jameson
Charter Member
11953 posts May-16-03, 11:11 AM (EST)
2. "To the first break"
In response to message #1
Q. Did you authorize Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 1 to be posted to solicit speaking engagements?
A. Yes.Q. Have you ever been deposed before?
A. In a civil proceeding?
Q. Let's start there, in a civil proceeding?
A. No. No.
Q. That makes me believe that you have been deposed in a criminal proceeding; is that true?
A. Well, certainly I'm not familiar with the civil aspect of this as much as I am the criminal half of
things. I have given testimony certainly in criminal cases, but I have never been deposed in a setting
like this.
Q. The testimony you have given in criminal cases has been, I assume, either in hearings or trials in a
courtroom?
A. In front of grand jurors, yeah.
Q. Right. You've never sat in a deposition where no judge is present, no grand jury is present, just
the lawyers where we take what is called a deposition; is that your testimony?
A. I was present in a deposition many, many years ago in the 1980s in a police case but I don't recall
that I ever had to give testimony.
Q. Was that some sort of a civil lawsuit?
A. Exactly.
Q. Were you a defendant in that matter?
A. The city and myself and other officers, yes.
Q. And where was that?
A. The City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
Q. Were you sued for a violation of civil rights?
A. No, I don't think that was thebasis of the suit.
Q. What was the basis?
A. We stopped a car we believed to be stolen. It turned out not to be and the people felt wronged
by that.
Q. So you were sued as a defendant along with others and the City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know how that case was resolved?
A. I think it settled.
Q. Moneys paid to the plaintiff?
A. That's my understanding.
Q. On your behalf as well as the city's behalf?
A. I don't know.
Q. But that was -- was that filed in the Wheat Ridge or the county of Wheat Ridge?
A. I don't know.
Q. But in Colorado?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you deposed?
A. That's what I just said, no. I don't -- I don't know that I had to give any testimony in that.
Q. I thought you said you were present for deposition; I may have misunderstood. I don't know if
you were there watching someone in attendance or whether you were actually deposed and you're not
sure of which; is that right?
A. I recall being in a setting similar to this where the other parties were on the other side of the table
and there was some Q and A, but I think it was the other side.
Q. Other than that lawsuit, have you ever been sued in any other matters? Obviously we know about
the John and Patsy Ramsey lawsuit against you. Other than those two cases, have you ever been sued
in a civil case?
A. I don't recall any other, no, civil suit in my capacity as a police officer or as a citizen.
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MR. DIAMOND: Counsel, what is that relevant to?
MR. WOOD: Well, it may very well be relevant to jury --
MR. DIAMOND: I'm sorry.
MR. WOOD: It may very well be relevant to jury issues.
MR. DIAMOND: I'm sorry, to jury issues?
MR. WOOD: Yes, sir. When you select a jury, I may want to know his former wife's residence or
name or employment in the jury selection process. Now, let me say this to you, Mr. Diamond, I'm not
going to debate relevance. My question is simple. If you have an instruction to make to the witness,
make it. But we can't waste time going back and forth discussing relevance. I ask that question of
every witness in a deposition. It's done for jury purposes. It's a legitimate question. May we please
get an answer and move on?
MR. DIAMOND: You may answer whether or not she lives in the State of Georgia.
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Q. Tell me if you would, Mr. Thomas, about what your deposition preparation was in this case.
What did you do to prepare for the deposition?
A. I met with my attorneys and they explained to me how --
MR. DIAMOND: You don't need to get into the context.
Q. (BY MR. WOOD) Yeah, I don't want to know what, unless your attorneys want me to know, I
suspect they don't. I don't need to know what you and your attorneys discussed. I would like to know
the fact of the meeting, when it took place and how long it lasted.
A. I met on Wednesday, September 19th, with Mr. Sean Smith for several hours and then yesterday,
September 20th of 2001, I met again several hours with Mr. Smith and with Chuck Diamond.
Q. Tell me how many hours, your best estimate as to how many hours several hours is on the 19th,
let's start there, with Mr. Smith.
A. A full day. We took a long lunch, but I think we began our day at 9:30 a.m. and ended around 5
p.m.
Q. And then yesterday, how long?
A. Similar.
Q. 9:30 to 5 with a lunch break?
A. Yeah, we may have gone past 5 o'clock last evening, maybe 6 or 7 p.m.
Q. And was Mr. Diamond here yesterday during the day?
A. Yes.
Q. At the beginning of your meeting at 9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m.?
A. I certainly believe so.
Q. I only asked because I was under the impression he was not available to be here yesterday but
that's all right, that's not an issue for you to worry about. Did you review any written materials in
preparation for your deposition?
A. I reviewed my book.
Q. That book being, identified earlier "JonBenet, Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation." You
have a copy of the hard back with you I see?
A. It's a hard back I looked at, yes.
Q. Okay. Did you review any other written materials?
A. No.
Q. Do you have notes that you utilized in writing your book?
A. No, let me interrupt you. I did stuck in -- stuck in this book was a two-page report from the Chris
Wolf matter that I did review.
Q. Do you have a copy of that?
A. No.
Q. Is that something we could see?
MR. DIAMOND: What's that?
MR. WOOD: The two-page report on the Chris Wolf matter that he reviewed in preparation, is that
something we could take a look at?
MR. DIAMOND: We don't have it, it's not with him today.
Q. (BY MR. WOOD) Was this something prepared by your attorneys?
A. No.
Q. Who was it prepared by?
A. This was, I found stuck in a book this summer a two-page report that I had written as a police
detective on the Jackie Dilson, Chris Wolf matter.
Q. And you have that where presently located?
A. That's probably in a folder sitting at home.
Q. And you will maintain possession of that at my request in the event we decide we would like to
ask for that formally, subject to your attorney's agreement that we would be entitled to it down the
road?
A. Certainly.
MR. DIAMOND: Happy to hold on to it.
Q. (BY MR. WOOD) I assume that what you're telling me, Mr. Thomas, is you've got two pages
of notes that you've made yourself on Chris Wolf relating to the investigation of Chris Wolf?
A. No.
Q. Tell me what exactly, maybe I didn't understand you, what those two pages are.
A. It's not notes. It's a two-page typewritten report that I had prepared.
Q. For the Boulder Police Department?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you remember the date of that report?
A. January 1998.
Q. January of '98?
A. I'm sorry, January of 1997.
Q. Okay. Did you prepare any other written reports for the Boulder Police Department about Chris
Wolf, other than the two-page report you've referred to that is dated January of 1997?
A. Certainly.
Q. Have you had an opportunity to review them in preparation for your deposition?
A. No.
Q. Do you -- did you have notes from which you relied on in whole or in part in writing your book
"JonBenet, Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation"?
MR. DIAMOND: Counsel, I'm going to instruct him not to answer.
MR. WOOD: On what privilege?
MR. DIAMOND: Not on privilege, the limitation that was imposed by Judge Carnes or the condition in
which he allowed this deposition to go forward.
MR. WOOD: Excuse me, I don't know --
MR. DIAMOND: Counsel, you let me finish and I'll let you finish.
MR. WOOD: I apologize for interrupting, but let me say this to you --
MR. DIAMOND: Well, then don't interrupt me. I will finish what I'm saying.
MR. WOOD: Mr. Diamond --
MR. DIAMOND: Maybe --
THE REPORTER: Please, one at a time.
MR. WOOD: Excuse me. We're going to take a break off the record. I'm not going to let you yell at
me. Calm down. We'll come back and we'll start again in five minutes. We'll go off the record and
not waste deposition time.
VIDEO TECHNICIAN: The time is now 9:34. We're going off the record.
(Recess taken from 9:35 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.)