 12 to do next. I was still alive. I didn't expect to 13 be alive and I wanted to go home. 14 Q So you didn't want to stay underground 15 anymore? 16 A No. You can still be invisible in 17 Los Angeles. 18 Q And did you give an interview to Mr. Yates 19 or Mr. Johnson while you were out here? 20 A I spoke to Mr. Yates in his office. 21 Mr. -- excuse me. Excuse me. That's incorrect. I 22 spoke to Mr. Johnson in his office. Mr. Yates was 23 out of town. 24 Q And did he record that interview? 25 A I don't know. 100 1 Q Have you ever seen a transcript of that 2 interview? 3 A No. 4 Q How long did that interview last, to your 5 knowledge? 6 A I have no idea. I don't -- I wasn't -- 7 Q And what did you speak to Mr. Johnson 8 about? 9 MR. JOHNSON: I'm going to object on the 10 grounds it's attorney-client privilege. 11 You don't have to answer any questions 12 about what you consulted with me about. 13 BY MR. MONACHINO: 14 Q Is Mr. Johnson your attorney? 15 A He is my attorney on a case, yes. 16 Q What case is that? 17 A It's versus YouTube and these message 18 boards with the death threats. 19 Q Okay. And did you -- is that what you 20 talked to Mr. Johnson -- 21 MR. JOHNSON: I instruct you -- you don't have 22 to answer any questions about any consultations 23 you've had with me. That's attorney-client 24 privilege. 25 (Instruction not to answer) 101 1 BY MR. MONACHINO: 2 Q Are you going to follow your counsel's 3 instructions? 4 A Yes. 5 Q Is Mr. Johnson representing you here today? 6 A Mr. Johnson represents me on the YouTube 7 case. 8 Q But he's not representing you here today? 9 A I have no representation on this case 10 whatsoever. 11 Q Did you ever prepare an outline or a 12 timeline for either Mr. Johnson or Mr. Yates about 13 what you've -- 14 A Have I prepared a timeline? 15 Q Yes. Or an outline. 16 A I sent them the e-mail from Detective 17 Miller. I don't think I've ever put together a 18 timeline; not to my knowledge, no. 19 Q I saw in your e-mail to Mr. Yates that you 20 said, "I will start preparing the outline and 21 timeline you have requested immediately." 22 A Yeah. I didn't do it. 23 Q Okay. Have you ever prepared an outline or 24 a timeline? 25 A I have not been able to sit down and do it, 102 1 no. I can't. I -- I don't like to look at it. 2 Q Now, you mentioned YouTube. And -- have 3 you been banned from YouTube? 4 A There is a rumor that I've been permabanned 5 from YouTube. 6 Q And what's permaban? 7 A Well, there's no such thing, really, as a 8 permaban. 9 Q Has any -- has YouTube sanctioned you in 10 any way? 11 A Absolutely not. 12 Q Has YouTube restricted your use in any way? 13 A They have -- from my understanding, YouTube 14 has an automated software that once a video is 15 flagged three times or more, your account is 16 automatically suspended. 17 Q And how many accounts have you had 18 suspended? 19 A I have no idea how many total. 20 Q I saw somewhere on the Internet that you 21 had up to 900 accounts suspended. Is that accurate? 22 A That's the rumor, but that is not correct. 23 Q How many accounts have you had suspended? 24 A There were four that were personal 25 accounts. One was my personal diary. One was for 103 1 the eyeglasses and eyeglass fashion. And one was 2 going to be a visual guide or video menus, if you 3 will, for various cities so that people could 4 recommend which dining areas to go to and so forth 5 and so on. So those were for the top 50 cities. 6 So there were roughly, I would say, 7 approximately 100. Because we did the top cities in 8 the United States as well as Paris, London, Sydney, 9 Hong Kong, et cetera. 10 Q So -- 11 A And those were all set up separately in 12 separate accounts. 13 Q So by your estimation, approximately 100 14 accounts have been suspended? 15 A I would estimate, yes. 16 Q And of those -- what were the reasons for 17 those 100 accounts being suspended? 18 A There was never a reason given. To this 19 day I don't know. 20 Q You have no idea? 21 A I don't. Huh-uh. 22 Q You never asked? 23 A Oh, I've asked many times. I've sent 24 hundreds of e-mails; yes. 25 Q And what has been the response? 104 1 A Virtually no response whatsoever. That's 2 why I had Mr. Johnson look into it, because it 3 didn't make sense to me. 4 Q And did you want to get back on YouTube for 5 any particular reason? 6 A I really don't care one way or another. 7 Q Well, you hired an attorney. 8 A I hired an attorney because it destroyed an 9 entire year's worth of work of me documenting my 10 battle with cancer. That's why I want my tapes 11 back; I want my videos back, for my child and for my 12 family and for my records. They destroyed over a 13 year's worth of my documentation of my fight. 14 Q You had no back-up? 15 A Nope. I hope I can find some somewhere. 16 Q You mentioned Joyce Danelen. 17 A Yes. 18 Q And why is she giving you death threats? 19 A Do you want me to just describe the history 20 of her? 21 Q Quickly. 22 A Joyce Danelen contacted me approximately 23 five years ago, in real life. She was on Match.com 24 and she had been interested in a gentleman that was 25 writing to me on Match.com. And she was very upset 105 1 because she was interested in him. I wasn't 2 interested in him. 3 So she called, as a nurse, and set up a 4 fake profile to lure me out to lunch at La Petit 5 Four on the Sunset Strip. I went there. The guy, 6 obviously, didn't show up because it was her. She 7 called as his nurse to confirm the appointment. 8 When I got there, there was this older 9 model 380SL Mercedes that almost ran me over. It 10 was like a bluish color, with a little old lady 11 behind it. And she almost hit me as I was, like, 12 trying to get in my car. I mean, she didn't hit me. 13 At the time, I just thought, "Wow. Watch where 14 you're going," you know. I just thought it was a 15 little old lady that didn't know how to drive. 16 When I got back to my office, there was a 17 psychologist named Mark from Pacific Palisades, and 18 he told me that Joyce Danelen had left a voice mail 19 on his thing and he saved it for me. He said, "You 20 need to go to the police; you need to get a 21 restraining order." He says, "I'm a psychologist 22 and this woman is board-certified crazy. And she 23 told me that she was going to get you at La Petit 24 Four." 25 And she had it in her mind that she could 106 1 eliminate me, then she could somehow have him. 2 Q And you don't remember Mark's last name? 3 A I don't, not at this moment, but I believe 4 I have it written down somewhere. And I believe I 5 still have that original voice mail tape. 6 Q And what did the voice mail tape say? 7 A It was her ranting and raving that I was a 8 whore, and that he should know I was a whore, and 9 that she was so much better for him, and that he was 10 going to -- she was going to teach me a lesson, that 11 she knew where I lived, she had looked under my 12 property records, and that I would be eliminated 13 that day. 14 Q And when was your last contact with 15 Ms. Danelen, either on the Internet or -- 16 A She still makes videos almost on a daily 17 basis. They're all over the Internet. 18 Q And how long has this lasted? 19 A This has been going on for five years. 20 Oh -- and excuse me. I want to add; I did 21 file a police report against her after that 22 incident; the Van Nuys Police Station, because I was 23 living in Sherman Oaks at the time. So there should 24 be a document somewhere there. 25 Q Did she ever claim that you were harassing 107 1 her? 2 A Oh, yes. 3 Q And did she ever file a report against you? 4 A My understanding is that she has filed 5 several reports against me. And, in fact, she has 6 written on several message boards that I would be 7 arrested today as a result of those police reports. 8 Q Have others accused you of stalking them on 9 YouTube? 10 A Yes, they have. 11 Q And do you know what a sock puppet is? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And do you sock-puppet on YouTube? 14 A I -- a sock puppet is basically a YouTube 15 or an urban dictionary term used when someone goes 16 under an anonymous screen name. So unless I use 17 "Cheryl Shuman" or anything other than my name -- 18 for example, when I did the "In Crowd New York," 19 that's not my true name. So that's considered a 20 sock puppet account. 21 Q How many sock puppet accounts do you have 22 on YouTube? 23 A I've already told you that. 24 Q Only 100? 25 A Roughly 100. 108 1 Q No more? But you said 100 were suspended. 2 A Right. 3 Q So you had to have more; correct? 4 A I don't recall exactly how many I've had. 5 We have promoters and so forth that we work with, 6 that are independent contractors, that could have 7 used something or put something up under YouTube. I 8 don't know. 9 Q And you've never used a sock puppet to 10 harass anybody? 11 A No. 12 Q And your accounts at YouTube were never 13 suspended because people claimed you were harassing 14 them? 15 A I -- I don't know why my accounts have been 16 suspended. That's why I would like to get to the 17 bottom of it with Mr. Johnson and his firm. 18 Q You mentioned you have two children; is 19 that correct? 20 A Yes, I do. 21 Q And their names? 22 A I'd really prefer not to give that out. 23 Q I'd like to know them. 24 A You can want to know them all you want but 25 I'm going to protect my children's safety. 109 1 Q Is one named Amy? 2 A I'm not going to answer that. 3 Q And what type of relationship do you have 4 with your children? 5 A I don't think it's any of your business. 6 Q Were they ever taken away from you by Child 7 Protective Services? 8 A No. 9 Q Never? 10 A No. 11 Q Are they living with you now? 12 A No. 13 Q Who are they living with? 14 A I'm not going to answer that question. 15 MR. MONACHINO: I guess we have three minutes 16 on. I don't know if you want to take a break. I 17 mean, the tape's going to run out. 18 MR. YATES: Yeah. Whatever you want. 19 MR. MONACHINO: So... 20 BY MR. MONACHINO: 21 Q And is their father's name -- what's their 22 father's name? 23 A I'm not going to tell you that. 24 Q Is his name Mr. Pert? 25 A I'm not going to answer that. 110 1 Q Any reason why? 2 A I don't trust you. 3 Q Do you get along with Mr. Pert? 4 A I don't think that's any of your business. 5 I don't think my family is any of your business. 6 And I think my family's safety is my number one 7 concern here. 8 Q And who do you think is going to hurt your 9 family? 10 A I don't know, but I know they're in danger 11 and they have been for quite some time. 12 Q How long have they been in danger? 13 A Ever since this incident happened with 14 Steven Seagal. 15 Q And you think Mr. Seagal is still after 16 your family? 17 A I don't know, but I know there are 18 definitely death threats and there have definitely 19 been intimidation, and there definitely have been 20 threats made against me, my children, my family. 21 And I don't trust people, and I want to make sure 22 that I maintain the safety of my family and 23 children. That's number one. 24 Q And what knowledge, I guess, do you have 25 that you believe people want to make death threats 111 1 against you? I guess, Mr. Seagal -- 2 A What knowledge do I have? 3 Q Yeah. Mr. Seagal or anybody; what 4 knowledge do you have that continue these death 5 threats for five, six, seven years? 6 A It's on message boards. It's primarily 7 through the Internet harassment. 8 Q But why do you think they continue this for 9 five, six, seven years? 10 A I have no idea. 11 Q So they just want to ruin your life? 12 A I don't know. Why don't you ask them. 13 Q Okay. But you have your own understanding 14 why they continue this? 15 A I obviously don't think that they want me 16 to be here. That's one definite reason. But no, I 17 really don't understand their psychology. I don't 18 understand people who operate from that code of 19 ethics. 20 Q And there's nothing that you've said here 21 today that you haven't said previously in your 22 interviews with the press and media before, is 23 there? 24 A I don't understand what you're saying. 25 Q Well, you told your story about the 112 1 involvement of Craig Stevens -- Detective Stevens 2 and the Beverly Hills Police Department and your 3 opinion of Mr. Seagal. 4 A Yes. 5 Q That's nothing new, is there? 6 A I have never talked about Detective Craig 7 Stevens publicly to anyone. 8 Q This is the first time; correct? 9 A To my knowledge; other than to friends. 10 Q Okay. Never made a police report or 11 anything like that? 12 A Against Detective Stevens? 13 Q Correct. 14 A No. 15 MR. MONACHINO: I guess we need to change the 16 tape. So we'll take a couple minute break and then 17 continue. 18 THE WITNESS: Okay. 19 VIDEOGRAPHER: This is the end of videotape 20 number 1 of the deposition of Cheryl Shuman on 21 February 11, 2008. Going off the record at 22 4:40 p.m. 23 (Recess) 24 VIDEOGRAPHER: This is the beginning of 25 videotape number 2 in the deposition of Cheryl 113 1 Shuman on February 11, 2008. Going back on the 2 record at 4:48 p.m. 3 BY MR. MONACHINO: 4 Q Ms. Shuman, are you able to continue with 5 your deposition? 6 A Yes. 7 Q You mentioned off the record that Sam 8 Conti, Jr., was also someone who has been harassing 9 and giving you death threats? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q And who is Mr. Sam Conti, Jr.? 12 A Sam Conti, Jr., is an aspiring drag queen, 13 karaoke singer from Folsom, California. 14 Q And why do you believe he's giving you 15 death threats and harassing you? 16 A Oh, he's very proud of it. He's called my 17 office and recorded them and posted them on YouTube. 18 Q Has he ever claimed that you've been 19 harassing him? 20 A Oh, he does it on a daily basis. 21 Q And do you know why or have any 22 understanding, apart from him being proud of it, why 23 he chose you as opposed to -- 24 A Why he chose me? 25 Q Yeah -- anybody else? 114 1 A Yes. Yes. 2 Q Okay. Why is that? 3 A Mr. Conti -- I don't mean to laugh but it's 4 kind of comical. He -- his reputation is the most 5 banned karaoke singer on YouTube. And all he wants 6 to do is be recognized for his karaoke singing. So 7 he has a habit of targeting the most viewed channels 8 on YouTube. 9 In fact, one of the -- one of the little 10 videos he's most proud of is the Megan Meier case 11 where he laughs about Megan Meier being an heroine, 12 because she killed herself. And his goal, that he's 13 made very clear on YouTube, is to make sure that I 14 am the next Megan Meier. 15 Q And he said that on the Internet? 16 A Oh, yeah. 17 Q And you have copies of that material? 18 A I don't have it on me but they're all over 19 the Internet. 20 Q And you were at one time a highly-viewed 21 channel -- 22 A Yes. 23 Q -- as you said? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And how did you know you were a 115 1 highly-viewed channel? 2 A It tells you. There are rankings on 3 YouTube that say "most subscribed," "most viewed," 4 "most channel viewed," "most highly rated," "most 5 subscribers." There's a number of different 6 categories on which they rate. 7 Q And what were you rated? 8 A I was in one of the "most viewed" and "most 9 subscribed to," the "most discussed." To this day 10 I'm the most discussed person on YouTube. That's 11 one of the things that I think -- 12 Q And do you have an idea, from responses 13 you've received on YouTube, why you're so highly 14 rated or people are interested in your life? 15 A When I was on YouTube, I basically was 16 documenting my hospital visits and treatments and so 17 forth. And I originally started so that I could 18 keep in touch with my friends on my health 19 condition. And it just kind of grew from there. 20 Because I was in Appalachia with my family -- I had 21 gone back for the holidays -- and kind of got 22 trapped there. 23 Q Did you do anything to manipulate to get 24 higher ratings, like use sock puppets or anything 25 like that? 116 1 A No. You know, I've worked in marketing. 2 So one of the ways you network with people in any 3 social networking thing is you make friends with 4 people and you send friend requests and you make 5 friends with other people that are highly viewed. 6 It's kind of a YouTube formula. 7 Q So you marketed yourself so people would 8 watch you? 9 A No, that's not what I said. 10 Q Oh. Well, I guess I misunderstood then. 11 You said you're in -- 12 A You did misunderstand. 13 Q -- you're in marketing and that you have 14 friends and contact them to watch you. Or how would 15 you get people to watch you? 16 A Well, of course, yes. When I open up my 17 channel on YouTube, I send an e-mail out to all of 18 my friends and associates that I had on my database, 19 and said, you know, "I'm not coming back to L.A. for 20 a while. I'm going into the hospital. I've been 21 diagnosed. But I'm going to keep a video diary so 22 that you can keep up with my condition, because I 23 don't really have the strength to write to each of 24 you individually." 25 Q And so you had -- what -- hundreds, 117 1 thousands, of -- 2 A I have over 80,000 people in my database. 3 Q And then -- you say people in your 4 database. Where do these people come from? 5 A I -- I've kept a database of my contacts 6 since 1974. 7 Q So these are your personal friends, these 8 80,000? 9 A Some are personal friends. Some are media 10 contacts. Some are people that I've just met, like 11 today, and asked them for their business card. 12 Q Okay. 13 A Could be a number of different people -- 14 people have written to me on the Internet; people 15 from Match.com. 16 Q And where do you keep your database? 17 A I usually keep it on my server -- or 18 computer or whatever. 19 Q So you have a list of these contacts? 20 A I did. 21 Q And now it's gone because YouTube was -- 22 your YouTube channel is closed? 23 A It's gone. It's gone. 24 Q You mentioned Sam Conti. We saw a picture 25 of you. And that was -- you said that was from 118 1 someone throwing acid on you? 2 A I assumed that it was acid. 3 Q Okay. It burned your skin? 4 A It burned my skin and my arm. 5 Q Okay. That little mark you're showing, 6 that's from that? 7 A Yes. 8 Q How long ago was that? 9 A I don't remember the exact date. I could 10 get it from the hospital reports. 11 Q Okay. 12 A Recently; within the past three or four 13 weeks. 14 Q Sorry. And what hospital did you go to? 15 A I went to Riverside Hospital. 16 Q Is that in California? 17 A No. 18 Q Where? 19 A It's in Ohio. 20 Q And Riverside is the name of the city? 21 A No. 22 Q Or the name of the hospital? 23 A It's the hospital. 24 Q And where in Ohio is it located? 25 A I -- just Central Ohio. 119 1 Q Well, you don't know the city? 2 A Columbus area. 3 Q You don't know the particular city other 4 than the Columbus area? 5 A Well, Columbus, but there's Upper Arlington 6 and Dublin and -- I'm not sure if it's on the city 7 limit. 8 Q Did anybody accuse you that was -- that you 9 really were never attacked by acid? 10 A Yes; on -- the cyber stalkers. 11 Q And what did the cyber stalkers say? 12 A I try not to look at any of that stuff 13 because I was told by Mr. Johnson to just stay away 14 from it for my own emotional well-being. So I only 15 hear occasionally about what some of them are 16 saying. 17 Q And what have you heard or read? 18 A My understanding, from what I've been told, 19 is that they basically believe that everything in my 20 life is just one big fat lie. 21 Q And did anybody say that it really was a 22 chemical peel? 23 A A number of people have said that. 24 Q And have you ever had a chemical peel? 25 A I've never had a chemical peel. 120 1 Q So you deny that's true? 2 A I've never had a chemical peel, no. 3 Q But you deny that the picture that was 4 attached as an exhibit was you after any kind of 5 plastic surgery, chemical peel -- 6 A It was not a chemical peel. I went to see 7 Dr. Sullivan for resurfacing so the scarring 8 wouldn't be so bad on the side of my face. And it 9 was not a chemical peel. It was a laser -- it's 10 actually called a plasma resurfacing of some sort. 11 Q So is that the only time you've had a laser 12 peel or a laser process to your face? 13 A No. Actually, I had a laser peel -- it was 14 not a laser peel. It's -- I don't even remember 15 what they called it back then; maybe 10, 15 years 16 ago. 17 Q And how -- and were those pictures -- how 18 old was that picture? 19 A Which picture? 20 Q The picture that was attached as an 21 exhibit. 22 A It's from the Internet. So I -- this is a 23 screen capture of Sam Conti and his thing. So I 24 don't -- I don't know when this was -- 25 Q That's not you? 121 1 A That's me. But that's Sam Conti, Jr., 2 singing on my shoulder. It's -- 3 Q Okay. That was my next question, who it 4 was. 5 A Yeah. That's Sam Conti, Jr. 6 Q But this is after your acid attack; 7 correct? 8 A Well, we're not sure if it was acid. I 9 assumed -- 10 Q Or someone threw something at you; correct? 11 A Correct. 12 Q And it burned your skin; correct? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And that's a picture of you after that; 15 correct? 16 A This is after the resurfacing, because I 17 didn't want scars on my face. 18 Q Okay. So that is after the resurfacing? 19 A That's correct. 20 MR. YATES: I think what she said is the ones 21 she had on her camera actually showed the burn. 22 THE WITNESS: Oh, I've got that with me. Would 23 you like to see that? 24 MR. MONACHINO: Can you show that? 25 THE WITNESS: Absolutely. Sure. 122 1 MR. MONACHINO: No, no. I'd like to see them. 2 I'm just trying to get clarification. And I -- if I 3 could take -- attach them. 4 MR. YATES: Hook it up to a screen. 5 (Pause) 6 BY MR. MONACHINO: 7 Q And you have never downloaded this? 8 A No. 9 Q And so you -- this picture you're showing 10 me is a result of someone throwing something at you? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And -- now, can you describe how that 13 happened again, briefly? 14 A Yes. I was -- I filed a police report on 15 it. It's with the Columbus Police Department. 16 I was going out -- I had a doctor's 17 appointment. There was a guy working on his van, 18 which I thought was just, you know, one of the -- 19 you know. And he was in a hooded thing, into the 20 van, because the engine was in the front. 21 And I was just locking [sic] my door, 22 getting ready to get in my car. And it was just 23 flung at me. And I went to try to cover my eyes. 24 And I had -- I had a -- you know, like, a fur hat on 25 and my -- my daughter calls -- I'm not going to tell 123 1 -- I just had this big coat on. And, you know, it 2 was seven degrees outside, so I was freezing. 3 And it just was flung at me, and I turned. 4 And my face started burning, so I went down -- there 5 was a lot of snow on the ground, so I started 6 putting snow on my face because my face felt like it 7 was on fire. 8 Q And you attributed this to the cyber 9 stalkers? 10 A I don't know who's responsible, but I know 11 that after it happened there were a number of people 12 blogging about it on YouTube, and I hadn't even 13 filed the police report yet. 14 Q Okay. And you put your -- that picture you 15 showed that's attached as an exhibit -- on YouTube; 16 correct? 17 A I'm sorry? 18 Q The one on YouTube, you put a picture of 19 yourself on that; correct? 20 A I did not put a picture of myself on 21 YouTube. There's a girl by the name of Sara Wookey, 22 that asked me -- she's been praying for me. And she 23 asked me to send her an update of how I was doing, 24 because she was very concerned. And I sent it to 25 her on her channel. 124 1 Q So you just sent that to your friend -- 2 A Sara. 3 Q -- Sara. And then it got over the Internet 4 somehow? 5 A What my understanding is -- because she 6 wrote to me -- and she had her channel set on 7 public, which should have been private. And the 8 minute that she realized it was public, she took it 9 off. But I had sent it to her as a thank you and an 10 update, because she's been very kind to me over the 11 past year. 12 Q Just to quickly move on; how many hours a 13 week do you spend on the Internet? 14 A Lately? As few minutes as possible. 15 Q How about -- what's the most you've 16 spent -- 17 A I have no idea. 18 Q -- blogging and doing things like that? 19 A No idea. 20 Q 20, 30, 40 hours? 21 A I have no idea. 22 Q No estimate? 23 A No. 24 Q Have you ever spent, like, 40 hours a week 25 on the Internet? 125 1 A 40 hours a week? 2 Q Yeah. 3 A I don't think so. 4 Q Close? 5 A I don't think so. 6 Q 30? 7 A No. I didn't even have Internet. We were 8 in Appalachia. There is no Internet service down 9 there. 10 Q Do you have your own blog? 11 A I did have my own blog. I'm not even sure 12 if it's still up. 13 Q When was the last time you posted on your 14 blog? 15 A Oh, maybe a month ago, I think. I'm 16 approximating. I'm not really sure. 17 Q And you keep it -- do you plan to continue 18 it? 19 A A lot depends on how long I stay alive. 20 I wish that I could have my children back 21 and go disappear somewhere and never -- I just want 22 a nice, peaceful life. 23 Q And why can't you get your children back? 24 A Well, they're adults now, so I could have 25 them back. But my children were too little when all 126 1 this happened. So they -- my oldest daughter and I 2 have a good relationship. But my youngest daughter, 3 I think she believes a lot of what she read in the 4 papers back then. 5 And Phil, my ex-husband, and I agree that 6 for her safety it was better that she stay with him 7 so she could have a normal childhood. And so we 8 don't -- we don't get to see each other. 9 Q Okay. When was the last time you saw -- 10 and this is your youngest daughter? 11 A (Nonverbal response) 12 Q And when was the last time you saw your 13 youngest daughter? 14 A I went to her graduation from high school. 15 Q And when was that? How many years ago? 16 A Three. 17 Q Okay. And is that the last time you spoke 18 to her or saw her? 19 A (Nonverbal response) 20 Q That's a "yes"? 21 A Yes. 22 Q And are you afraid for her safety? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Why? 25 A I think that these people are very 127 1 dangerous. I think they have no morals or ethics. 2 I think they're definitely suffering from mental 3 problems. They have posted accounts using my 4 daughters' pictures. And they've even gone so far 5 as to make up profiles up on, like, Adult Friend 6 Finder and so forth. And dear Joyce Danelen even 7 found a picture of my daughter and put a man's penis 8 in her mouth and posted it. 9 Q Have you ever been banned by YouTube for 10 any kind of -- I'll use the broad term -- pedophilia 11 or anything like that? 12 A They -- Joyce Danelen claims that I'm a 13 pedophile. 14 Q Have you been banned by YouTube because of 15 that? 16 A No. 17 Q And how did she get pictures of your 18 daughter? 19 A She went in on my MySpace account, and you 20 can do a right-click and save pictures. They also 21 went into my PhotoBucket account and my Flickr 22 account. And then at that time, on my corporate Web 23 site, I had pictures of my family and me and... 24 Q And you still have a corporate Web site? 25 A I'm sorry? 128 1 Q Do you still have a corporate Web site? 2 A My understanding is it's all gone now. 3 Q And you had a MySpace page? 4 A I did. That's all gone, too. 5 Q Why is that gone? 6 A That's a very good question. I was never 7 told why it was deleted. Kenneth Dennis, who 8 operates a Web site called Phantom 405, issued a 9 formal statement that he was going to rid the 10 Internet of me completely. 11 Q And why does he want to do that, to your 12 knowledge? 13 A I really don't know. He -- he did make a 14 comment that he felt that I was being unfair to his 15 friend, John David Briley, for reporting him to the 16 FBI. 17 Q And you reported Mr. Briley to the FBI. 18 When was that? 19 A I have all the e-mails. I would -- I would 20 have to ask Mr. Johnson for the exact dates. I 21 forwarded things to him. Anything that pertained to 22 the YouTube case, I forwarded to him. 23 So I just know that I spoke to -- I spoke 24 to Senior Agent Robert White with the Columbus FBI 25 and told him what was happening. And John David 129 1 Briley wanted me to send him $3,000 to make all of 2 the stuff go away on YouTube. So I asked him to 3 give me his true name and address and where I could 4 send a cashier's check to, and once I had that 5 information I called Mr. Johnson. 6 MR. JOHNSON: You don't have to talk about 7 conversations with me. 8 THE WITNESS: Okay. I contacted the FBI and 9 filed the report. And then once Mr. Briley realized 10 that he wasn't getting the money, things just went 11 crazy. 12 BY MR. MONACHINO: 13 Q And what went -- how did things go crazy? 14 A Oh, he's made several videos about me that 15 are all over the Internet. He has also had several 16 of his channels suspended because they were really 17 vile and disgusting. They were very, very -- they 18 were really -- they were just really bad. 19 And he continues, to this day, to make 20 videos. And he has also made a specific entry on -- 21 it's called a troll site -- t-r-o-l-l site. And 22 it's called "Encyclopedia Dramatica." And he has 23 made an entire Web page dedicated just to me. 24 Q And did you ever try to go on that site and 25 make changes or anything like that? 130 1 A One time I did try to log into it, you 2 know. They had stolen some of my pictures from my 3 Web site, which I owned the copyright to, and I 4 tried to remove those. And there was some kind of 5 a -- I don't know if I would refer to it is a booby 6 trap. But when I tried to take my pictures down, a 7 little skull came on and said, "Ha, ha, ha, ha. You 8 can't access this Web site," or something like that. 9 And I just let it go. I just... 10 Q Have you ever used a troll site? 11 A Have I ever used a troll site? 12 Q Yeah. 13 A Well, I've looked at it to see what they 14 wrote. 15 Q No. But have you ever used one; created 16 one? 17 A No, no. No. I don't -- Encyclopedia 18 Dramatica, from my understanding, is only -- you're 19 only able to enter it if you're one of their little 20 gang members or something. I could never have the 21 ability to get in there even if I wanted to, which I 22 don't. 23 Q Did you ever ask Mr. Briley for $3,000 24 to -- 25 A No. 131 1 Q -- stop harassing him? 2 A No. No, no, no. No. No. 3 Q And what has the FBI done in terms of your 4 complaint? 5 A They filed the report. They followed up on 6 it. They took my computer, scanned it for any kind 7 of hacking software, because my account has been 8 hacked into. He made a report. He wanted to know 9 why the FBI in Los Angeles wasn't doing something, 10 because he said it was very clear to him that there 11 was a problem. 12 He wanted to know why the City prosecutor 13 hadn't done anything. He made the report; took it 14 to his senior person, I guess, that you report to or 15 whatever. And they said that the $3,000 didn't meet 16 the threshold of what they felt was prosecutable, if 17 that's a word. 18 Q Okay. And this is -- when was the last 19 time you spoke to Mr. White? 20 A I called and wished him a happy 21 Thanksgiving. 22 Q You still have his number? 23 A I -- I know that I have it, but I don't 24 have it on me at the moment. 25 Q And he's with -- he's a senior agent where? 132 1 A Cyber Crimes Division, Columbus, Ohio. 2 Robert White, III. 3 Q And so you -- did you have a close 4 relationship with Mr. White? You called him for 5 happy Thanksgiving; correct? 6 A Yeah. 7 Q You called him for any other holidays or 8 anything like that? 9 A I may have called him for Christmas. I 10 don't remember. I usually do things like that. 11 Q Did he return your call or did you leave a 12 message? 13 A Yes. Yes. Wanted to know if I was doing 14 okay. 15 Q And what's the status of that case, to your 16 knowledge? 17 A It's still open. 18 Q Have you reported anybody else to the FBI? 19 A Only the people that have been directly 20 involved in this YouTube thing. 21 Q Okay. And those are the ones you've listed 22 already? 23 A That's correct. 24 Q And you said you had filed a TRO against 25 Steven Seagal; correct? 133 1 A Yes. 2 Q And what happened -- what was the result of 3 that TRO? 4 A The result of that was I ended up dropping 5 it because they started making threats against my 6 children. 7 Q Okay. You never -- do you ever recall ever 8 going before a court or a judge and the judge 9 dismissing it? 10 A I -- I don't remember it being dismissed, 11 but I do remember that Marty Singer, who was the 12 counsel for Mr. Seagal -- there were two or three 13 appearances that I had to go to. But I -- but -- 14 when they went in, it wasn't dismissed; they kept 15 continuing it, continuing it, continuing it. And 16 then that's when I saw Mr. Pellicano with Mr. Singer 17 on the playground shortly after those first two 18 attempts to knock out the restraining order. 19 Q So your understanding, you're the one that 20 dismissed the TRO? 21 A That's my understanding. 22 Q And when's the first time you had met 23 Mr. Pellicano? 24 A When was the first time I had met 25 Mr. Pellicano? 134 1 Q Correct. 2 A You mean prior to seeing him with 3 Mr. Singer? 4 I had met Mr. Pellicano on several 5 occasions. I'd say maybe six or seven different 6 occasions. 7 Q How and when? 8 A Basically socially. My ex-husband is a 9 reporter for Fox, so he had interviewed him several 10 times for different stories and whatnot; charity 11 functions, social functions, that sort of thing. 12 Q So you knew what he looked like? 13 A Oh, yes. 14 Q And you met Mr. Singer how many times 15 before you saw him at the elementary school? 16 A I met Mr. Singer only the day -- it was 17 roughly a day or two before seeing him on the 18 playground. I had not seen him before until seeing 19 him in the courthouse. I'm pretty sure. I'd have 20 to think back, but I'm pretty sure that was the 21 first time I'd actually seen him in court. 22 Q So you recall seeing him in court, first, 23 prior to seeing him talking to Mr. Pellicano? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And what were you doing at the elementary 135 1 school? Sorry. 2 A It was like a school carnival for the kids. 3 Q And your kids went there? 4 A Yes. 5 Q Is it the same school as Mr. Pellicano's 6 children? 7 A I have no idea if his children went there 8 or not. 9 Q Did you ask? 10 A No. I didn't really care, and I still 11 don't. 12 Q How about Mr. Singer? Do you know if his 13 children -- 14 A I have no idea. Still don't care. 15 Q You just saw these two men outside your 16 elementary school? 17 A After the TRO had been granted and I felt 18 that they had violated it. 19 Q And you just made the conclusion that 20 Mr. Pellicano was associated with Mr. Seagal because 21 you just knew that that was the business 22 Mr. Pellicano was in? He's a private investigator? 23 A Well, not only that -- not only that, but 24 Mr. Singer told me if I did not drop the restraining 25 order, that he would have no choice but to take me 136 1 down. 2 Q And do you believe Mr. Singer took you down 3 in any way? 4 A I absolutely do. 5 Q And how did he do that? 6 A They destroyed my reputation, my career, my 7 family, my friends. 8 Q Do you suffer from depression? 9 A Sometimes, yes. 10 Q You still take medication? 11 A I -- I do, yes. 12 Q What kind of medication do you take? 13 A I have prescribed for me both Prozac for 14 depression, and Xanax for anxiety. 15 Q And when was the last time you had took 16 [sic] Prozac or Xanax? 17 A I took Prozac yesterday. I have not taken 18 Xanax in probably four days. I only take it when I 19 really feel [indicating]. 20 Q And how long have you been taking Prozac -- 21 on and off, intermittently, whatever, for how many 22 years? 23 A The first time that I took it was back when 24 the Seagal incidents started. It was prescribed to 25 me by a doctor. And then I didn't take it for 137 1 years, because I wanted to go holistic. And then 2 they prescribed it to me again when I was in the 3 hospital over the past year. 4 Q And how about -- has your depression been 5 categorized as any particular type of depression? 6 A The therapist that I'm with right now has 7 diagnosed it as post-traumatic stress disorder with 8 depression and anxiety. 9 Q And what's the name of the therapist? 10 A Raksha Paresh. 11 Q And where is she located? 12 A In Columbus, Ohio. 13 Q And how long have you been seeing -- is she 14 a doctor? 15 A She is a psychologist, I believe. I'm not 16 sure the distinction between the different -- 17 Q Did she prescribe you medication? 18 A No. 19 Q Who prescribed you the medication? 20 A Dr. Caligiuri. 21 Q And -- sorry -- how long have you been 22 seeing Ms. -- Dr. -- or Ms. Paresha [sic], or 23 Dr. Paresha [sic]? 24 A Oh, Dr. Raksha Paresh? 25 Q Yeah. 138 1 A It's Raksha Paresh. 2 I believe I started seeing -- well, I 3 started seeing her right after my trip from 4 California, I think; right about the same time. It 5 was when -- when I realized everything was kind of 6 fitting in, I was, like, "Oh, my God." It was too 7 much for me to handle at the time and I needed 8 therapy; I needed help in dealing with it and 9 coping. 10 Q So how many years? Is that 10-plus years? 11 A Oh, no. No, no, no. Just recently. 12 Q Oh, sorry. 13 A Within -- I'm sorry. September -- I would 14 say August/September 2007, roughly. 15 Q And prior to that, had you seen any kind of 16 psychologist or psychiatrist? 17 A Back when the Seagal thing had first 18 started, I was seeing a therapist at Cedars-Sinai. 19 Q And that person's name? 20 A I honestly don't remember right now. 21 Q And how long did you see that doctor? 22 A A few months. 23 Q And what's your post-traumatic stress 24 syndrome related to? Have you been told? 25 A Well, a lot of it has to do with what's 139 1 happened over the past several years in dealing with 2 the Seagal thing; some of it is from my childhood. 3 Q Were you ever molested as a child? 4 A Do I have to answer that? 5 Q I'd like to know, yes. 6 MR. SINA: I don't think she has to answer 7 that. 8 You don't have to answer -- well, I can't 9 tell you that you can't answer, but -- 10 THE WITNESS: I'm just really not 11 comfortable -- 12 MR. SINA: -- a lot of stuff is protected. 13 It's really private information. If you want to 14 hold on to -- 15 THE WITNESS: I'm not comfortable discussing 16 things that happened to me during my childhood. 17 They were pretty horrific. 18 MR. SINA: Ms. Shuman doesn't have a claim for 19 damages in this case. 20 MR. MONACHINO: I'm entitled to know her 21 background and, obviously, her -- her psychological 22 makeup. 23 BY MR. MONACHINO: 24 Q You put it on your Web site, though, didn't 25 you, that you had a traumatic childhood and you were 140 1 molested; correct? 2 A I never put that I was molested on my Web 3 site. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. 4 Q That's how I found out. 5 MR. YATES: Objection. 6 THE WITNESS: If you found out, I want to know 7 where you found it. 8 BY MR. MONACHINO: 9 Q It was on your Web site, your blog. 10 A That I was molested? 11 Q I believe so. 12 MR. YATES: Objection. 13 MR. SINA: Assumes facts not in evidence. 14 MR. YATES: I think you're bordering on 15 badgering the witness. 16 MR. MONACHINO: Counsel, I'll back off here. I 17 don't want to -- I do not want to do that. 18 THE WITNESS: I can give you a play by play if 19 you'd like. 20 BY MR. MONACHINO: 21 Q I mean, were you sexually molested? 22 MR. JOHNSON: You know, I object on the grounds 23 of relevance and I think the right of privacy as 24 well. I think you're stepping over the line here. 25 MR. YATES: I also want to reiterate there is 141 1 such a thing as the Rape Shield Law. I'm not sure; 2 I'm not an expert in that area. But I know that 3 she's here without Counsel, and I just -- I think, 4 again -- 5 THE WITNESS: You're really smiling at me, sir. 6 In the blue shirt. Do I know you? 7 MR. ORR: No. 8 MR. MONACHINO: In fact, I guess Counsel 9 pointed out -- so we maybe cut to the chase -- 10 THE WITNESS: Let's cut to the chase. 11 BY MR. MONACHINO: 12 Q It says the -- in your e-mail here, it 13 says, "The rape was almost identical to the way I 14 was raped by my stepfather at age 14." 15 A Those are e-mails. 16 Q This is -- no. This is what you just 17 produced to us and attached as -- 18 A Can I see it, please? 19 Q Yes, you can. 20 That's what your counsel produced to us and 21 attached as an exhibit. 22 MR. YATES: I'm not her counsel. 23 THE WITNESS: These are e-mails between me and 24 Steven Miller. That's what this is. This was not 25 on my Web site, sir. 142 1 BY MR. MONACHINO: 2 Q Okay. No. I -- ma'am, this was just 3 pointed out to me by Counsel. 4 A Well, I would suggest strongly that you 5 read what you put before me under my condition, 6 because you're really upsetting me. 7 Q Okay. 8 A And you're doing it on purpose and we all 9 know that. 10 Q Ma'am, I'm not trying to upset you. I -- 11 A Yes, you are. 12 Q I just want to know, is that -- you put 13 this -- or was -- this is an e-mail exchange with 14 Mr. Miller; correct? 15 A Yes. 16 Q And you advised him that you were raped 17 almost an identical way as to the -- 18 A That my stepfather did. That's what it 19 says in the e-mail; yes. Are you happy? 20 Q No. Ma'am, I'm just trying to get -- 21 A I know what you're trying to do. Go ahead. 22 Q And you perceived it in the identical way 23 that the two police officers raped you? 24 A Not identical, but there were similarities. 25 Q Okay. 143 1 A Do you want to know what they are? I'll 2 give you a blow by blow if you'd like. 3 Q Well -- 4 A I think it's so funny that you find it so 5 amusing. 6 Q I don't find it funny, ma'am. 7 A No. I think you do. 8 Q No. I laugh because -- it isn't a funny 9 situation and I apologize. 10 A No. You think it is. You lied, telling me 11 you saw this on my Web site, and that was a blatant 12 lie. I know what you're doing. I'm not stupid. 13 Q Well, ma'am, I thought I actually saw it on 14 your Web site. 15 A You're a liar. You did not see it on my 16 Web site. 17 Q Okay. 18 A I never spoke to anyone publicly about 19 that, except Detective Stevens. And that's why I 20 know that he had something to do with it because 21 they also had my psychological records. Why don't 22 you look into that and talk to him. 23 Q Okay. So Mr. Craig Stevens -- 24 A The Detective, the Beverly Hills Police 25 Department? 144 1 Q Correct. 2 A Yeah. 3 Q He has your psychological records? 4 A Oh, yeah. 5 Q And -- 6 A I told him everything. He knew everything. 7 Everything about me. Why don't you ask him. 8 Q And did you actually give him your 9 psychological records? 10 A No, I did not give them to him but he had 11 them. 12 Q So you -- how did he have them, to your 13 knowledge? 14 A That's a good question. 15 Q Okay. So your -- 16 MR. SINA: Counsel, should we just take a short 17 two-minute break? 18 MR. MONACHINO: Sure. That's -- I'm fine the 19 way I'm going, but -- 20 THE WITNESS: I'm sure you are. 21 MR. SINA: Cheryl, take a couple of minutes, 22 please. Let's take a short break. 23 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record at 24 5:21 p.m. 25 (Pause in the proceeding) 145 1 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on record at 2 5:21 p.m. 3 BY MR. MONACHINO: 4 Q We were talking about Mr. Stevens -- Craig 5 Stevens having your psychological records. 6 A Yes. 7 Q You said you told him everything. 8 A He wanted to know where I was going 9 for therapy, wanted to know who my therapist was. I 10 told him everything. He wanted to know if there was 11 anything that he should know about me before someone 12 else subpoenas the records. And all of a sudden, 13 magically, he had them. 14 Q And so you actually saw him with 15 psychological records? 16 A He was reading them to me over the phone, 17 right down to my Prozac dosage. 18 Do you want to know more? 19 Q Sure. 20 So you told him everything. And what do 21 you mean by "everything"? I mean -- 22 A I was very concerned that if I pursued the 23 issue with Pellicano and Seagal, that my family 24 would be horribly embarrassed at what happened to me 25 as a child. And I didn't want to bring 146 1 embarrassment to my family. 2 Q Okay. 3 A Or my children. 4 Q Were you adopted? 5 A No. I was passed around as a kid. 6 Q Did you know your natural parents? 7 A I knew who they were. 8 Q And -- but they didn't raise you; correct? 9 A I was passed around to a number of 10 different families. 11 Q Was that through the foster system? 12 A There really isn't a foster system in 13 Appalachia, sir. 14 Q Okay. So -- 15 A I was a child laborer. I went where the 16 work was. 17 Q And then who raised you? 18 A Any -- anybody [sic] I could find to sleep 19 at night. 20 Q So you were basically homeless as a child? 21 A No. I slept in the barn. 22 Q Whose barn? 23 A The Pendleton family, who was my 24 stepfather, had a number of acreage with a number of 25 barns on the property. So I usually slept in the 147 1 barns. 2 Q And is this the gentleman that molested 3 you -- 4 A Yes. 5 Q -- Mr. Pendleton? 6 And you told this information to 7 Mr. Stevens? 8 A Yes. 9 MR. YATES: Excuse me. Are we talking about 10 Detective Craig Stevens? 11 MR. MONACHINO: Yes. 12 MR. YATES: Just want to be clear. 13 MR. MONACHINO: Sorry. And you're right -- 14 MR. YATES: I'm sure it's just an oversight. 15 BY MR. MONACHINO: 16 Q And -- I guess he's no longer a detective. 17 And you -- well, you understand when I say 18 "Mr. Stevens," I'm referring to former Detective 19 Craig Stevens? 20 A Yes. 21 Q And did you tell him anything else about 22 your personal history? 23 A I told him pretty much everything. I 24 thought of him as a father. I thought he really 25 cared about me. I thought he was going to protect 148 1 me. 2 Q And then somehow he received -- he got your 3 medical records? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And you mentioned he knew about your 6 Prozac -- Prozac dosage? 7 A Oh, yeah. 8 Q Did he -- did he tell you anything else 9 that surprised you that you had not told him? 10 A I can't recall at this point because I'm 11 pretty upset right now. 12 Q Okay. 13 MR. MONACHINO: Let's take a five-minute break 14 and then we'll continue. I want your best 15 testimony. 16 MR. YATES: Just for your -- I mean, out of 17 fundamental fairness here, you're already beyond the 18 time that I took. And I would be on the time 19 indicated by her doctor. And you're about 27 20 minutes beyond the time indicated by her doctor. So 21 I think, out of respect, we should at least ask the 22 witness if she feels like -- and by the way, I'm not 23 her counsel. 24 THE WITNESS: I really need -- 25 MR. YATES: -- if she feels like going forward 149 1 or not. 2 THE WITNESS: I need a break. This is too 3 hard. 4 MR. YATES: Can you go on after a break? 5 THE WITNESS: I don't know. I just feel like I 6 want to go home. 7 BY MR. MONACHINO: 8 Q Ma'am, if we came out to Ohio, would you 9 continue your deposition? 10 A I don't have a home in Ohio. 11 Q How about out here? If we paid you to come 12 out here, would you -- 13 A I don't want your money, sir. 14 Q I mean -- 15 A This is not about money. 16 Q I'm not -- I'm just asking -- 17 A You're so -- you know, you're so glib. 18 Q Ma'am, I'm not trying to be glib. I'm just 19 trying to get facts. 20 A I just wonder how people like you exist. 21 MR. YATES: Why don't we take a break. 22 MR. SINA: Let's take a break. 23 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record at 24 5:25 p.m. 25 (Recess) 150 1 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on record at 2 5:32 p.m. 3 BY MR. MONACHINO: 4 Q Okay. Have you had an opportunity to 5 relax, Ms. Shuman? 6 A I'm calmer. 7 Q And you had an opportunity to talk to 8 Mr. Yates and Mr. Johnson? 9 A Briefly. 10 Q And we were talking about Mr. Stevens, who 11 read you some of your medical records. 12 A Uh-huh. 13 Q And my question was: Did he tell you 14 anything about what was -- that was in your medical 15 records that you had not told him? 16 A At this moment I don't recall because I was 17 very upset that he knew more than I had told him and 18 I realized something was just off. 19 Q Okay. Did you -- it was off because he 20 knew more about your medical condition, or because 21 he had your medical records? 22 A Both of those things. I just -- I was, 23 like, in shock. 24 Q Okay. And do you know anything specific 25 about the type or from whom these medical records 151 1 came from? 2 A I'm sorry. Could you ask that -- 3 Q Where did the medical records come from? I 4 mean -- 5 A Cedars-Sinai. Phelan, specifically. 6 Q Any other locations that you are aware of 7 where the medical records came from? 8 A No. 9 Q So they were the Cedars-Sinai medical 10 records? 11 A Correct. That's my understanding. 12 Q And you said you were upset. 13 A Yes. 14 Q And what did you do? 15 A What did I do? 16 Q Yes. Well, while you were upset, did 17 you -- 18 A I started crying. 19 Q -- talk to someone? 20 A I cried; I called my friends. 21 Q What friends did you call? 22 A I'd really rather not say at this point. 23 Q Do you recall the friends you called? 24 A Yes. Some of them. 25 Q Can you tell me? 152 1 A Dori is one. 2 Q And you've mentioned her a few times now. 3 A Yes. 4 Q Who is Dori? 5 A I'm not going to answer that question. 6 Q Is she still a friend? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Does she use the Internet like you do? 9 A I have no idea. 10 Q And does she live in Los Angeles? 11 A I'm not going to answer that question. 12 Q What's her last name? 13 A I'm not going to answer that question. 14 Q And you realize you're under oath; correct? 15 A Oh, yes. 16 Q You're obligated to tell the truth? 17 A I understand that completely. 18 Q And you're not going to answer those 19 questions? 20 A I am not going to answer those questions. 21 Q And is there a reason? 22 A I don't want to put her in danger. 23 Q Okay. So you think if you -- if you gave 24 her name here she'd be in danger? 25 A Yes, I do. 153 1 Q And why do you think that? 2 A Past experience. 3 Q And from whom would she be in danger? 4 A That's a good question. 5 Q So you -- you just have a general feeling 6 that if you told -- 7 A I have an obligation to protect my friends 8 from any unnecessary danger. And I believe that 9 dealing with the Beverly Hills Police Department is 10 very dangerous. 11 Q Okay. So you think the Beverly Hills 12 Police Department is a danger to your friend, Dori? 13 A I think that people connected with this 14 case and the defendants could be dangerous to my 15 friends and family. 16 Q Okay. Does that include the Beverly Hills 17 Police Department? 18 A Possibly some members of it. 19 Q Okay. Any particular members that you're 20 aware of? 21 A Detective Craig Stevens. 22 Q Are you aware whether Mr. Stevens is 23 currently employed by the Beverly Hills Police 24 Department? 25 A I have no idea what he's doing these days. 154 1 Q Do you believe he's still employed with the 2 Beverly Hills Police Department? 3 A I don't know. 4 Q Wait until I finish my question. 5 Is that you don't know? 6 A I don't know. 7 Q Haven't read anything? 8 A I was told by someone that he was involved 9 in some kind of an investigation or something. And 10 I don't know the exact details, no. 11 Q Well, I think -- 12 MR. MONACHINO: What exhibit number are we on 13 now? What exhibit number? "5"? 14 THE REPORTER: "6." 15 MR. YATES: "6," I think. 16 MR. MONACHINO: I'd like to mark as Exhibit 17 Number 6. 18 (Deposition Exhibit 6 was marked for 19 identification and is attached hereto.) 20 BY MR. YATES: 21 Q Can you take a look at that declaration. 22 We've all seen it. I have a few copies. 23 A I'm sorry. I can't see very well without 24 my glasses. 25 Q Do you need reading glasses? 155 1 A What power are yours? 2 Q I think they're negative 1.5? 3 A It has to be positive. They're reading 4 glasses. 5 Q I mean positive. I meant positive. 6 A You're presbyopic. 7 These are actually perfect. Make sure I 8 don't leave with them. 9 Is there any particular -- 10 Q No. Have you seen this document before? 11 A Is this... 12 It doesn't say who filed it or... 13 Q I guess my question is: One, have you seen 14 this document before; and are you Jane Doe 15 referenced in this document? 16 A Let me look through it. Hold on. 17 Q It's compound, but if you can answer both 18 questions. 19 A I'm sorry? 20 Q Nothing. It's a compound question, but if 21 you can answer both questions I'd appreciate it. 22 (Pause) 23 THE WITNESS: Okay. Okay. Now what was your 24 question? 25 /// 156 1 BY MR. MONACHINO: 2 Q Have you seen this document before? 3 A No. Um... 4 Q I'll make the representation that this 5 document was filed in this case on behalf of a 6 person named Jane Doe. And it's been represented to 7 us that you are the Jane Doe referenced in this 8 document. 9 A I am the Jane Doe. 10 Q Okay. And to your recollection, you 11 don't -- have you seen anything similar to this 12 document? 13 A Have I seen anything similar to it? 14 Q Paragraphs, same type of wording as opposed 15 to different format, possibly? 16 A I mean, this is a description -- Oh, God. 17 I'm sorry. Can I see your glasses again? 18 Q Sure. Actually, you can keep them. I can 19 just hold it a distance from myself and read it. 20 A I have seen something similar to this that 21 I had to sign. I believe this is what Mr. Yates 22 sent to me. 23 Q Okay. 24 A But I'm not a hundred percent sure, because 25 I haven't seen it. 157 1 Q Okay. So I'd like -- if you can keep it, 2 and you can keep my glasses. And I'd like to just 3 go through some of those. And if you can -- 4 A I definitely want something to remember you 5 by. 6 Q And if you can't read them, I will read it 7 myself. 8 (Mr. Yates handed the witness his glasses.) 9 THE WITNESS: Oh, thank you. 10 MR. MONACHINO: Save me 25 bucks. 11 THE WITNESS: What are your power? You're a 12 little bit -- you've got astigmatism. You have 13 astigmatism? 14 MR. YATES: No. But -- 15 THE WITNESS: Okay. So -- anyways. So I 16 answered your question; correct? 17 I was going to say; I can't see a thing 18 through yours. No offense. 19 MR. YATES: Did you try looking lower? 20 THE WITNESS: Well, you've got -- it looks like 21 a blended bifocal or something. 22 BY MR. MONACHINO: 23 Q Are you still a licensed optician? 24 A I'm not licensed anymore, but I do know my 25 stuff. 158 1 Q When was the last time you were licensed? 2 A I don't remember exactly when they took my 3 license away, but I was not allowed to have it after 4 the -- 5 Q Your conviction? 6 A That's my understanding. But I'm still 7 knowledgeable about optics. 8 Q And in paragraph 3, it states -- 9 A Oh, you're going to do this to me again, 10 aren't you? 11 Q -- "I witnessed an incident" -- "During the 12 late [1980s], in the course of my profession, I 13 witnessed an incident..." 14 What incident are you talking about? 15 A I don't want to discuss that today. 16 Q Is that something with Mr. Seagal? 17 A I don't want to discuss it today. I'm not 18 comfortable discussing it today. 19 Q Can you tell me the topic it involved? 20 A No. 21 Q Is there a reason why you don't want to? 22 A I don't feel comfortable, and I'm really 23 stressed out. 24 Q Okay. 25 A I need a break. 159 1 Q Okay. Let's take a break. 2 A No, not now. I just -- at another time, 3 perhaps. But I'm kind of drained today. 4 Q Do you feel like you can continue with your 5 testimony? 6 A How much longer? 7 Q It may be a bit. 8 A How much is "a bit" to you? 9 Q "A bit" for lawyers are a long time, 10 generally. 11 A I -- I'm really not comfortable. I have 12 not eaten today and I really don't feel well. And 13 this process is very draining to me, sir. 14 MR. MONACHINO: I'll tell you what. I'll take 15 -- because we would like to at least get into some 16 areas here. And I don't know if Counsel -- let's 17 take a brief break and we'll discuss, I guess, with 18 other counsel. I don't know if anybody wants to go 19 on the record or wants to discuss it. 20 MR. YATES: I think that it's easy to discuss 21 right now. She said she wants to take a break; the 22 doctor recommends she take a break. 23 MR. MONACHINO: I'm willing to do so. 24 MR. YATES: Excuse me. I'm not done yet. 25 We've gone at least an hour and a half, two 160 1 hours beyond what she was, by the doctor's 2 declaration, supposed to go. And for no other 3 reason, out of just plain human compassion, I think 4 it's time to quit if she wants to quit. 5 MR. MONACHINO: Well -- 6 MR. YATES: This is not an inhuman profession. 7 MR. MONACHINO: Counsel. 8 MR. YATES: So if she wants to quit, I say we 9 quit. 10 MR. MONACHINO: Well -- 11 MR. YATES: Now, she asked you a simple 12 question; how much longer? Maybe you want to 13 continue and go through this declaration. If you 14 want to give her a time frame and then she'll say 15 yes or no. 16 MR. MONACHINO: Well, I'm not going to put a 17 time limit on myself, Counsel. She testified about 18 very -- an elaborate scheme and -- especially 19 involving my client. 20 So -- but I agree with Mr. Yates; we 21 will -- I'm not going to end the deposition here 22 today; I'm going to keep it open. But if you cannot 23 -- if you feel like you cannot continue with the 24 deposition, I certainly do not want to keep you 25 here. And I don't want to get your testimony either 161 1 if you're upset, too tired -- 2 THE WITNESS: I'm very upset. I'm very tired. 3 MR. MONACHINO: -- and so I am willing to -- as 4 long as everybody stipulates that this deposition is 5 not ended and will remain open for further 6 proceedings. 7 THE WITNESS: I'm not sure what that means. 8 MR. MONACHINO: It's not for you. It's -- 9 THE WITNESS: Oh, okay. I just -- 10 MR. MONACHINO: Basically, ma'am, it means that 11 we are going to have to get you at some point in 12 time in the future to ask you further questions. 13 THE WITNESS: I see. Okay. 14 Today, I'm just -- I'm spent. I'm 15 exhausted; I'm upset; I'm angry. 16 MR. MONACHINO: Okay. And so we will suspend 17 the deposition to be continued at a later date. 18 THE WITNESS: What does suspending the 19 deposition -- 20 MR. MONACHINO: It means that we're -- 21 MR. YATES: Well, that's your statement. 22 That's not mine. 23 MR. MONACHINO: Okay. 24 MR. YATES: My statement is we'll terminate the 25 deposition. At some time if she is able to and 162 1 agrees to continue this deposition, that's fine. If 2 she doesn't, then that's -- that's my position on 3 it. Of course, only the Court can make the ultimate 4 decision on this. 5 I don't know how other counsel feels but 6 that's my position. I'm not saying that Counsel 7 aren't entitled to ask questions. I'm not saying 8 that. I'm just saying, based on what she's 9 presented in terms of a doctor's declaration, she's 10 gone beyond it; she's terminal; she can't go any 11 further today; she's not willing to say that she can 12 go further at a later time. 13 So I think what we should do is take our 14 respective positions, let this lady go and get some 15 rest, and then take it up at another time; maybe 16 things will be easier to resolve. 17 MR. MONACHINO: With that statement done, 18 Ms. Shuman, do you think you can continue with your 19 deposition testimony here today? 20 THE WITNESS: Not today. 21 MR. SINA: I just want to put an objection on 22 that. Reading the doctor's declaration, it even 23 suggests further that even if Ms. Shuman sits here 24 and thinks it's -- "Oh, I can continue; I have the 25 energy," the doctor's advising in there for her not 163 1 to go. Like, hey, even if someone tries to push it 2 further, don't push it any further; she has to stop. 3 I think the deposition should be stopped at this 4 point. 5 MR. MONACHINO: Counsel, I'm not disagreeing 6 with you. 7 MR. SINA: But you asked her again, "Do you 8 think your deposition can go on today?" 9 MR. MONACHINO: It was just confirmation on the 10 record that I assume she's going to say no. 11 Is that correct; you don't feel like you 12 can continue with your deposition? 13 THE WITNESS: I am too tired, I am too 14 exhausted, I am too angry, too drained to continue 15 with this proceeding. 16 MR. MONACHINO: Okay. And do you understand 17 that you will -- at least our position is that you 18 will be asked back to continue your deposition at 19 another date? 20 THE WITNESS: Do I understand that? 21 MR. MONACHINO: Yes. Correct. 22 THE WITNESS: I think you're perfectly clear; 23 yes. 24 MR. MONACHINO: Okay. So we would like to 25 suspend the deposition -- given Ms. Shuman's 164 1 condition -- and continue it at another date. 2 MR. YATES: And I'm taking the position, since 3 I noticed this deposition under the circumstances 4 that I did, the deposition is at this point 5 terminated subject to us meeting and conferring and 6 communicating with the witness to see if and when, 7 after we also receive some input from her physician, 8 she's capable and willing to resume this deposition 9 in a second session. 10 MR. JOHNSON: I have to say, I mean, I think 11 Court guidance will be necessary. I mean, you spent 12 an hour asking her about the Internet. And I think 13 that probably the right thing would be for you to 14 give an update of how much more time you think you 15 need and any additional topics. 16 I don't think, and it would be interesting 17 to hear, if any other lawyers in this room have any 18 other real substantive questions since it seems that 19 the bulk of almost all of her testimony relates 20 specifically to your client. 21 MR. MONACHINO: Are we still on? I mean, if 22 we're on the record. 23 Counsel, I could certainly get back to you 24 and let you know the number of hours. But it would 25 probably be at least another good two hours. I 165 1 mean, you guys had your little story and -- 2 MR. JOHNSON: Why don't you do that sooner 3 rather than later while she's still in town. 4 Perhaps we can work something out. 5 MR. MONACHINO: I have no problem, if she's 6 here this week, to continue it for a couple of 7 hours. She lasted quite a while today. 8 THE WITNESS: I don't even know -- honestly, I 9 don't know how long I've been here. I don't wear a 10 watch. So... 11 I might take those glasses, though, if 12 you're still offering them. 13 MR. MONACHINO: Do you want them? 14 THE WITNESS: I do. 15 MR. MONACHINO: Okay. You can take them. 16 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 17 Is it on the record that he gave them to 18 me? 19 MR. MONACHINO: They literally were $25. 20 THE WITNESS: Well, they're very nice. 21 Speaking from an optician's point of view, they're 22 actually very nice. And they work well. 23 VIDEOGRAPHER: This concludes today's 24 deposition of Cheryl Shuman on February 11, 2008. 25 There were two tapes used. 166 1 Going off the record at 5:48 p.m. 2 (Deposition session adjourned at 5:48 p.m.) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 167 1 DECLARATION UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY 2 3 I, CHERYL SHUMAN, do hereby declare under 4 penalty of perjury that I have read the foregoing 5 transcript; that I have made any corrections as 6 appear noted, in ink, initiated by me, or attached 7 hereto; that my testimony as contained herein, as 8 corrected, is true and correct. 9 EXECUTED this _____ day of _____________, 10 20____, at _______________________, _____________. (City) (State) 11 12 13 14 15 ________________________________ CHERYL SHUMAN 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 168 1 I, the undersigned, a Certified Shorthand 2 Reporter of the State of California, do hereby 3 certify: 4 That the foregoing proceedings were taken 5 before me at the time and place herein set forth; 6 that any witnesses in the foregoing proceedings, 7 prior to testifying, were duly sworn by me; that a 8 verbatim record of the proceedings was made by me 9 using machine shorthand which was thereafter 10 transcribed under my direction; that the foregoing 11 transcript is a true record of the testimony given. 12 Further, that if the foregoing pertains to 13 the original transcript in a Federal Case, before 14 completion of the deposition, review of the 15 transcript [ ] was [ ] was not requested and, if 16 requested, any changes made by the deponent and 17 provided to the reporter during the period allowed 18 are appended hereto. 19 I further certify that I am neither 20 financially interested in the action nor a relative 21 or employee of any attorney of any of the parties. 22 IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have this date 23 subscribed my name. 24 Dated:________________ ____________________________ THERESA TRANG HOANG 25 RPR, CSR No. 11952